With generous funding from the Marshall Foundation and the 100% Student Engagement Strategic Investment Fund, WISE launched the STEM Outreach and Student Engagement Program in the Fall 2015 semester. We will be continuing to offer academic credit for participation in this program every fall and spring semester as funding allows.
This program provides UA students with the opportunity to earn 3 units of academic credit and an engaged learning experience designation on their transcript for participating in a course focused on diversity and social justice in STEM fields (GWS 397S) and working with local schools and school-based programs helping implement STEM educational initiatives.
The STEM Outreach and Student Engagement Program is a collaboration between WISE and the STEMAZing Project of the Pima County Superintendent’s Office. STEMAZing Director, DaNel Hogan provides UA student participants with trainings on informal science education and best practices for engaging K-12 youth in the sciences and engineering. During spring 2016, students also learned from local educators Trish Vogel (engineering teacher at Mansfeld Middle School) and Michelle Coe (environmental science educator with the UA Community & School Garden Program). Trish and Michelle shared their experiences and expertise with STEM lesson planning with UA students, helping them build skills that would help them be as useful and effective as they could be at their site placements.
Through program-required STEM outreach activities, this program has impacted over 250 K-12 students on a weekly basis and an additional 1,500 through large-scale public STEM events. Programs we’ve supported through this program include: the after school science club at Manzo Elementary; the 21st Century Robotics program at Borton Magnet Primary School; engineering courses at Mansfeld and Amphi Middle Schools; the iSTEM Program for Native American youth at Lawrence intermediate school; and the MESA program at Amphi Middle School. During the Spring 2016 semester, UA students participating in this program came from the Colleges of Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Science, and Engineering.
We look forward to growing this program over the coming years, as we work to increase STEM educational opportunities in the Tucson area and foster diversity along the K-12 STEM educational pipeline!
If you are interested in participating in this program email Jill Williams at jillmwilliams@email.arizona.edu for more information.
