Work

STEM Excellence and Leadership Program: Increasing the Level of STEM Challenge and Engagement for High-Achieving Students in Economically Disadvantaged Rural Communities

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: High-achieving students in economically disadvantaged, rural schools lack access to advanced coursework necessary to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational and employment goals at the highest levels, contributing to the excellence gap. Out-of-school STEM programming offers one pathway to students’ talent development. Using a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods research design, this study was conducted to evaluate the experiences of 78 high-achieving students and their 32 teachers, participating in an extracurricular, school-based, STEM talent development program for rural students from economically disadvantaged communities. Findings suggest that students and teachers expressed satisfaction with program participation and that they thought more creatively and critically about their work. Results also showed that students’ perceptions of the mathematics and science activities were significantly different, which informs ways to improve programming for future high-achieving, rural students. These findings expand the literature supporting the use of informal STEM education environments for underserved gifted populations to increase engagement in and access to challenging curricula.

Source: journal for the education of the gifted

DOI: 10.1177/0162353217745158

Authors: Lori M. Ihrig, Erin Lane, Duhita Mahatmya, Susan G. Assouline

Institution: University of Iowa

Language: English

Topic: Education, Achievement, and Giftedness

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Jack Kent Cooke Foundation