STEM Inquiry Research Summer Enrichment Program

This project aims to serve the national interest by establishing sustainable practices to improve undergraduate engagement and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This IUSE EHR Engaged Student Learning Level 1 project, STEM Research Inquiry Summer Experience (STEM RISE), seeks to better prepare and retain STEM majors as qualified STEM teachers and professionals equipped with tools and resources to serve urban youth.

It is a collaboration at the University of Houston between faculty from the secondary STEM teacher preparation program, teachHOUSTON, and the College of Medicine, along with Jack Yates High School in the Historic Third Ward in which the University resides. High quality teacher preparation in the STEM disciplines is critical to student success especially in schools that are underfunded and combatting atmospheres of deficit thinking.

Consequently, STEM RISE takes up the charge by implementing targeted professional development, revising curriculum to integrate culturally responsive pedagogy, and providing learning experiences with mentorship facilitated by content experts and peers. The STEM RISE project is the next step in teachHOUSTON’s evolving trajectory towards being a national leader in secondary STEM teacher education programs.

The project intends to engage urban high school youth from a predominantly Black community in summer research experiences to enhance learning and introduce them to STEM career pathways. It is expected that the high school students will learn valuable science skills and experiences that will equip them with the knowledge, motivation, mentorship, and social capital to pursue a STEM career.

Supporting this activity is a mentorship structure that will include undergraduate STEM student lab mentors as well as faculty (who also mentor the undergraduates) and pre-service teachers. STEM RISE provides undergraduate STEM majors, pursuing STEM teacher certification, with novel and meaningful opportunities to embed culturally responsive teaching (CRT) in their instruction through a revised Research Methodology in STEM Course and a professional development institute focused on social justice topics.

Additionally, the professional development institute supports STEM undergraduates in learning STEM CRT methods with structured practice in lesson design and implementation. The findings from the project are expected to contribute to the knowledge base about mentoring undergraduate STEM majors, preservice teacher professional development, and literature about theory-practice gaps in culturally responsive and inquiry-based STEM education, including research experiences with underrepresented student populations.

Thus, the project has the potential to contribute to better STEM teacher preparation, mentoring of undergraduate STEM majors and experiential learning of varying student bodies, especially students of color who are historically underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.

Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship (Noyce) Program is providing co-funding for this IUSE: EHR project to support the project's preservice teacher preparation goals, which are well-aligned with Noyce Program goals.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.