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2015: STEM UP: A STEM Undergraduate Program to Help Middle School Youth Select STEM Majors and Careers through Cognitive Apprenticeship (a paper presented by Kyla Rischard at New Perspectives in Mentoring: A Quest for Leadership, Excellence, and Innovation at the University of New Mexico)

The majority of non-White students in Arizona under-served middle schools are not meeting the Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards 2011 Science Exam. Regardless of standardized test scores, many low-performing students aspire to obtain STEM majors and careers. This study aimed to examine how middle school students planned to obtain future STEM college majors and careers through a possible selves curriculum in a 13-week, in-school cognitive apprenticeship model. STEM undergraduates mentored STEM-interested middle school mentees (N= 74) from seven under-served Tucson middle schools. STEM mentors acted as experts in their STEM field to help middle school mentees analyze their possible selves—what one hopes to become, what one expects to become, and what one is afraid to become. Through seven possible selves activities, mentees learned how to avoid becoming their feared possible self, and thus balancing their hoped-for possible self with their expected possible self. Between possible selves lessons, mentees engaged in hands-on STEM activities to improve their STEM competency and motivation to pursue a STEM college major and career. At the end of the semester, self-assessed motivation, competency in STEM fields, identification of possible selves, balance of possible selves, STEM major and career plan of action, and administrator-reported STEM attendance, and STEM course grades were collected to analyze middle school students’ plans to obtain STEM futures. I hypothesized that in the plan of action middle school students would demonstrate current and future strategies to overcome obstacles in order to obtain a future in STEM majors and careers. 

 

 

2012-13: Middle School Students' Perceived Obstacles to College Attendance

A recent study conducted by Project SOAR used qualitative methods to probe middle school (MS) students’ understanding of the obstacles perceived in attending college. Participants were MS students (N=57) who attended five public middle schools in Tucson where an average of 68% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, and  90% are non-Anglo, of which the majority (74.7%) are Latina/o.

 

The study found that many perceived obstacles were shaped by either participants’ social networks that had limited college information or observations of others’ struggles to balance pursuing education and maintaining financial stability. Witnessing family members experience extreme financial hardship shaped the belief of some that they could not afford college, while for others it instilled pressure over selecting a college major that would yield economic opportunities. Most significantly, the study concluded that many MS students see their futures as a pathway of choices with economic strings attached to each decision, and therefore discussing post-secondary education as an economic investment might be a salient hook. The study also highlights the extent to which students turn to family to discuss post-secondary education, and notes the importance of including families in college access programming.

 

More information? Click here.

 

 

2009: Exposing Power Dynamics in Ascertaining Funds of Knowledge Through Mentoring

This study aims to contribute to this area of research as it examines the ways in which undergraduate students enrolled in a service-learning mentoring program use a funds of knowledge approach in their mentoring of middle school students. It explores how such funds of knowledge are recognized and utilized, and the power dynamics in play during this process.

 

For the AERA Conference Proposal, click here.

Research

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