Under-Represented Populations Annotated Report Excerpts

Excerpt 1 [Georgia InGEAR Consortium]

Project Features:
Describes project goals

InGEAR promotes equal access and gender equity in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (SEM) by transforming universities in Georgia that sponsor teacher preparation programs. Equal access and gender equity are promoted while students are encouraged to explore and discover, are challenged intellectually, and experience success that is born out of these opportunities, regardless of gender. Access also involves being aware of career opportunities associated with science, mathematics, and related technical fields.

The following project goals provide the foundation for InGEAR activities within these institutions.

1. To emphasize the importance of equal access and gender in SEM
2. To prepare future teachers who will promote equal access and gender equity with K-12 science, mathematics, engineering, and technology classes across Georgia
3. To encourage women students to pursue and complete degrees associated with science, mathematics, engineering, and technology careers

These goals are consistent with the vision of the Georgia Initiative in Mathematics and Science (GIMS) that is supported by the National Science Foundation. Specifically, InGEAR activities support the following GIMS goals.

1. To create a sensitive environment that is accepting of personal experience and cultural influences while increasing the successful participation of under-represented groups in mathematics and science
2. To initiate fundamental changes in the state educational structure to empower students, teachers, parents, administrators, and the community toward scientific literacy

Relative to higher education in Georgia, InGEAR promotes the following project objectives.

1. To facilitate the redesign of teacher preparation programs in ways that will
   1. Increase awareness of the need for and barriers to equal access and gender equity in SEM
   2. Identify strategies for promoting equal access and gender equity within SEM pedagogy and content courses at the post-secondary level
   3. Provide resources that faculty and teaching assistants can use to equip SEM education majors to promote access and gender equity in K-12 SEM classes across Georgia

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders:
Identifies stakeholder groups and their objectives

Project objectives have taken the form of institutional self-study, professional development, tool kit, and curriculum framework strands, with strand leadership provided by specific institutions. Strand Leaders remain current with the scholarship pertaining to their strand, provide specific deliverables, and provide technical assistance for participating institutions. Each strand is intended to be implemented on each campus participating in the project, and project management is provided by the Strand Leader at Georgia Tech. Strand leadership and objectives are presented in Table 1 below.

Excerpt 2 [Girls Inc. of Alameda County]

Project Features:
Describes project goals and components

Program Description

The Eureka Teen Achievement Program is in its fifth year of operation at Girls Inc. of Alameda County. The objective of the Eureka program is to increase girls' participation in math and science classes leading to success in college enrollment and career opportunities.

Approximately thirty 7th grade girls are recruited during the spring semester for the "Rookie" (first) year of the four year program. The Eureka program includes a four-week, full-day, summer session, monthly Saturday sessions during the academic year and weekly math tutoring sessions during the academic year.

In the second year of the program continuing participants are called "Vets" and also participate in the four-week, full-day, summer program, Saturday programs during the academic year, and the weekly tutoring program. Rookies and Vets meet at Mills College for the summer program and at Girls Inc. facilities in San Leandro for the Saturday program and afterschool tutoring sessions.

Years three and four of the Eureka program are designed for summer internship experiences at business and agency locations throughout the East Bay region or in an assistant teaching position with the Eureka summer program. Vets must reapply for the third and fourth years of the program and are interviewed before being accepted for an internship placement. The first week of the internship experience includes an orientation conducted at Mills College and the remaining four-week experience takes place at on-site internship locations.

The following table reviews past and current Eureka program participation data. As the table indicates thirty to thirty-four 7th grade girls are recruited each year to participate as "Rookies" in the Eureka program. Program participation decreased each year of the program after the Rookie year. The 1993 and 1994 cohorts decreased more than 50% at the time of their graduation in 1996 and 1997.

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders:
Identifies numbers of participants recruited and retained over the years

Eureka Program Participation:

Describes project components

The program focuses on the development of math and science skills along with career and college exploration. In general, the program components are designed to be experiential in nature and provide opportunities for Eureka participants to explore new concepts, develop critical thinking skills, increase decision-making skills, enhance academic achievement.

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Excerpt 3 [Montana State University-Bozeman]

Project Features:
Describes project goals

This is an evaluation report for the Science and Engineering for All (SEA) Montana State Faculty Institute held July 15 to July 18, 1997 at Montana State University- Bozeman, Bozeman, Montana. The institute goals were in keeping with SEA initiatives to increase the number of high school girls from rural schools and Indian reservations, who either pursue science or engineering majors and careers or at a minimum become more confident and involved with their science course work as non-majors. Other interventions include mini-grants and on-line mentoring support to teachers, counselors and students.

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders:
Describes participant recruitment efforts

The "Gender, Science and Engineering" Faculty Institute targeted science and engineering faculty from Montana State University-Bozeman and three tribal colleges: Blackfeet Community College, Little Big Horn College, and Dull Knife Memorial College. These tribal colleges are located on the Blackfeet, Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations. In Spring 1997, the project sent an announcement for the institute with a letter of invitation to targeted faculty. Project Assistant Director <name of person> and other SEA committee members made follow-up calls to complete the recruiting.

Project Features

The specific institute plan was to introduce faculty to national research on female-friendly pedagogies and content, thereby encouraging faculty involvement with the goals of the project. Institute participants became eligible to apply for a mini-grant from the SEA.

Excerpt 4 [Tufts University]

Project Features:
Describes project goals and components

I. Project Description

Girls in Engineering: Hands-On Museum Exhibit Development was a one year project, funded by the National Science Foundation, which used the design, development and construction of "professional quality" hands-on museum exhibits to introduce five teams of middle school girls, their mothers and teachers to science and engineering concepts and experiences. Through this process, the project hoped to encourage girls' interest in science and engineering activities and careers, change teacher attitudes on gender-related issues, and through the finished exhibits to show museum visitors that middle school girls can be expert users of tools and technology and master complex math, science and engineering concepts.

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders

The project was a collaboration between several Massachusetts institutions: the College of Engineering at Tufts University, the Acton Science Discovery Museum, four public schools (Bromfield School in Harvard; Hale Middle School in Stow; Peabody Middle School in Concord; R.J. Grey Junior High School in Acton) and one private single-sex school (Winsor School) in Boston. All the public schools are located in Greater Boston suburbs.

Each of the five "core" teams consisted of five to six middle school-aged girls, a science teacher and at least one mother (all from the same school), as well as a female Tufts engineering student who served as overall facilitator and role model. In addition, a variety of other "experts" acted as consultants to the teams. University faculty and staff assisted with technical issues, trained and supervised the engineering students, and oversaw the general project, including recruitment, logistics, scheduling and execution. Museum staff were primarily responsible for showing the exhibits resulting from the project for at least 6 months; providing information on issues such as exhibit durability, size, labeling and text and other components related to exhibit development; and installation and maintenance of exhibits once they arrived at the Museum.

Project Features:
Describes project components and their implementation

After selecting participants in the early winter, project directors brought girls together for three preliminary meetings in the spring to begin conceptualizing their exhibits.¹ The main part of the project began the last week of June with an intensive series of workshops on tool use, pedagogy and team-building activities. The twenty-seven girls, grades six to eight, spent the rest of the month developing, designing, testing and building their exhibits. Throughout the summer girls used a variety of tools almost every day, including a band saw, drill press, and belt sander as well as a variety of power and manual hand tools. Several groups also learned AutoCad to aid in exhibit design and construction. All girls learned PowerPoint, and used this during a formal presentation the last day of the project.² With the help of staff girls also developed Web pages on their projects.³

Exhibits were installed in September by Museum staff, who took great care to blend girls' exhibits in with other exhibits at the Museum. For example, labels and explanatory text were done in the same style, text and format as other surrounding exhibits. To distinguish girls' exhibits (it wasn't easy to distinguish them by looks alone), each exhibit also had a special label that described the project. The Museum also displayed photographs of the girls "in action" beside each exhibit.

¹ Given time constraints of the project, university and museum partners needed to decide how much freedom participating girls had in choice of topic and exhibit design. Initially, the project staff thought about assigning topics or having girls make exhibits partially based on kits. However, to their credit university and museum partners moved away from predetermining the topics and design of exhibits, and girls were allowed to follow their own interests.

² Exhibits produced by girls were:
Earthquake Table: This exhibit teaches visitors about earthquakes, building stability and instability during an earthquake. Visitors can construct buildings using different building foundations and materials, explore how buildings can survive earthquakes with little or no damage, and find out why various foundations are more or less successful.
Gears in Motion: Gears in Motion uses everyday objects (salad spinner, corkscrew, egg beater, ice cream scoop), bicycles (sawed in half) and a gear train to show how common household objects have gears, what gears do and what concepts like torque, speed, and angular velocity really mean. The exhibit also explores different gear types (rack and pinion, spur, planetary, bevel, and belt gears) and how they work relative to one another.
The Amazing Laser Maze: The Laser Maze examines lasers, lights and reflection. The exhibit is shaped like a house (to echo the shape of the museum building), and contains a red laser and metrologic photometer, ten movable mirrors, and target in each corner. Visitors rotate mirrors to move the laser beam onto other mirrors or a target.
The Human-Powered Elevator: This exhibit illustrates the principle of mechanical advantage. Girls built an elevator that adults (or children, with the help of adults) can lift themselves using pulleys. The elevator can also accommodate a wheelchair as an additional design feature.
The Big Boat Race Table: Visitors can try out twelve different boats (or make their own out of tin foil) to explore the concept of buoyancy, test out which materials and designs go the fastest or hold the most weight before sinking. Girls also designed a pulley system so that racing boats would go at the same force—the better to compare materials and design.

³ View the Girls in Engineering Home Page at: http://www.tufts.edu/as/engdept/mpwg

(…)

Describes project goals

While the main goal for the project was to see if middle school girls could develop and build hands-on, "quality" museum exhibits, project staff had many other goals for participating girls, including:

• Increasing their interest in science and engineering-related careers;
• Increasing their interest in taking math and science classes through high school;
• Developing specific skills, such as using power tools and technical equipment;
• Learning skills used in engineering, including teamwork and presentation skills, including comfort and skill when presenting scientific information verbally, through PowerPoint presentations and related Web pages as well as through the exhibits themselves;
• Associating science with everyday objects and life;
• Becoming role models for other girls in their school.

Describes project components and their implementations

The project made a conscious decision to surround the girls with as many potential "mentors" and "role models" as possible. Therefore, female engineering students were chosen to facilitate and oversee the teams, and were hired based on their interest in mentoring and working with younger students as well as their academic credentials. It was originally planned that mentoring activities between university students and girls would continue after the summer project: girls would "shadow" them for a day, attending engineering classes and learning more about college life. However, this was not done, in part because of scheduling and logistics issues.

(…)

Project Features:
Describes stakeholders' perspectives on project goals

From the Museum's perspective, the project was a way to increase the amount of student-produced exhibits as well as a way to promote gender equity by making it clear to visitors, through wall text and public events, that young women designed and built the exhibits. The project was also an opportunity for the Museum to establish relationships with scientists and the research community, and access technical knowledge and expertise.

For the University, in addition to their goals for participants, the project was a chance to expand and publicize their commitment to pre-college programs, strengthen their women in engineering efforts, partner with other organizations and develop relationships with neighboring school districts. In addition, the University hoped the project would provide a replicable model of collaboration among schools, universities and museums that could be adapted to other communities nationwide.

Excerpt 5 [Montana State University-Bozeman]

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders

Fifteen (15) teachers and eleven (11) counselors attended the one-week course. Five (5) administrators attended the Thursday sessions. A list of school participants with school addresses is included. Eleven school teams attended, plus an additional five teachers attended without a school counselor partner. Fourteen schools were represented in the short course. Table 1 summarizes school participation.

Table 2 summarizes demographic data from a Questionnaire collected July 14, 1997. All teachers were from the mathematics and/or science areas. Five teachers have masters degrees; content areas include agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, counseling, and elementary education. Ten counselors hold masters degrees in counseling. School experience ranged from a low of three (3) years to a high of thirty (30) years. Both teachers and counselors averaged eight (8) years in their present positions.

Thirteen (13) participants reported having previous gender equity training. Fourteen (14) respondents had prior experience with electronic messaging, e-mail or METnet. Seven (7) rated their comfort level using e-mail as low and six (6) stated "high" or "good." Thirteen (13) indicated they have used the Internet, while three (3) had previously created a Web page. Eleven (11) respondents use Internet with students. Uses were listed as: research for science projects, NASA data, Jason Project, college/career information, and scholarship information.

Recruiting for this institute was confounded by summer school teaching schedules, vacation plans and other previous commitments. This meant somewhat lower than anticipated participation and no participants from the Chemistry Department. Future institutes will benefit from being scheduled and announced sooner.

Excerpt 6 [Rochester Institute of Technology]

Project Features:
Describes project goals

Project Components
Teacher Training Institute

Goal
The goal of the Summer Institute is to develop strategies to be used both in and out of the classroom to motivate and retain women students in the pursuit of mathematics, science, and technologies studies and careers. At the conclusion of the Summer Institute the participants will be able to:

• Recognize common gender biased practices in the classroom
• Identify possible alternatives to those practices to increase gender equity
• List personal and school team goals for implementing gender equitable practices during the school year
• Explain and give examples of collaborative/cooperative learning strategies and their relation to the concept of multiple intelligence
• Code and peer coach colleagues for gender equitable practices
• Apply action reset techniques in their classroom to continuously [sic] gender equity
• Use computer and telecommunications technologies for Project EDGE activities and peer support
• Understand and carry out responsibilities and activities of Project EDGE with the colleagues and students involved in the grant

Process
A week long Summer Institute was conducted on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology for high school math and science teachers associated with Project EDGE. The presenter was David Sadker, Ph.D., the author of Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Shortchange Girls and numerous articles on education and gender bias. The training and experiences offered during the Institute included a faculty questionnaire, classroom lectures, activities, role playing, peer coaching and coding, and the use of computer and telecommunications technologies.

Evaluation
The Summer Institute was evaluated by the faculty immediately upon its conclusion. A "coding" protocol was developed by Dr. Sadker and utilized during the school year to evaluate long-term changes in teaching style and methods used by teachers who participated in the Institute.

Excerpt 7 [University of Washington]

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders:
Describes participant demographics, participation levels, and recruitment activities

The girls who participated in SciCon came from a variety of towns and rural areas throughout northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Some traveled over 100 miles to attend the SciCon weekend workshops. Twenty-four girls participated in each year of SciCon. Seven of the girls from Year 1 chose to participate again in Year 2, so the program involved a total of 31 girls. Program Coordinator <name of person> recruited girls for SciCon by sending out applications directly to former FAST Camp participants and through a general mailing to teachers.

Excerpt 8 [Georgia InGEAR Consortium]

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders:
Describes roles of stakeholders in project dissemination activities

Participating institutions actively engaged in networking and dissemination activities during the second year of the project. The administrative structure of InGEAR promoted collaboration between and within a variety of professionals and organizations, including: (1) national scholars, (2) state-level educational and political policy-makers, (3) the University System of Georgia, (4) public and private colleges and universities, (5) programs and departments within local universities, (6) SEM professional organizations, and (7) other educational, political, and professional organizations and interest groups related to SEM. Collaborative relationships are discussed more fully in the section describing networking and dissemination.

As shown in Appendix D, <name of person> continued to serve as Editor of the <educational equity report>, which was distributed during Spring/Summer 1996 (circ. 4000), Fall 1996 (circ. 1800+), Winter 1997 (circ. 2000) and Spring 1997 (circ. 2000). This publication was supported by InGEAR, the American Association of University Women of Georgia, and Georgia State University, and provided regular InGEAR progress reports. <name of person> was also quoted by the Atlanta Journal-Publication, and <name of person> was published in conference proceedings. Information about gender equity and the InGEAR project was also disseminated through the Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and University of Georgia InGEAR Web sites.

Presentations were conducted (1) in international and national forums, such as the International Organization of Women in Mathematics Education, American Association for Engineering Education, and American Education Research Association, (2) in state forums, such as the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Georgia Educational Research Association, and (3) at Georgia colleges and universities. Collaboration with private and public elementary and secondary schools was promoted through in-service presentations and professional development workshops.

InGEAR maintained a collaborative relationship with the Georgia Initiative in Mathematics and Science and the GIMS Co-Principal Investigator during the second year of the project. As described by <name of person>, GIMS provides InGEAR with a context and connections to start and continue relationships, and InGEAR provides a model of how equity values can be institutionalized in a manner that is consistent with the goals and objectives of GIMS. Many of the participants in the GIMS and InGEAR projects are the same, and this provides a strength for both projects.

InGEAR also maintained links with the American Association of University Women through local, state, regional, and national activities and representation. The American Association of University Women is an important partner because it includes a wide range of community members who are involved with K-12 education across the state. The state AAUW organization continued to provide support for the Educational Equity Report during the second year of the project and highlight InGEAR in their publication, The Cherokee Rose, and promote gender equity in SEM to state legislators during the February 5, 1997 legislative day.

Excerpt 9 [Northwest Indian College]

Project Features:
Describes the theory of change that provides the rationale for the project

Program Theory

The TENRM program is based on a number of assumptions that, for purposes of the evaluation, have been defined as the program's "theory of change." The basic assumptions in the first grant cycle are still relevant to the program's design in the second grand cycle. These assumptions are described below.

1. The program is based on the premise that environmental management by its very nature is multidisciplinary. Therefore, an integrated program combining natural sciences, political science, public policy and management is preferable to independent courses spanning these areas to achieve mastery of the field.
2. The program also assumes that the integrated curricula is best taught though a comprehensive set of core course that spans two academic years. This design requires students to proceed as a cohort through six courses that, when completed, provide credit in twelve different course areas. The integration of academic fields creates opportunities to use case studies and experiential field trips to illustrate the relationships in natural sciences. It also makes it possible to directly link social sciences and natural sciences.
3. Another assumption underlying the program theory is the belief that an interdisciplinary approach to learning is more congruent with a Native American world-view. Its relational core corresponds to indigenous philosophies that focus on connections within the natural world rather than compartments of knowledge. A "learning community" of faculty and students is also assumed to be more compatible with the cooperative and communal values of tribes.
4. In addition to using teaching and learning methodologies central to Native American values, tribal cultural, historical, and political status and policy concerns will be integrated into each of the core courses. The benefits for students are twofold. They will develop their own cultural lens to assess the curriculum content and issues in the field, and, in so doing, will be able to realize personal and tribal self-determination. As one faculty person noted, "they will enter as an Indian and leave as an Indian."
5. A final assumption in the program design is that a close working relationship between NWIC and four year institutions will strengthen the program and enhance the ability of students to transfer from a tribal college to a state institution. The program partners four instructors from NWIC with two instructors from the Huxley College of Environmental Studies at WWU. Individuals from both institutions form the program development team and teaching faculty for the project. Leadership from WWU and the Washington Center housed at Evergreen State College serve on the Advisory Committee furthering strengthening the partnership between the tribal college and four-year state institutions.

The revised design for TENRM II makes the following additional assumptions:

1. It is possible to design a multidisciplinary program that is sustainable in a small tribal college. Such a design will be different from the first TENRM program, but will not loose the essential elements of TENRM including; multidisciplinary instruction, faculty teaming, and student learning communities.
2. Given the history of poor educational experiences in many Native American communities, many students will need to prepare to enter a program as challenging as TENRM. Students will be willing to take preparation courses to become eligible for TENRM.
3. Given the success of the initial TENRM program, the second cycle of the program will attract a larger and more tribally diversified student base.

Excerpt 10 [Anonymous 4]

Project Features

Project Background

Project A involves collaboration among Institute X at University Y and two clusters of School District Z. Project A is substantively organized around robotics and aims to increase participation rates, achievement levels, and intrinsic motivation in science and technology for both girls and economically disadvantaged youth, groups similarly underrepresented in these fields. Among the project's objectives is the development of a series of flexible programmatic dissemination models that can be adopted as appropriate in classrooms, after-school programs, and additional informal learning settings.

Project Context

Project Participants, Audiences & Other Stakeholders

The summer academy is one facet of Project A's development and dissemination strategy. The academy brings middle school age youth together with project staff, including university undergraduates, graduate students, teachers and science learning specialists, for a week of hands-on robotics activities and visits to robotics-related sites on campus. During the summer 2001, three week-long academies were held: one all girl and one mixed gender session at the University K, and one all girl session at University L. The University K sessions involved girls and boys — predominately African American — who live in economically disadvantaged urban communities. The University L session involved girls from the rural region of City M who are predominately white and socio-economically mixed.