Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340507
Ernesto Vega Janica
This paper discusses the advanced mathematic skills and numerical systems developed by three main Native American tribes: the Incas, the Aztecs, and the Maya; and explores how these communities applied those systems and how they are still valid today. In addition, potential uses of these numerical systems with the dual intentions of improving both current technologies and current educational programs, such as STEM initiatives within K-12 curriculums in underserved Latin American communities are evaluated.
{"title":"The wisdom of our native american tribes: Advanced math, science and culture for the future","authors":"Ernesto Vega Janica","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340507","url":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses the advanced mathematic skills and numerical systems developed by three main Native American tribes: the Incas, the Aztecs, and the Maya; and explores how these communities applied those systems and how they are still valid today. In addition, potential uses of these numerical systems with the dual intentions of improving both current technologies and current educational programs, such as STEM initiatives within K-12 curriculums in underserved Latin American communities are evaluated.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131243337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340494
Kevin J. Richardson, Harley J. Fernandez, Kirsten R. Basinet, A. G. Klein, Richard K. Martin
As part of an ongoing, longitudinal study on the use of “making” and “gaming” in the classroom, two sequential activities for learning about radio-frequency (RF) path loss and antenna design are presented. “Making” involves integration of makerspace concepts and tinkering in the curriculum, while “gaming” refers to gamified curricula; in this study we investigate the joint use of these two elements in the classroom. The RF path loss activity is modeled after ham radio “fox hunting”, where students must locate a transmitter hidden on campus; it makes use of low-cost software-defined radios, and prompts students to confront concepts including measuring signal power, frequency domain thinking, and antenna polarization. The follow-up activity challenges students to build an antenna designed to receive household gas meter readings; students must design their antennas specifically for operation in the 900 MHz band, and must give a presentation describing the theory of their antenna to their peers. A competition is held where students attempt to see which of their antennas can collect the most wireless gas meter readings over a five-minute interval. Assessment data from the broader study show that relative to a baseline offering, the treatment group developed an improvement in interest, perception, independence, and self-assessed abilities. This paper discusses the implementation of the activities, the students' approach to solving the proposed challenges, the assessment data, lessons learned from student focus groups, and instructor observations.
{"title":"A making and gaming approach to learning about RF path loss and antenna design","authors":"Kevin J. Richardson, Harley J. Fernandez, Kirsten R. Basinet, A. G. Klein, Richard K. Martin","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340494","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340494","url":null,"abstract":"As part of an ongoing, longitudinal study on the use of “making” and “gaming” in the classroom, two sequential activities for learning about radio-frequency (RF) path loss and antenna design are presented. “Making” involves integration of makerspace concepts and tinkering in the curriculum, while “gaming” refers to gamified curricula; in this study we investigate the joint use of these two elements in the classroom. The RF path loss activity is modeled after ham radio “fox hunting”, where students must locate a transmitter hidden on campus; it makes use of low-cost software-defined radios, and prompts students to confront concepts including measuring signal power, frequency domain thinking, and antenna polarization. The follow-up activity challenges students to build an antenna designed to receive household gas meter readings; students must design their antennas specifically for operation in the 900 MHz band, and must give a presentation describing the theory of their antenna to their peers. A competition is held where students attempt to see which of their antennas can collect the most wireless gas meter readings over a five-minute interval. Assessment data from the broader study show that relative to a baseline offering, the treatment group developed an improvement in interest, perception, independence, and self-assessed abilities. This paper discusses the implementation of the activities, the students' approach to solving the proposed challenges, the assessment data, lessons learned from student focus groups, and instructor observations.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"292 ","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120861689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340480
Nicholas R. Zakon
In 2013, I became part of an amazing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program, FIRST Lego League (FLL). FLL is a competition focused around the motto “discover the excitement of STEM”. The competition consists of three main aspects: robot game, project, and core values. In the robot game, teams build and program an autonomous robot to complete various missions. For the project, you create a shareable solution to a world problem. The core values consist of ten tenets that the FLL community believes in and expects teams to exhibit throughout the competition season. The robot game and project have a yearly theme. As teams move through the competition, they are judged in all of these aspects, with a chance to move to the next level.
{"title":"Experiencing STEM through First Lego League","authors":"Nicholas R. Zakon","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340480","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340480","url":null,"abstract":"In 2013, I became part of an amazing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program, FIRST Lego League (FLL). FLL is a competition focused around the motto “discover the excitement of STEM”. The competition consists of three main aspects: robot game, project, and core values. In the robot game, teams build and program an autonomous robot to complete various missions. For the project, you create a shareable solution to a world problem. The core values consist of ten tenets that the FLL community believes in and expects teams to exhibit throughout the competition season. The robot game and project have a yearly theme. As teams move through the competition, they are judged in all of these aspects, with a chance to move to the next level.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132313565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340482
Emily J. Becker, Dominic Burkart, Judith N. Mildner, D. Tamir
This study seeks to identify differences between textual samples written in isolation and controls. Isolation is the state of deprivation of one's typical level of social interaction and falls into three categories: prison, seclusion, and isolation. We coded a Naive Bayesian Classifier using the Python package NLTK and ran it with different training to test set ratios and a Leave One Out with authors. The results yielded that accuracy is proportional to training set size. Currently we are analyzing the key features the classifier used to sort the texts and calculating a chance value for the classifier. This is a highly relevant area of study because we hope to elucidate key differences in the thoughts and cognitive states of isolated people, which could predict behavior for socially isolated people.
本研究旨在确定在隔离和控制下编写的文本样本之间的差异。隔离是剥夺一个人典型的社会交往水平的状态，分为三类:监狱、隐居和孤立。我们使用Python包NLTK编写了一个朴素贝叶斯分类器，并使用不同的训练来运行它，以测试集合比率和Leave One Out。结果表明，准确率与训练集大小成正比。目前，我们正在分析分类器用于文本排序的关键特征，并计算分类器的机会值。这是一个高度相关的研究领域，因为我们希望阐明孤立的人在思想和认知状态方面的关键差异，这可以预测社会孤立的人的行为。
{"title":"Determination of the defining features of texts written in isolation with a Naive Bayesian Classifier","authors":"Emily J. Becker, Dominic Burkart, Judith N. Mildner, D. Tamir","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340482","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340482","url":null,"abstract":"This study seeks to identify differences between textual samples written in isolation and controls. Isolation is the state of deprivation of one's typical level of social interaction and falls into three categories: prison, seclusion, and isolation. We coded a Naive Bayesian Classifier using the Python package NLTK and ran it with different training to test set ratios and a Leave One Out with authors. The results yielded that accuracy is proportional to training set size. Currently we are analyzing the key features the classifier used to sort the texts and calculating a chance value for the classifier. This is a highly relevant area of study because we hope to elucidate key differences in the thoughts and cognitive states of isolated people, which could predict behavior for socially isolated people.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126723046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340509
ChanJin Chung, Elmer Santos
It has been widely known that introducing robotics in formal and informal learning environments improves STEM learning as well as problem solving skills. An underutilized resource in this process of teaching STEM is parents. Robofest Carnival is an informal learning program with multiple interactive challenge learning stations where students are challenged to complete robotics tasks. A new approach for the Carnival was explored. Instead of technical staff, parents of participants were trained to manage the challenge learning stations. Ongoing research shows that the Carnival program increased the students' knowledge of STEM subjects. In addition, it dramatically increased STEM confidence level of parents who took training and assisted the Carnival learning stations. We believe the Carnival model is a practical and effective informal robotics learning environment to improve student achievement in STEM and increase parents' confidence in their children's education.
{"title":"Robofest carnival — STEM learning through robotics with parents","authors":"ChanJin Chung, Elmer Santos","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340509","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340509","url":null,"abstract":"It has been widely known that introducing robotics in formal and informal learning environments improves STEM learning as well as problem solving skills. An underutilized resource in this process of teaching STEM is parents. Robofest Carnival is an informal learning program with multiple interactive challenge learning stations where students are challenged to complete robotics tasks. A new approach for the Carnival was explored. Instead of technical staff, parents of participants were trained to manage the challenge learning stations. Ongoing research shows that the Carnival program increased the students' knowledge of STEM subjects. In addition, it dramatically increased STEM confidence level of parents who took training and assisted the Carnival learning stations. We believe the Carnival model is a practical and effective informal robotics learning environment to improve student achievement in STEM and increase parents' confidence in their children's education.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122164275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340512
Adway S. Wadekar
Since its inception in 1955, the Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum has grown and evolved-both in terms of the number of subjects and the number of students attempting the AP tests. Students take AP classes to position themselves better for college admissions, to earn college credit, or to simply pursue their passion and interest. Although the AP program is designed primarily for high school students, participation among the younger students has increased over the years. In this paper, I seek to understand the participation in the different AP subjects among high school and pre-high school students. I analyze the data published by the College Board from the May 2016 AP examination made available on Kaggle. I divide the AP subjects into six categories as suggested by the College Board, and compute the preferences for the subjects in each category for four grades of high school and a single group of pre-high school students. I find that the preferences for AP subjects vary dramatically through the four years of high school. Moreover, the preferences in the pre-high school group are definitively different from the four high school grades; with younger students choosing more difficult subjects. I conclude the paper by providing detailed insights into these observations and their implications.
{"title":"Grade-level participation in the AP curriculum","authors":"Adway S. Wadekar","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340512","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340512","url":null,"abstract":"Since its inception in 1955, the Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum has grown and evolved-both in terms of the number of subjects and the number of students attempting the AP tests. Students take AP classes to position themselves better for college admissions, to earn college credit, or to simply pursue their passion and interest. Although the AP program is designed primarily for high school students, participation among the younger students has increased over the years. In this paper, I seek to understand the participation in the different AP subjects among high school and pre-high school students. I analyze the data published by the College Board from the May 2016 AP examination made available on Kaggle. I divide the AP subjects into six categories as suggested by the College Board, and compute the preferences for the subjects in each category for four grades of high school and a single group of pre-high school students. I find that the preferences for AP subjects vary dramatically through the four years of high school. Moreover, the preferences in the pre-high school group are definitively different from the four high school grades; with younger students choosing more difficult subjects. I conclude the paper by providing detailed insights into these observations and their implications.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124830517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340498
J. Al-Jaroodi
Higher education curriculum for STEM fields and particularly engineering involves a lot of technical content. Educators mostly use traditional teaching/learning methods to deliver this content. Many, however, recently introduced more active and student-centered methods such as practical project-based learning, active learning tools, and flipped classrooms to achieve better learning of STEM content. However, research have not been adequately incorporated as a teaching tool in such curriculum, despite the numerous studies indicating its benefits in teaching and learning. In this paper, we discuss the benefits of incorporating research activities in the classroom to augment the teaching/learning process for the benefit of the students. The initial empirical results show increased interest from the students in the subject and higher involvement in classroom activities. An example in computer architecture is used to show this impact.
{"title":"A case for bringing undergraduate research into the classroom","authors":"J. Al-Jaroodi","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340498","url":null,"abstract":"Higher education curriculum for STEM fields and particularly engineering involves a lot of technical content. Educators mostly use traditional teaching/learning methods to deliver this content. Many, however, recently introduced more active and student-centered methods such as practical project-based learning, active learning tools, and flipped classrooms to achieve better learning of STEM content. However, research have not been adequately incorporated as a teaching tool in such curriculum, despite the numerous studies indicating its benefits in teaching and learning. In this paper, we discuss the benefits of incorporating research activities in the classroom to augment the teaching/learning process for the benefit of the students. The initial empirical results show increased interest from the students in the subject and higher involvement in classroom activities. An example in computer architecture is used to show this impact.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115088195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340491
M. Herniter
The High School Autonomous Vehicle Competition is a new national competition Sponsored by Ford, MathWorks, and NXP. The competition introduces high school students to applications of engineering, science and mathematics. It introduces college-level topics such as feedback control, microcontrollers, vision systems, programming, and autonomous vehicles. Held at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the competition has over fifty teams participating in the 2018 competition from eighteen high schools across the United States.
{"title":"High school autonomous vehicle competition","authors":"M. Herniter","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340491","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340491","url":null,"abstract":"The High School Autonomous Vehicle Competition is a new national competition Sponsored by Ford, MathWorks, and NXP. The competition introduces high school students to applications of engineering, science and mathematics. It introduces college-level topics such as feedback control, microcontrollers, vision systems, programming, and autonomous vehicles. Held at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the competition has over fifty teams participating in the 2018 competition from eighteen high schools across the United States.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130240388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340506
Sean W. Hauze, D. French
This research examined the predictors of success for secondary and postsecondary students taught by STEM Guitar Project-trained instructors. Each instructor participated in a 50-hour STEM Guitar Project development institute between 2013 and 2016 focusing on the manufacture of a solid-body electric guitar and received instruction focused on how to teach integrated STEM Modular Learning Activities (MLAs), which are aligned with the Common Core mathematics standards and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The data collected include pre- and post-assessment scores from 769 students in three grade bands (grades 6–8, 9–12, and undergraduate level from 15 states). Student mastery of the 12 core MLA concepts was measured through the deployment of pre- and post-assessments evaluating student knowledge across the 12 core concepts. Analysis of student scores showed significant improvement between pre- and post-assessment scores. The significant predictors of success included the percentage of minority students at the school and the STEM Guitar curriculum being taught by a science instructor. These findings indicate that students attending schools with a high percentage of minority students are more likely to increase their assessment score from the pre-assessment to the post-assessment. These data show encouraging results for using the electric guitar as a vehicle to teach integrated STEM concepts to secondary and postsecondary students, particularly at institutions with a high percentage of minority students.
{"title":"Predictors of success in applied STEM education through Guitar building","authors":"Sean W. Hauze, D. French","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340506","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340506","url":null,"abstract":"This research examined the predictors of success for secondary and postsecondary students taught by STEM Guitar Project-trained instructors. Each instructor participated in a 50-hour STEM Guitar Project development institute between 2013 and 2016 focusing on the manufacture of a solid-body electric guitar and received instruction focused on how to teach integrated STEM Modular Learning Activities (MLAs), which are aligned with the Common Core mathematics standards and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The data collected include pre- and post-assessment scores from 769 students in three grade bands (grades 6–8, 9–12, and undergraduate level from 15 states). Student mastery of the 12 core MLA concepts was measured through the deployment of pre- and post-assessments evaluating student knowledge across the 12 core concepts. Analysis of student scores showed significant improvement between pre- and post-assessment scores. The significant predictors of success included the percentage of minority students at the school and the STEM Guitar curriculum being taught by a science instructor. These findings indicate that students attending schools with a high percentage of minority students are more likely to increase their assessment score from the pre-assessment to the post-assessment. These data show encouraging results for using the electric guitar as a vehicle to teach integrated STEM concepts to secondary and postsecondary students, particularly at institutions with a high percentage of minority students.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128528479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-01DOI: 10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340503
M. Encarnacíon, C. Bishop, Joseph Downs, Nathan G. Drenkow, Jordan K. Matelsky, P. Rivlin, B. Wester, William Gray-Roncal
Programs that focus on student outreach are often disjoint from sponsored research efforts, despite the mutually beneficial opportunities that are possible with a combined approach. We designed and piloted a program to simultaneously meet the needs of underserved students and a large-scale sponsored research goal. Our program trained undergraduates to produce neuron maps for a major connectomics effort (i.e., single synapse brain maps), while providing these students with the resources and mentors to conduct novel research. Students were recruited from Johns Hopkins University to participate in a ten-week summer program. These students were trained in computational research, scientific communication skills and methods to map electron microscopy volumes. The students also had regular exposure to mentors and opportunities for guided, small group, independent discovery. A Learning-for-Use model was leveraged to provide the students with the tools, skills, and knowledge to pursue their research questions, while an Affinity Research Group model was adapted to provide students with mentorship in conducting cutting-edge research. A focus was placed on recruiting students who had limited opportunities and access to similar experiences. Program metrics demonstrated a substantial increase in knowledge (e.g., neuroscience, graph theory, machine learning, and scientific communication), while students also showed an overall increase in awareness and responsiveness to computational research after the program. Ultimately, the program positively impacted students' career choices and research readiness, and successfully achieved sponsor goals in a compact timeframe. This framework for combining outreach with sponsored research can be broadly leveraged for other programs across domains.
{"title":"CIRCUIT summer program: A computational neuroscience outreach experience for high-achieving undergraduates via sponsored research","authors":"M. Encarnacíon, C. Bishop, Joseph Downs, Nathan G. Drenkow, Jordan K. Matelsky, P. Rivlin, B. Wester, William Gray-Roncal","doi":"10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ISECON.2018.8340503","url":null,"abstract":"Programs that focus on student outreach are often disjoint from sponsored research efforts, despite the mutually beneficial opportunities that are possible with a combined approach. We designed and piloted a program to simultaneously meet the needs of underserved students and a large-scale sponsored research goal. Our program trained undergraduates to produce neuron maps for a major connectomics effort (i.e., single synapse brain maps), while providing these students with the resources and mentors to conduct novel research. Students were recruited from Johns Hopkins University to participate in a ten-week summer program. These students were trained in computational research, scientific communication skills and methods to map electron microscopy volumes. The students also had regular exposure to mentors and opportunities for guided, small group, independent discovery. A Learning-for-Use model was leveraged to provide the students with the tools, skills, and knowledge to pursue their research questions, while an Affinity Research Group model was adapted to provide students with mentorship in conducting cutting-edge research. A focus was placed on recruiting students who had limited opportunities and access to similar experiences. Program metrics demonstrated a substantial increase in knowledge (e.g., neuroscience, graph theory, machine learning, and scientific communication), while students also showed an overall increase in awareness and responsiveness to computational research after the program. Ultimately, the program positively impacted students' career choices and research readiness, and successfully achieved sponsor goals in a compact timeframe. This framework for combining outreach with sponsored research can be broadly leveraged for other programs across domains.","PeriodicalId":186215,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127792667","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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