Apprenticeship of Immersion: College Access for High School Students Interested in Teaching Mathematics or Science

Abstract

Issues related to college access and the need for a pipeline of STEM teachers, provided the impetus for the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) to issue a call for Ohio universities to design pre‐college experiences for high school students with three major goals in mind: (a) improvement in mathematics, science, or foreign language learning; (b) increased attraction to careers as teachers of these subjects; and (c) increased familiarity and readiness for college admission to study these subjects. Through funding provided by an OBR grant we designed and implemented a summer immersion program for high school juniors and seniors in order to meet the needs of this call. Students with self‐reported interests in teaching mathematics or science spent two weeks on two environmentally different universities, Miami University and the University of Cincinnati, as a means to expose them to different campus climates while building a greater since of belonging, both culturally and academically. They also earned three PreCalculus credits through rigorous college‐coursework. Within this manuscript we describe the program, report pre‐ and post‐test data analyses, provide insights into students' perceptions of the college experience, and reflect on our own lessons learned.