San Diego City College Academy for STEM Success - A Model Summer Bridge Program Rafael Alvarez San Diego City College MESA Program Director Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Feb 23, 2016
San Diego City College Academy for STEM Success- A Model Summer Bridge ProgramRafael AlvarezSan Diego City College MESA Program Director
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Engage, Educate, Empower
Female Academy: Circle of Sisters
A Power Community @ City College
Male Academy: Circle of Brothers
Background “How to”: A 3-Day “STEM Culture” Model
Evaluation & Results
“A Conversation”
Background
Culture
Need
STEMAcademy
Student Interest in STEM
Hurtado, S. and Chang, M. (2010). Degrees of Success: Bachelor’s Degree Completion Rates among Initial STEM Majors. Higher Education Institute at UCLA.
Degree Completion
Hurtado, S. and Chang, M. (2010). Degrees of Success: Bachelor’s Degree Completion Rates among Initial STEM Majors. Higher Education Institute at UCLA.
“New” American Dilemma
28.5% - Percentage of underrepresented minority groupsin national population (2006)
9.1% - Percentage of underrepresented minority groups among college-educated Americans in science and engineering occupations (academic and non-academic)
Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads (2010). National Academy of Sciences.
Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs)
8% - Percentage of HSIs among all U.S. postsecondary institutions
>50% - Percentage of Latinos enrolled in HSIs among the over 2 million Latinos enrolled in college
25% - Minimum percentage of Latino fulltime equivalent (FTE) enrollment required for HSI status
Malcom, L.E. et. al. (2010). (Re)Constructing Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Moving Beyond Numbers Toward Student Success.
Graduates of high schools with low API scores
First generation college students Economically disadvantaged Placement into basic skills courses Lack of necessary social and cultural capital
“Color of the sky”: Student Realities
"the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group"
"the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time <popular culture>"
"the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization <a corporate culture>"
What is Culture?
Model academic support program in STEM, including:
• Academic support and social integration• Professional and leadership development
Established in California in 1970 Currently 68 MESA Programs statewide serve
K-12, community college and university students
Thirteen states have adopted MESA model
San Diego City College MESA Program
STEM
STEM Academy: Collaborators
Rafael AlvarezDirector
Dr. M. Spradley
Dean
Dr. L. PerezCounselor
Veronica NavallezCounselor
Dr. S. StarobinPrincipal Evaluator
Dr. F. Santos Laanan
Co-PrincipalEvaluator
Joyce LuiGraduate Research
Assoc.
Carlos LopezGraduateResearch
Assoc.
STEM Academy: Mentors
3-Day ScheduleA.M.
Training
Networking
LunchP.M.
Training
IndustryExposure
Day 1:Culture
Day 3:Strengths/Campus
Day 2:Learning
Strategies
Day 1: Commitment
Victims …- Blame others- Complain- Make excuses- Repeat ineffective behavior- “Have to” do things- Pretend their problems belong
to others- “Try”- Give up
FAILUREVictims seldom achieve goals
Creators … Accept responsibility Take actions Seek solutions Do something new “Choose to” do things Own their problems Commit & follow through Take control of their choices & their
lives!
SUCCESSCreators often achieve goals
Downing, S. (2009). Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life.
Wadsworth, Boston, MA, 6th Edition.
Cultural Beliefs Secret to Success (a.k.a. African Village
story):“When you find something in life that you want as much as you want to breathe, then you will find the secret to success!”
Capstone for life: The purpose for the learning Skills Knowledge Wisdom FREEDOM!
Networking Lunch - Daily
Industry Exposure - Daily
Other Day 2 Training Learning styles Test taking strategies
Other Day 3 Training Time management Test taking strategies Campus tour: Scavenger hunt led by
mentors
Mission Accomplished!
Evaluation Plan Formative evaluation for program
improvement was conducted by Iowa State University research team
Methodology: Use of quantitative and qualitative assessment tools
Questionnaire, with Likert scale, completed daily to determine: Degree of understanding Likelihood for applying the training
A focus group was conducted following each STEM Academy
Evaluation Results Students were very satisfied with the
program and the rewarding learning experience in such a short period of time
Interactions with professionals from STEM fields and City College professors helped students to gain a clear vision about their goal and career path
For the majority of students, the Academy experience confirmed their interest in pursuing a career in STEM fields
Evaluation Results (continued)
Some of the students would like to interact more closely with their peers during the 3 day program
All students concluded by saying that they would definitely recommend this program to other recent high school graduates with aspirations to go to college and pursue a career in STEM field
Recommendations Programmatic – provide shared experience
for females and males
Participation – emphasize Academy experience to improve outreach and recruitment
Personalize learning experience – provide opportunities for self-reflection and discussion
Mentors – increase the opportunities for mentors to share their experiences
Evaluation tools – revisit survey design to provide a more refined assessment, and tailor a survey instrument for mentors
Fall 2011 Results – Units Earned
Males Females All0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
All Students"3/4+" Time Students
Ave
rage
Uni
ts
Fall 2011 Results – GPA
Males Females All0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
All Students"3/4+" Time Students
AVer
age
GPA
Special thanks to the STEM Academy teams at San Diego City College
and Iowa State University
Comments are appreciated. Please forward to
Rafael Alvarez ([email protected])
Detailed information for the STEM Academy,
including related materials, can be found on the
City College website:www.sdcity.edu (Search “stem academy”)
“Following an informed approach”:References
1. Dowd, A.C., Malcom, L.E. & Macias, E.E. (2010). Improving Transfer Access to STEM, Bachelor’s Degrees at Hispanic Serving Institutions through the America COMPETES Act. Los Angeles, CA: University of Southern California.
2. Frehill, L., DiFabio, N. & Hill, S. (2008). Confronting the "New" American Dilemma - Underrepresented Minorities in Engineering: A Data-Based Look at Diversity. National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering.
3. Henderson, P., Psalmonds, E. & Bissell, R. (2010). Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
“Following an informed approach”:References (continued)
4. Hoffman, E., Starobin, S.S., Santos Laanan, F. & Rivera, M. (2010). Role of Community Colleges in STEM Education: Thoughts on Implications for Policy, Practice and Future Research. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, Volume 16/Issue 1. DOI: 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v16.i1
5. Hurtado, S., Chang, M., Eagan, K. & Gasiewski, J. (2010). Degrees of Success: Bachelor’s Degree Completion Rates among Initial STEM Majors. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles.
6. Malcom, L.E., Bensimon, E.M. & Dávila, B. (2010). (Re)Constructing Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Moving Beyond Numbers Toward Student Success. Ames, IA: Iowa State University