Community informatics in STEM education: an inquiry into an out-of-school, STEM education program from the perspective of parents and youth participants

Slates, Angela M

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/92990 Copy

Description

Title

Community informatics in STEM education: an inquiry into an out-of-school, STEM education program from the perspective of parents and youth participants

Author(s)

Slates, Angela M

Issue Date

2016-05-13

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Pak, Yoon

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Pak, Yoon

Committee Member(s)

• Span, Christopher
• Dunbar, Christopher
• "Bruce, Bertram ""Chip"""

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educational Policy Studies

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• STEM Education
• African American Education
• Community Informatics
• Constructivist Grounded Theory
• Robotics
• Education
• Qualitative Inquiry
• STEM
• Community Cultural Wealth

Abstract

Women, African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans are underrepresented in STEM at the high school, college, and careers levels. For underrepresented groups, many efforts may come too late to address underlying problems such as perceived lack of ability and lack of exposure. Out of school, semi-structured robotics programs with embedded community informatics (CI) practices have demonstrate great potential for increasing STEM access, exposure, and interest for all students. Yet, while programs of this kind have demonstrated promising outcomes for increasing STEM interest early in the STEM education pipeline, gaining access to tools and resources for underrepresented communities students can be very challenging. This qualitative research study uses a constructionists grounded theory methodology to examine what happens when a group of African American parents attempt to gain access to resources and implement STEM programming (a robotics project) outside of a traditional school setting. This study employ the theoretical frameworks of community cultural wealth, bridging and bonding social capital, and possible-selves, in examining the challenges and triumphs of African American parents in establishing a quality robotics program for their middle school level African American children in a small urban Midwest community.

Graduation Semester

2016-08

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92990

Copyright and License Information

Copyright Angela M. Slates 2016

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