2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

K-12 Student STEM Identity Development through Participation in Goldberg Gator Engineering Explorers Summer Programs (RTP)

The Goldberg Gator Engineering Explorers (GGEE) Summer and Afterschool Programs are informal learning programs designed to provide opportunities for middle school students to build skills in programming, computational thinking, and engineering design by bringing camp experiences to students in their communities. The programs are designed to be engaging while providing enough scaffolding to support the development of conceptual knowledge, skills, and confidence throughout the program. This paper discusses the impacts of the GGEE program on student science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) identity before, during, and after participation in the 2024 summer programs.

This study aims to investigate the impacts of the GGEE summer program on the development of STEM identity in middle school student participants. To measure the impacts on the development of STEM identity, three validated survey tools were modified to fit the needs and perspectives of the summer programs: the single-item STEM Professional Identity Overlap (STEM-PIO-1) measure, Role Identity Surveys in STEM (RIS-STEM), and Student Attitudes toward STEM (S-STEM). These tools focused on different aspects of STEM identity formation: 1) overall STEM identity formation by measuring how much students feel like they overlap with a scientist or engineer, 2) role identity in STEM constructed from interest, competence, and recognition, and 3) attitudes towards STEM regarding 21st-century skills. Students were also asked to rate their coding skills before and after participation in the summer program to support the measure of competence in STEM identity.

As a result of participating in the summer programs, student participants experienced an increased level of STEM identity. There was a 107% increase in the percentage of students pre-to-post who felt their identity overlapped closely with a scientist or engineer. Student STEM identity measured through role-identity and 21st-century skills also experienced increases in students strongly agreeing or feeling the most confident across all survey questions. The marked shifts in students toward an increased STEM identity indicate that the GGEE summer programs have positive impacts on developing STEM identity in students.

Authors

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.
Emersen Kronsnoble University of Florida
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.
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