2024 Summit pre-conference activities will be held Tuesday, April 2.
Leveraging Partnerships to Bridge the Gap between Research and Communities
- Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
- Location: Suzanne & Walter Scott Aquarium Conference Center at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (OHDZA)
- Abstract: Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium is driven to inspire, educate and engage people to serve as lifelong stewards for the conservation of animals and their habitats. Fostering deep connections within our community to research and education propels our mission forward each day. Join us to unpack WHY these connections are essential and HOW they impact the next generation of STEM leaders.
- Key Take Aways: Session attendees will meet with OHDZA scientists to discover ongoing research efforts at Omaha’s Zoo, uncover how OHDZA’s Education Department leverages relationships with community partners to shape one of the nation’s leading non-traditional teaching models for science education, and takeaway ready-to-use action steps to engage communities with research and the world around them.
Louis Stokes Regional Center of Excellence for the Study of STEM Interventions (SOSI) Center Pre-Conference Opportunities
The SOSI Center offers three pre-conference activities from 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM on April 2.
Broader Impacts Credentialing Course Preview for Introduction to Critical, Strengths-Based Approaches to Broadening Participation in STEM
This course preview offers an introduction to critical, strengths-based approaches to broadening participation in and beyond postsecondary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Participants will gain insight about the use of extended resources for engaging critical, strengths-based approaches. Discussions of data supported strategies for broadening participation in STEM will highlight mechanisms that redress systemic oppression, structural and cultural changes, and assets and strengths of people from marginalized groups.
Participants will
- Understand why broadening participation is necessary.
- Examine traditional approaches to broadening participation and their limitations.
- Appreciate why strength-based frameworks are needed.
- Recognize what constitutes a critical, strengths-based framework.
- Learn how to apply a critical, strengths-based framework when designing, implementing, researching, and evaluating STEM broadening participation endeavors.
Introduction to Critical, Strengths-Based Theories to Enhance Program Design, Implementation, and Dissemination
Broadening participation activities within many disciplines have primarily occurred through programming and interventions that focus on increasing access and engagement for people from marginalized groups. Many of these activities lack cultural awareness, inclusion, and equitable approaches to supporting diverse individuals with varying needs and experiences, and/or do not have a theoretical underpinning to organize activity design and implementation. As such, despite their intention, broadening participation activities can foster a deficit-oriented approach to the perceived significance of students’ social identities (e.g., race, gender, socioeconomic status, culture, etc.) and impact on collegiate engagement given assimilationist ideals.
This workshop will explore ways to use critical, strengths-based theories to design and disseminate outcomes from broadening participation programs.
In this workshop participants will:
- Be exposed to a combined Community Cultural Wealth and Social Cognitive Career Theory as well as a combined Community Cultural Wealth and Phenomenological Variant Ecological Systems Theory.
- Discuss the underlying mechanisms of the combined frameworks to gain a robust understanding of the design of the frameworks, what they require of individuals — ideologically — to ensure an effective and appropriate use of them.
- Use the frameworks to map onto existing broadening participation activities and dissemination efforts.
- Use the framework to envision new broadening participation activities and dissemination efforts.
This workshop will incorporate hands-on, interactive activities for the participants as they seek to gain a deeper understanding of critical, strengths-based educational theories and their application to STEM broadening participation endeavors and outcomes dissemination.
Resources for the Support of Research, Design, Implementation, and Dissemination of Efforts to Broaden Participation in STEM
The goal of this workshop is to introduce resources that support efforts to broaden participation in STEM. From scholarly research, program and intervention design, implementation, evaluation, to publication of outcomes, these resources can be used to showcase broadening participation efforts in the cultivation of STEM talent within institutions of higher education. Participants will be introduced to the many resources supported by the SOSI Center including the UI Index, the UI Journal, available webinars, and other opportunities for training and development. Participants will align initiatives and outcomes of efforts developed at their institutions with the use and support of SOSI Resources.
In this workshop participants will:
- Identify outlets for publication.
- Discover applications used for the research of scholarly work and the identification of validated instruments for evaluation.
- Be introduced to a comprehensive approach to learning critical, strengths-based
educational theories and their application to broadening participation endeavors and outcomes dissemination.
Please contact us if you have questions about the 2024 Summit.
2024 Summit Sponsors
The Summit is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant OIA-1810732.