2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The High School Summer Research Program is a multi-disciplinary program co-designed through a university-school partnership aiming to engage traditionally underserved urban youth in experiential learning in laboratories to advance their research and professional skills, encourage them to engage in future STEM experiences, and ultimately consider pursuing a major in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Under the mentorship of university graduate student researchers, high school students were paired in small groups to collaborate in a research lab over 8 weeks as they worked on a specific research project, engaging in tasks such as reading scientific literature, learning specific lab processes, collect and analyze data, designing, 3D printing, and testing prototypes, and participate in lab group meetings. Projects were from various STEM fields, including chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, ecology, microbiology, chemistry, materials science, and computational projects. In addition to working in the lab, the program integrated social emotional learning standards through daily activities that included mindfulness exercises, goal setting activities, and career awareness in STEM. The program culminated in a poster session, with each group presenting their research projects to faculty, graduate students, and family members. Students also prepared research papers that can be submitted towards the state science fair competition.

Using a design-based research approach, the program has undergone iterative refinement over 3 years in response to lessons learned from implementation and external evaluation findings. This paper will discuss the collaborative co-design and refinement process of the laboratory experiences as informed by multiple data sources through ongoing program evaluation. Evaluation findings of the most recent iteration of the program will be shared including high school students and mentors’ perceptions of the program’s influence on students’ research skills, professional competencies, and plans in STEM. Preliminary results from the evaluation show students gained technical skills and highlighted learning teamwork and written and oral communication skills as key outcomes of the program. Students also discussed the value of the program in learning how to persevere through challenging tasks. Considerations for transferring the program to other contexts and lessons learned for successful mentoring strategies will be discussed.