2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

An interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff and students at (university name) is collaborating with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and non-profit Community-Based Organizations in four Chicago neighborhoods to create a new after-school STEM program known as (program name). Recently awarded funding by NSF, the central motivation is to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who choose to pursue STEM fields at the postsecondary level. Faculty from STEM and STEM education program areas as well as the (name of interdisciplinary education center) at (university name) comprise the leadership team for the project. Guided by the National Research Council’s STEM Learning Ecosystem Model, (project name) will contribute to the disruption of inequities that hinder access to STEM career pipelines for participants by serving as a bridge between informal high school academic experiences, STEM-related higher education programs, and STEM-related career pathways. Each year, the program will create a cohort of approximately twenty students at each of four partner high schools. The cohorts of high school students, collectively known as (program name) Scholars, will meet after school once per week to engage in informal educational activities centered on topics related to robotics, automation, and renewable energy. Each eight-week unit will feature a unique topic, and the students will be presented with a design challenge to solve during each unit. During the summers, the (program name) Scholars will attend a three-day STEM camp to apply and extend the knowledge they have gained throughout the year and learn about STEM educational and career pathways through field trips and guest speakers coordinated with industry partners embedded within their own communities. The project will also include professional development for CPS teachers involved in the afterschool programming, training and outreach experiences for undergraduate students currently studying in STEM fields, and outreach coordination with the partnering non-profit Community-Based Organizations in each of the four communities. The goals of the project are: 1. (Program name) Scholars (high school student participants) will increase their knowledge of STEM domains and careers; specifically, those related to renewable and sustainable energy systems, robotics, and automation. Simultaneously, they will increase their understanding of the secondary and post-secondary pathways that lead to attainment of STEM careers; 2. (Program name) Scholars will increase their interest toward STEM careers and will demonstrate improved self-efficacy for career-related skills and for attainment of STEM careers; 3. (Program name) Designers (undergraduate Technology-related majors at (university name)) will increase their awareness of societal and contextual factors that limit the opportunities for students from underrepresented groups to develop as STEM learners and professionals, and 4. (Program name) Teachers (school-based CPS teachers in after-school programming) will increase their knowledge of STEM domains and careers and will improve their knowledge of resources for students who are interested in pathways to STEM careers. The purpose of this Work in Progress paper is to document the unique structure of this highly collaborative after-school STEM program, describe the goals and intended outcomes, and to initiate an exchange of ideas among educators working in related fields.