Background: In response to the effort to increase minority enrollment in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, STEM summer bridge programs were created to help minorities with the transition from high school to college with the long-term goal of increasing the diversity of professionals in STEM. The goal of this…

The impact and benefits of undergraduate research experiences (URE) in the first two years of post-secondary education have been well documented. Early exposure to research experiences is effective in recruitment, diversity and persistence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degree programs, particularly among…

Many researchers have debated potential differences between male and female students' mathematical performance. One important factor that can impact performance is perception of the content. The purpose of the study is to investigate factors that impact high-ability male and female students' perspectives of mathematics. Participants (n = 12;…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine any correlations between an increase in knowledge from activities which utilize self-paced learning, inquiry-guided learning, and collaborative learning pedagogical strategies and students' intentions to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and computer science…

The St. Mary's University Jump Start summer bridge program for precalculus was implemented for the first time in August 2014 and completed its third iteration in August 2016. This 12-day summer bridge program occurred immediately before the beginning of the fall semester. The primary intent of this program was to effectively provide prerequisite…

Research in mentoring has shown that students may at times be more willing and able to absorb information that is delivered to them by their near-peers, rather than by traditional figures of authority, like teachers and professors. In this study, underrepresented minority high school students participated in an informal learning experience that…

Four distinct plastics recycling projects created by middle school students emerged from a one-week long plastics recycling activity incorporated within a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) residential summer camp at a research-intensive university. The plastics recycling activity was a project-based learning (PBL) activity…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational camps and fellowships that specifically target underrepresented populations in STEM fields, such as Latinas, have become more common place across the United States. In this article, we analyze multimodal ways of representing, opportunities, and role-models present at these camps,…

The STEM Undergraduate Summer Research Experience (SURE) Program provides a holistic approach to undergraduate summer student research to increase student success at Texas State University (TXST), a Hispanic-serving institution. Regarding the 2017-2019 cohorts (composed of 62 undergraduate students), 97 percent persisted after the summer program.…

The High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) program is an out-of-school-time (OST) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program that aims to encourage and inspire Texas high school students to pursue STEM degrees and careers. The program gives Texas high school juniors the opportunity to participate in an interactive online…

The research experience for teachers (RET) professional development was a six-week long summer-intensive National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project that took place at a large university in western Texas. It was designed to provide a research-rich learning environment in data science and cybersecurity for STEM teachers in the region, which is…

Self-concept, self-efficacy, and interest are inextricably tied together. Researchers collected data from high school students' (n=44) responses to 4 short answer questions taken from a National Institute of Education interest inventory survey. These students were Texas science and engineering fair winners awarded the opportunity to attend a…

The importance of reducing the gender gap in engineering programs by recruiting and retaining female students is well recognized. Although women hold roughly half of all jobs in the United States, only 24% of STEM jobs are occupied by women. The problem is even more pronounced for engineering, where women held about 12% of jobs as of 2013 (Corbett…

Researchers found that student-centered, technology-integrated learning environments help to produce students who are better able to think critically, solve problems, collaborate with others, and engage deeply in the learning process. Understanding the impact of technology and finding the best ways to integrate technology into the classroom is…

Ongoing efforts across the U.S. to encourage K-12 students to consider science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers have been motivated by concerns that the STEM pipeline is shrinking because of declining student enrollment and increasing rates of retirement in industry. The Enrichment Experiences in Engineering (E[superscript…