GP-EXTRA: Expanding GeoFORCE Alaska, a Pathway to STEM Degrees for Rural, First-Generation, and Alaska Native Students

GSTDTAP

项目编号	1701259
	GP-EXTRA: Expanding GeoFORCE Alaska, a Pathway to STEM Degrees for Rural, First-Generation, and Alaska Native Students
	Sarah Fowell
主持机构	University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus
项目开始年	2018
	2018-04-01
项目结束日期	2019-03-31
资助机构	US-NSF
项目类别	Standard Grant
项目经费	208114(USD)
国家	美国
语种	英语
英文摘要	Part 1 Residents of predominantly Alaska Native villages holding degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields bring valuable perspectives to decisions regarding management of cultural and natural resources. However, during the 2014-2015 school year, 37.6% of Alaska Native students dropped out of Alaskan public schools (education.alaska.gov/stats/). At the college level, Alaska Native students are underrepresented in University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) STEM majors. GeoFORCE Alaska is a four-year, field-based, summer geoscience program that has successfully raised graduation rates in rural Alaskan high schools and increased the diversity of students pursuing college degrees in STEM fields. The program applies the cohort model, leading the same group of high school students on 10-day field academies during four consecutive summers. The curriculum builds across the program, giving students a chance to apply the scientific method to relevant questions at spectacular geological locations. Now in its fifth year, GeoFORCE Alaska has served 54 students in two cohorts. 76% of these students identify as Alaska Native, reflecting the demographics of their communities. A stable base of industry sponsors funds one summer academy per year, limiting recruitment of a new cohort of 8th and 9th grade students to once every four years. By funding participant support for a second summer academy during 2018 and 2019, this expansion grant will double the frequency of recruiting and expand the region served, thereby offering the GeoFORCE experience to interested applicants in remote communities throughout northern and interior Alaska. Based on results thus far, doubling the number of GeoFORCE participants will raise high school graduation rates in the school districts served and increase the number and diversity of rural Alaskan students attending college and pursuing STEM degrees. Part 2 Launched in 2012 by the University of Alaska Fairbanks in partnership with the longstanding GeoFORCE Texas program and adapted for a cohort of rural, predominantly Alaska Native students, GeoFORCE Alaska employs best educational practices as established by research in order to engage and prepare future STEM majors. Through a combination of active learning, high academic standards, mentorship and teamwork, participants acquire habits that promote academic success and gain the confidence to pursue STEM degrees. The goals of GeoFORCE Alaska are: 1) Promote high school graduation; 2) Increase the number of rural students attending college and pursuing STEM degrees; and 3) Diversify Alaska?s technical workforce. Program success in achieving these goals is assessed via qualitative metrics, including an annual survey of participants, and quantitative metrics, including participant retention, comparison of participants? high school graduation rates with rates for their school districts as a whole, and long-term tracking of college matriculation, persistence, majors, and degrees earned. The inaugural cohort of 18 students from the North Slope Borough completed the Fourth-Year Academy in summer 2015. 94% of these students graduated from high school and 72% are going to college. Of these, 85% chose STEM majors, and 38% will pursue undergraduate degrees in geoscience. A second cohort of 34 rising 9th and 10th graders entered the program in 2016. At the request of Alaska Native Regional Corporation sponsors, this cohort was recruited from both the Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs. On an exit survey following the 2016 First-Year Academy, 100% of participants indicated that they learned a lot, 97% made new friends, and 94% increased their interest in science. The success of the first two cohorts indicates that GeoFORCE Alaska is highly effective as a means of raising high school graduation rates in remote Alaskan villages and increasing the participation of rural, Alaska Native, and first-generation college students in STEM majors. An expansion grant will significantly increase the number of students and school districts served by the program over the next two years, with the goals of doubling the number of GeoFORCE alumni entering STEM majors by fall 2022 and attracting additional regional sponsors to sustain a biennial recruiting schedule. 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.
文献类型	项目
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/72450
专题	环境与发展全球科技态势
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Sarah Fowell.GP-EXTRA: Expanding GeoFORCE Alaska, a Pathway to STEM Degrees for Rural, First-Generation, and Alaska Native Students.2018.