Success of Distance Learning During 2020 COVID-19 Restrictions: A Report from Five STEM Training Programs for Underrepresented High School and Undergraduate Learners

Fung, Ellen B.; Frey, Mark R.; Valmont, Mary Eustace; Caffey-Fleming, Dolores E; Fraser, Marilyn; Williams, Janille; Killilea, David W.; Bogenmann, Emil; Livshits, Solomon; Boone, David N.

doi:10.15695/jstem/v4i3.03

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…During the 2021 program, all didactic activities also happened via Zoom as University policy prevented students from being together in groups. For both of these years, we saw similar encouraging results for students self-perceived ratings as in previous years, which we previously reported in 2020 (Fung et al, 2021). For example, on the post survey, we asked students to rate themselves on a scale of '1 -I know nothing' to '10 -I am an expert' on a series of skills important to becoming a scientist.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

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Getting to YES: The Evolution of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center Youth Enjoy Science (YES) Academy

Ayoob

Boyce

Livshits

et al. 2022

JSTEM

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Hillman Academy) has the primary goal of reaching high school students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds and guiding them through a cutting-edge research and professional development experience that positions them for success in STEM. With this focus, the Hillman Academy has provided nearly 300 authentic mentored research internship opportunities to 239 students from diverse backgrounds over the past 13 years most of whom matriculated into STEM majors in higher education. These efforts have helped shape a more diverse generation of future scientists and clinicians, who will enrich these fields with their unique perspectives and lived experiences. In this paper, we describe our program and the strategies that led to its growth into a National Institutes of Health Youth Enjoy Science-funded program including our unique multi-site structure, tiered mentoring platform, multifaceted recruitment approach, professional and academic development activities, and a special highlight of a set of projects with Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. We also share student survey data from the past six years that indicate satisfaction with the program, self-perceived gains in key areas of scientific development, awareness of careers in STEM, and an increased desire to pursue advanced degrees in STEM.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…This event, which was open to the public, was held on Zoom and broadcasted more broadly on our YouTube page. More information about the pivot to virtual programming including assessment data was reported elsewhere (Fung et al 2021).…”

Section: Virtual and Hybrid Programming In 2020-2021mentioning

confidence: 99%

Getting to YES: The Evolution of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center Youth Enjoy Science (YES) Academy

Ayoob

Boyce

Livshits

et al. 2022

JSTEM

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“…Scott Price et al ( 2020) described the sudden transformation of a four-week summer internship into a virtual program for underrepresented undergraduate students in marine and ocean sciences, finding that additional staff roles and curriculum components were needed to bolster communication, community building, research and communication skills, and technical support. Similar virtual adaptations of university or hospital-based biomedical research programs were described by Chang et al (2021), Fung et al (2021), Karara et al (2021), Qua et al (2021), Stainbrook (2022), andWozniak et al (2023) for high school students, and by Frost et al (2021) for middle school students. These authors noted the importance of such programs for increasing interest in biomedical fields among minoritized students, and they reported promising findings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…Incorporating these new educational formats into STEM instruction also provides students with experience in the kinds of distributed, collaborative teamwork that have become widespread in workplaces and in scientific research, applied science, and related STEM fields—experiences that may be particularly difficult for underrepresented groups to access if they are not a routine component of public education (Morgan et al, 2021). Greensmith et al (2023) reported similar findings from research with higher education faculty regarding resilience and resilient pedagogy in undergraduate research courses, concluding that “negotiating the COVID‐19 pandemic in all its disruptions required faculty members to reevaluate their pedagogical strategies, particularly when supporting undergraduate researchers.” Several reports of COVID‐19 adaptations have found that online interactive communications can be leveraged to enhance individualized and small group discussions for better learning if enough skilled educator time is made available, and these important social components were easier to replicate and expand using online communication than were lab or field experiences (Fung et al (2021); Karara et al, 2021; Qua et al, 2021; Scott Price et al, 2020). As the tools and practices for online collaboration continue to develop, ongoing research will be important to inform education systems about the best ways to provide all students and teachers with emergency‐resilient courses as well as preparation and practice for using these tools in non‐emergency conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an evaluation of how two programs delivering research experiences to early and late high school students were impacted by COVID-19, Wozniak et al (2023) argued "the traditional research skills of developing questions and problem statements, developing a research plan, conducting research, and completing data analysis … translate well to virtual programming" and are thus both resilient to classroom disruptions and less dependent on expensive lab equipment, making science education and career preparation more accessible for many students. Enhanced capacity of schools and STEM education programs to use hybrid, blended, or fully online formats for science education can broaden the reach of these programs to greater numbers of underrepresented students in broader geographic areas (Bradley et al, 2021;Chang et al, 2021;Frost et al, 2021;Fung et al, 2021;Karara et al, 2021;Qua et al, 2021;Stainbrook, 2022;Wozniak et al, 2023). This widespread finding is tempered by research showing that such programming may not reach significant numbers of students who have low technology access at home and who may be better served by inperson instruction (Haderlein et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Learning from COVID‐19: Research education in troubling times

Coe,

Jones,

Kiley

et al. 2023

School Sci & Mathematics

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The United Nations has identified the COVID‐19 pandemic as the largest global disruption of education in history. Collaborative and hands‐on learning activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were particularly challenging to maintain during this period. Future large‐scale disruptions of schools are considered likely, leading to questions about how educators can be better prepared. Since 2019, the REACH program has worked with schools in Montana, Idaho, Alaska, and Hawaii to educate students about air quality and health. The program also provides a framework and support for teachers to incorporate rudimentary student‐led scientific field research in middle and high school science courses. Through student and teacher surveys, we inquired about how the pandemic affected program experiences during the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 school years. Responses from 416 students and 31 teachers showed both difficulties and adaptive capacity in implementing the REACH program during COVID‐19‐related restrictions. It is encouraging to appreciate the resilience of students and teachers as they adapted to emergency remote teaching and learning strategies. However, the extent and the specific kinds of difficulties they encountered may inform efforts to help schools and teachers become better prepared for potential future events that may disrupt in‐classroom learning.

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A low‐cost cure for CUREs: An undergraduate microbiology course engaging students in authentic research using publicly available datasets

Avramovska,

Rokop

2023

Biochem Molecular Bio Educ

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Undergraduate research experiences are key to preparing STEM students for a range of careers and graduate programs, and to impacting retention in STEM. Providing undergraduate research experiences can be challenging for institutions due to the high cost associated with equipment and reagents, lab space, and research mentors. In this study, we present an upper‐level microbiology seminar course that does not require these resources, as each student chooses and performs their own research project using data obtained from publicly available datasets. The faculty member provides hands‐on instruction and regular feedback to mentor the cohort of students through all stages of their research projects, from honing a research question, to choosing a dataset, to data analysis and visualization. Students build science communication skills through each writing a scientific paper, and creating and presenting a scientific poster. These papers and presentations, along with results from student pre‐ and post‐surveys, demonstrate that students built research and communication skills, while also building their confidence and interest in science careers. To access this research experience, students only need to register for this course; no application or selection is required, and no prior research experience is expected. The use of publicly available data makes this course a low‐cost way to integrate authentic research projects into the college curriculum, and can be adapted to courses in any discipline. Such “low‐cost CUREs” (course‐based undergraduate research experiences) can be used to build capacity for undergraduate research experiences that are so crucial to preparing students for opportunities in and beyond college.

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Success of Distance Learning During 2020 COVID-19 Restrictions: A Report from Five STEM Training Programs for Underrepresented High School and Undergraduate Learners

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

Getting to YES: The Evolution of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center Youth Enjoy Science (YES) Academy

Getting to YES: The Evolution of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center Youth Enjoy Science (YES) Academy

Learning from COVID‐19: Research education in troubling times

A low‐cost cure for CUREs: An undergraduate microbiology course engaging students in authentic research using publicly available datasets

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