Scaffolding Undergraduate STEM Majors

Project Engage utilizes a scaffolded approach to strategic mentoring grounded in the social constructivist theory of Vygotsky. Peer mentors, a career counselor, and STEM faculty serve as three scaffolding layers of more knowledgeable others (MKOs) who are responsible for assisting the mentee in achieving his/her zone of proximal development (ZPD), a higher level of learning or understanding than could be achieved alone. Detailed information is shared in this chapter on the selection, training, and responsibilities of the peer mentors, given that they serve as the first level of scaffolding (i.e., primary mentors for the freshmen). The career counselor and Engage faculty members constitute levels two and three of scaffolding. A survey was administered to evaluate the effectiveness of the mentoring program. Results from the survey of the mentees revealed positive perceptions of the mentoring program.

Opening the Doors to STEM Employment Opportunities for Rural Youth

Guiding rural students on the path towards a STEM career requires a tripartite approach that addresses career decidedness, career thoughts, and vocational maturity. The authors provide an overview of a guided career exploration model employed by Project Engage. Through guided career exploration, rural students are introduced to the multitude of career possibilities in STEM as well as the knowledge and skills needed for those careers. Additionally, this chapter reviews the outreach component of Project Engage. Outreach to students from local high schools serves both as a recruitment tool and as a means to motivate rural students to pursue STEM as a college major. Finally, the authors present data from surveys regarding the effectiveness of the outreach activities on engaging high school students in STEM.

STEM Education in Rural Areas

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is challenged to produce enough graduates to maintain nationwide STEM workforce needs. This chapter discloses the importance of STEM education for developing a more scientifically literate citizenry prepared to face the challenges of an increasingly technological society and meet U.S. workforce demands. An examination of the state of STEM education reveals its current inability to produce enough qualified graduates to meet current and future needs. The researchers propose looking towards rural areas to supply the STEM pipeline running from college to STEM career. In order to capitalize on the rural school population, programs are needed to address the barriers between the rural student and college. This chapter outlines and expounds these barriers as well as introduces Project Engage as one such program determined to prepare rural students from the Alabama Black Belt region, particularly rural minority students, for STEM futures.

A Three-Pillar Approach to Preparing Tomorrow's STEM Professionals

STEM professionals need specific knowledge, abilities, and general ways of working to be successful. In this chapter, the authors identify a three-pillar approach for preparing future STEM workers including 1) knowledge of STEM careers and professionals, 2) abilities to work in the STEM fields, and 3) ways of working as STEM professionals. Additionally, the individual components and activities of Project Engage that address each pillar are detailed. Finally, this chapter also presents the results and implications discovered through survey research designed to ascertain the participants' opinions of the project activities and the impact of the activities on retention in STEM fields and on participants' desires to continue into STEM careers. The survey results uncover a trend of more positive responses of minority students towards project activities designed to prepare future STEM professionals. This trend calls for future, more in-depth examinations on the project activities and similar ones as a means to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM professions.

Project Engage

As the nation seeks to diversify the STEM workforce, looking toward the rural areas of the United States affords an opportunity to increase the flow of students into the STEM pipeline. However, rural students face many roadblocks on the way to STEM careers including poor educational attainment, lack of STEM experiences, few STEM role models, inadequate technology preparation, and low motivation to pursue STEM. This chapter explores those barriers and proposes Project Engage as an avenue for breaking down the barriers. The chapter identifies and explains the major components of Project Engage: strategic mentoring, STEM engagement activities, and guided career exploration. These combined components create a comprehensive framework for addressing the barriers imposed by the nature of growing up “rural.” Statistical data is presented that reveals an increase in recruitment of STEM majors as well as positive results of retention.

Improving Undergraduate STEM Education

Improving STEM education in the U.S. stands to address one of the nation's priorities, increasing the STEM workforce. Rural students are a previously untapped source of potential; yet, these students lack STEM experiences, engagement, and scaffolding to stay motivated to complete an undergraduate program in STEM. Motivation is a key element for rural student interest and persistence in STEM; however, these students also must develop certain knowledge and skills to succeed as STEM professionals. The authors propose a model, Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Framework, as a means to maintain motivation and prepare rural students for the rigors of a STEM major/career. In this chapter, the four-dimensional framework is unveiled along with examples of Project Engage's efforts to address each dimension.