2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Researchers at UNIVERSITY developed, piloted, and examined a community-engaged STEM learning environment at a university in Indiana. This summer, the MODEL developed from this pilot was adapted and replicated at two other universities. Over 50 students (high school and college) participated in the three regions in the Midwest in a community-engaged internship experience during the summer of 2022. Students worked on project teams of 4-6 students on a community-identified project for 8 weeks. Local high school teachers managed projects and community partners served as technical mentors as students completed their paid internship, which culminated with a formal presentation and product to their community partner. The larger research effort uses mixed-methods data collection, including surveys and interviews, to examine a variety of outcomes, including dispositional changes in STEM self-efficacy and identity. Students completed surveys and reflections at multiple points throughout their internship, including a retrospective pre/post survey capturing dispositional shifts during the experience The results of the internship experience on student intern participants' educational and professional plans at the 3 sites are evaluated in this paper. Results show significant gains on items related to professional discernment (desire to work in a STEM field, use technical skills, on open-ended problems for the betterment of society)
for participants at all sites.