Hawai?i students, and in particular Native Hawaiian students, face high rates of attrition and low representation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) academic majors and careers, but place-based Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) such as the Research Experiences in Marine Science (REMS) summer program…

Background: Students from historically excluded groups face many pedagogical, societal, and institutional barriers that lead to disproportionately lower levels of entering and higher levels of attrition from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) undergraduate programs. Student experiences within a STEM learning environment play a large…

The authors developed a novel tool, the CREDIT URE, to define and measure roles performed by undergraduate students working in research placements. Derived from an open-source taxonomy for determining authorship credit, the CREDIT URE defines 14 possible roles, allowing students and their research mentors to rate the degree to which students…

Cultural resilience in disaster management is crucial for Indigenous communities. The Action 15 Resilience Hub Network Project on the Hawaiian Island of O'ahu addresses resilience planning gaps through community-based research led by undergraduate students at Kapi'olani Community College. Though the project initially utilized a Western urban…

In this paper, the author reflects on experiences with being an outsider researcher during their dissertation in which they worked with six undergraduate Native Hawaiian mentees and their six faculty mentors. Four mentor participants self-identified as Hawaiian themselves, whereas two mentors were non-Hawaiians. In this qualitative study, the…

There is growing interest to develop programs and pedagogies focused on increasing representation of underrepresented minority (URM) students within the scientific community. URM students face many pedagogical, societal, and institutional barriers that lead to disproportionately lower levels of entering and higher levels of attrition from Science,…

For centuries, Native Hawaiians, like other Indigenous and historically oppressed communities, have been studied by Western researchers whose claims, until recently, have been accepted without question and in many instances have led to Native Hawaiians' continued oppression. However, now that growing numbers of Native Hawaiians and individuals…

Three studies were conducted for this dissertation around the broader topic of improving undergraduate health research training programs for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Peoples (NHOPP), and increasing the likelihood of NHOPP pursuing health science research careers. The first study systematically examined existing published literature on…

In the fall of 2011, the University of Hawai'i College of Education initiated its Doctorate in Professional Educational Practice (EdD) program with the first cohort of thirty students. These students, representing diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, began a three-year voyage of coursework and collaborative inquiry in applying…

Studies consistently indicate that engaging students in research is successful in improving STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) retention and graduation rates. Given that nearly half of all U.S. students are enrolled in community colleges, and that 70% of those enrolled are either women or underrepresented ethnicities, these campuses…