DoD Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program for High School Students. 1993-1994 Activities

1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Pfeffer
2009 ◽  
Vol 1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Jonathan Steinberg ◽  
Shannon L. Greco ◽  
Kimberly Carroll

AbstractThe Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) is an NSF-funded Materials Science and Research Center (MRSEC) at Princeton. PCCM currently has four Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) and several seed projects. PCCM runs a variety of education outreach programs that include: Research Experience for Undergraduates, Research Experience for Teachers, Materials Camp for Teachers, Middle School Science and Engineering Expo (SEE) for 1200 students, and Princeton University Materials Academy (PUMA), for inner city high school students. In this paper we focus on new evaluation efforts for the PUMA and the Science and Engineering Expo. We will discuss first PUMA the SEE and elaborate on the new evaluation efforts for each program.Created in 2002 by PCCM, PUMA has an inquiry based materials science curriculum designed to work at the high school level. PUMA's activities are paired with an inquiry based evaluation of scientific ability and attitude change. An evaluation of high school students' ability to formulate scientific questions as a result of their participation in this summer program based was developed based on similar studies of college students questioning ability in inquiry learning environments. Created in 2004 by PCCM and partners in Molecular Biology, SEE is run once per year in the spring. It is a day dedicated to capturing the imaginations of young students through science demonstrations and direct interaction with materials scientists and engineers. 1000 middle school students from local schools come to Princeton University to interact with Princeton scientists and engineers and explore science with the help of demonstrations and hands-on activities. Throughout the day, they explore a wide range research from Princeton that is at the cutting edge of science and engineering to generate excitement about science and engineering. In addition to studying over 5000's student written essays we have constructed a pre and post test for student attitudes administered to over 500 students in 2009 to determine the impact of the SEE on students' attitudes about materials science and STEM fields. This large scale attitude assessment and student written statements help to establish the impact of this one day program.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 1745
Author(s):  
Jawaher Alsultan ◽  
Michelle Henderson ◽  
Madison Rice ◽  
Xia Yang ◽  
Jordin Kahler ◽  
...  

The lack of readily available sources of potable water is major problem in many parts of the world. This project engaged high school (HS) students in authentic and meaningful science and engineering activities to teach them about the lack and poor quality of potable water in many regions and how they can be addressed through the use of point of use (POU) treatments, such as biosand filters (BSFs). The HS students’ activities paralleled those of USF students, including research question development and BSF design, construction, operation, and monitoring. An ethnographic approach was utilized by incorporating participant observation, collection and review of artifacts, and interviews. It was found that the project’s focus on the need to provide potable water in the developing world provided authenticity and meaningfulness to the HS students, which encouraged their participation in activities and the learning of science and engineering practices. The HS students reported an awareness of the differences between this project and their regular science classes. The project had a positive impact on their perceptions of themselves as scientists and their interest in STEM careers. The HS students’ results were useful to the university-based research. In addition, the USF students gained teaching experience while investigating research questions in a low-stakes environment.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0258717
Author(s):  
Patricia K. Hunt ◽  
Michelle Dong ◽  
Crystal M. Miller

There remains a large gender imbalance in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce deriving from a leaky pipeline where women start losing interest and confidence in science and engineering as early as primary school. To address this disparity, the Science Research & Engineering Program (SREP) at Hathaway Brown School was established in 1998 to engage and expose their all-female high school students to STEM fields through an internship-like multi-year research experience at partnering institutions. We compare data from existing Hathaway Brown School SREP alumnae records from 1998–2018 (n = 495) to Non-SREP students and national datasets (National Center for Educational Statistics, National Science Foundation, and US Census data) to assess how SREP participation may influence persistence in the STEM pipeline and whether SREP alumnae attribute differences in these outcomes to the confidence and skill sets they learned from the SREP experience. The results reveal that women who participate in the SREP are more likely to pursue a major in a STEM field and continue on to a STEM occupation compared to non-SREP students, national female averages, and national subsets. Participants attribute their outcomes to an increase in confidence, establishment of technical and professional skills, and other traits strengthened through the SREP experience. These data suggest that implementing similar experiential programs for women in science and engineering at the high school stage could be a promising way to combat the remaining gender gap in STEM fields.


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