TY - JOUR
T1 - High School Teachers' Preparedness to Implement Blended e4usa+FIRST models in Underserved Communities (Work in Progress)
AU - Efe, Steve
AU - Dalal, Medha
AU - Carberry, Adam
AU - James-Okeke, Petronella A.
AU - Rogers, David
AU - Figard, Rachel
AU - Akinkugbe, Iseunifeoluwa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Society for Engineering Education, 2022
PY - 2022/8/23
Y1 - 2022/8/23
N2 - Efforts to provide pre-college students with engineering or engineering-related experiences are on the rise in the United States. These efforts are typically undertaken independently of one another and are often in competition to garner greater participation. e4usa+FIRST is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between two pre-college engineering/STEM education efforts that aims to break down existing silos between programs. The project was piloted in nine US high schools within underserved areas. The following study examines high school teacher's preparedness to teach a blended offering between engineering and robotics curricula following a summer professional development (PD) program. Pilot teachers (n = 10) participated in focus groups to share their perceptions of readiness to implement the blended e4usa+FIRST curriculum. Data was analyzed using open coding and constant comparison methods. Most teachers reported confidence in teaching the blended offering, shared their plans and expectations, and brought up concerns regarding time and sustaining student interest especially during a time of pandemic. This project has implications for pre-college engineering education efforts as it could provide a foundational understanding of how two successful programs can be blended, playing a critical role in educating high school students in underserved communities to experience engineering.
AB - Efforts to provide pre-college students with engineering or engineering-related experiences are on the rise in the United States. These efforts are typically undertaken independently of one another and are often in competition to garner greater participation. e4usa+FIRST is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between two pre-college engineering/STEM education efforts that aims to break down existing silos between programs. The project was piloted in nine US high schools within underserved areas. The following study examines high school teacher's preparedness to teach a blended offering between engineering and robotics curricula following a summer professional development (PD) program. Pilot teachers (n = 10) participated in focus groups to share their perceptions of readiness to implement the blended e4usa+FIRST curriculum. Data was analyzed using open coding and constant comparison methods. Most teachers reported confidence in teaching the blended offering, shared their plans and expectations, and brought up concerns regarding time and sustaining student interest especially during a time of pandemic. This project has implications for pre-college engineering education efforts as it could provide a foundational understanding of how two successful programs can be blended, playing a critical role in educating high school students in underserved communities to experience engineering.
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M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85138266778
SN - 2153-5965
JO - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
JF - ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
T2 - 129th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition: Excellence Through Diversity, ASEE 2022
Y2 - 26 June 2022 through 29 June 2022
ER -