San Diego City College Academy for STEM Success- A Model Summer Bridge Program

Rafael 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 Schedule

A.M. Training

Networking

Lunch

P.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

rag

e U

nit

s

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

AV

era

ge G

PA

Special thanks to the STEM Academy teams at San Diego City College

and Iowa State University

Comments are appreciated. Please forward to

Rafael Alvarez (ralvarez@sdccd.edu)

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