As part of a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project to create culturally responsive curriculum that uses critical spatial thinking and geospatial technologies to address spatial justice in urban neighborhoods, students from a predominantly African American inner-city public high school in Toledo, Ohio participated in two summer workshops…

Conducting K-12 outreach programs on university or college campuses focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines is an essential part of the multifaceted effort for preparing future generations of engineers and scientists. However, the lack of structured frameworks to design and deliver activities and programs…

In this paper, I consider evidence of how students of colour enact whiteness by being violent towards depictions of Black people even in spaces without Black people. I argue that people who engage in anti-racist pedagogy have to be vigilant -- aware that anti-Black spaces will be created and ready to respond.

A five-day discovery-based summer workshop for incoming ninth graders was designed and conducted at the University of Cincinnati (UC). The idea was to have an inquiry-based, research-driven laboratory experience where students were provided with a mentor who encouraged creativity and inquisitiveness. Over a period of three years, 33 students…

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has proliferated across the United States, and in the process, it has disrupted all sense of normalcy. Because adolescents are in a critical period for growth and development, youth are particularly susceptible to negative impacts of disruption from COVID-19. Therefore, sustaining youth development programs is essential to…

In this paper we describe our investigation of underrepresented high school students' interests, engagement, and experiences in design-based Information and Communications Technology (ICT) summer workshop activities; with the goal of identifying activities, aspects, and/or elements of the program that can be tailored or improved upon to attract,…

Out-of-school time academic/STEM programs provide educational enrichment to a myriad of student populations with some designed to assist those underrepresented and at-risk who desire to purse post-secondary studies. One such program in West Virginia (WV) is the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA), which provides hands-on, in person and…

In our data-rich world, there are strong calls for greater focus on data literacy as increasingly, 21st century jobs require some level of data literacy. Data literacy is inherently STEM integration, especially when working with real-world scenarios, as it requires bringing math and technology into the science classroom to interpret and engage…

UNITE is a program sponsored by the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP, 2015). The STEM Enrichment Activities of AEOP are designed to spark student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, especially among the underserved and those in earlier grades and educators by providing exciting, engaging, interactive, hands-on…

There is growing interest in the engineering education community in "making" and the Maker Movement as a context for young people to learn and develop interest around design and early engineering competencies. Although some researchers argue that making has the potential to serve a liberating and anti-oppressive function in education,…

How can youth become leaders in their communities' resilience efforts? The Lentes en Cambio Climático (LECC) filmmaking program aimed to empower students to investigate how a changing climate affects their lives and use their own findings to inspire local resilience. Secondary students in LECC created films that explore the experiences of…

There is a disparity in the number of adults from minority populations employed in STEM careers. In order to increase the interest of at-risk high school students in the STEM field in Queens, NY, an immersive summer biotechnology boot camp was developed. Fifty-five predominantly minority and female students completed the summer boot camp over a…

A summer workshop was offered to inner-city high school students to explore the sustainability of their consumer choices using a systems thinking model. Students learned about related environmental or health issues due to the manufacturing, use, or disposal of common household products. Then, in the laboratory, they performed experiments to…

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the landscape for out-of-school-time STEM programs. The LEAH Knox Scholars (LKS) program is a five-week, in-person molecular biology research experience for low-income high school youth of color who are underrepresented in the sciences. The program is organized and implemented by Health Resources in Action, a…

The goal of this article is to share how the authors implemented a summer learning experience designed for the benefit of teachers and students simultaneously at Clear Creek Independent School District in Texas. They facilitated what John Hattie's research recommends: "a community of teachers [that] work together to ask the questions,…