Co-Designing Opportunities for Rural Middle School Youth to Engage With STEM Careers and Career Pathways

• In Event: Making Learning Accessible to Rural Students: Critical Approaches to Access and Pedagogy

Abstract

Opportunities for rural middle school youth to engage in STEM experiences are lacking. We describe an approach to co-design STEM focused curricula (i.e. 3D printing and programmable sensor technology), integrated STEM career connection lessons and mentoring with local STEM professionals. Analysis of our STEM interest survey did not find significant differences based on student demographics or changes to the toolkit STEM career connections toolkit during the 2020-2021 school year. Qualitative analysis revealed that student understanding and knowledge of STEM as well as ability to describe STEM in their local context increased. While there is room for growth, it is clear that this model of co-design creates opportunities for rural youth to engage with STEM within their local communities.

Authors

• Quentin Biddy, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Srinjita Bhaduri, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Jeffrey Bush, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Colin Hennessy Elliott, Utah State University

• Mimi M. Recker, Utah State University

• Tamara Sumner, University of Colorado