Pre-college science and engineering for inner-city middle school students

It is well known that the number of jobs in science and engineering is expected to grow in the next few years. However, the nation’s current student body is not prepared nor sufficiently interested to pursue careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. More alarming is the fact that the demographics of students that are attracted to STEM fields demonstrate a significant race gap, with Hispanic and African-American students consistently falling behind to their Caucasian and Asian counterparts in STEM engagement. In order to contribute to the STEM pipeline, we have developed an extensive outreach program that involves middle school math and science teachers, middle school students and their parents, and a diverse group of STEM undergraduate students who serve as mentors. The program is an out-of-school program that includes a hands-on curriculum that focuses on “Using Mathematics to Explain the Physical World”, where students use mathematical modeling and real-life situations to delve deep into different scientific and mathematical concepts. With the pilot program launching in fall 2015 with four half-day Saturday sessions and 60 inner-city, 6th and 7th grade students (primarily African American and Hispanic/Latino), the spring 2016 program will be expanded to include six Saturday sessions. The program seeks to sustain the engagement by launching an additional grade every academic year, with the goal of building a solid 6th – 12th STEM pipeline. Pre-test and post-test assessments will be used to measure student learning and to determine the change in students’ dispositions towards mathematics and science. Participating students will be tracked throughout the program, to determine whether or not they were successfully entrenched into the STEM pipeline.