2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Cultivating Future Engineers through Mentoring Experiences: Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Mentorship in an Educational STEM K-12 Summer Program (EBR)

Presented at Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND) Technical Session 1

The Goldberg Gator Engineering Explorers (GGEE) Summer Program is an informal STEM education program that offers free summer camps for K-12 students from under-resourced communities. Camps are held in the K-12 student’s local school district and emphasize skills development in computational thinking, engineering design, technology, and systems thinking through hands-on, collaborative, student-driven projects. Camp sessions are co-facilitated by local K-12 teachers and undergraduate student mentors from the University of Florida. The GGEE program prioritized the hiring of undergraduate student mentors who were from the school districts hosting the camps.

In this exploratory mixed methods study, undergraduate student mentor perceptions of near-peer mentorship are used to assess the GGEE program’s impact on participant STEM identity and explore the personal benefits of participation. This paper reports on the following research questions: 1) How does serving as near-peer mentors to K-12 student mentees in an educational STEM summer program impact undergraduate students’ STEM identity? 2) What did undergraduate student mentors feel that they got out of the experience? 3) What were undergraduate students’ perceptions of mentorship in the program? Data was collected in the form of online pre- and post-surveys and virtual one-on-one exit interviews. Quantitative data underwent descriptive analysis, and qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Results show that participants’ STEM identity increased by the end of the camp and that participants gained several benefits including improved professional skills, improved technical skills, and determination to persist in STEM. Providing near-peer mentoring experiences for undergraduate students, therefore, may serve to improve their mental concept of being an engineer, potentially increasing the likelihood of degree completion.

Authors

Kassandra Fernandez http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1101-5219 University of Florida [biography]

Kassandra Fernandez is a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, where they are pursuing their PhD in Engineering Education. They graduated from Miami Dade College with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, and from the University of Florida with an M.S. in Microbiology and Cell Science. They have worked as a science teacher at a Title I school in Homestead, FL and as an adjunct Microbiology professor at a Hispanic-serving community college in Miami, FL. As an educator, they utilized equitable teaching practices and encouraged student agency to ensure positive learning outcomes. Their first year of PhD research focused on undergraduate student perceptions of social responsibility in STEMM, with special emphasis on science communication and policy advocacy, as well as the intersection of institutional culture and transformational change towards cultivating more inclusive and equitable access for underrepresented STEMM students. They are currently exploring undergraduate perceptions of STEM mentorship within student organizations and near-peer mentorship between undergraduate student mentors and K-12 student mentees within educational out-of-school time STEM programs. Outside of their research, they are the Founding President of the Policy Advocacy in Science and Engineering (PASE) student organization and Vice President of the Engineering Education Graduate Student Council at the University of Florida.
Krista Dulany Chisholm http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3799-290X University of Florida [biography]

Dr. Krista Chisholm is a Research Assistant Scientist working for the EQuIPD grant at the University of Florida. She currently manages the development and deployment of the grant's K-12 Programs which include the Goldberg Gator Engineering Explorers Summer Program and the Powering the Community: AI Design Contest in school districts across Florida. She was previously the Lead Instructional Specialist on the EQuIPD grant coaching K-12 teachers in Florida and providing professional development. Dr. Chisholm excels in using a system thinking approach to support teachers and students to create understanding through conceptual modeling. She has experience in creating professional learning experiences, designing coaching systems, and developing frameworks and lessons. Her research interests include STEM education, system thinking, conceptual modeling, and coaching.
Dr. Nancy Ruzycki http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7516-2985 University of Florida [biography]

Dr. Nancy Ruzycki, is the Director of Undergraduate Laboratories and Faculty Lecturer within the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida Herbert Wetheim College of Engineering. Her focus is on developing curriculum, professional development and coaching models focused on use of system thinking and conceptual pedagogical practices.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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