
NSF Org: |
OSI Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | September 12, 2016 |
Latest Amendment Date: | June 7, 2018 |
Award Number: | 1649361 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
James Matthew Douglass
mdouglas@nsf.gov (703)292-2467 OSI Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
Start Date: | October 1, 2016 |
End Date: | July 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $300,000.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $300,000.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
800 W UNIVERSITY PKWY OREM UT US 84058-6703 (801)863-6084 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
800 West University Pkwy Orem UT US 84058-6703 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
Utah Valley University (UVU) with partners Weber State University (WSU) and American Indian Services (AIS) are implementing UTAH PREP (PREParation for STEM Careers) to address the need for early preparation in mathematics to strengthen and invigorate the secondary-to-postsecondary-to-career STEM pipeline. As the preliminary groundwork for UTAH PREP, each partner currently hosts a PREP program (UVU PREP, WSU PREP, and AIS PREP) that identifies low-income, under-represented minority, first-generation, and female students entering seventh grade who have interest and aptitude in math and science, and involves them in a seven-week, three-year summer intensive program integrating STEM courses and activities. The course content blends skill-building academics with engaging experiences that promote a clear understanding of how mathematical concepts and procedures are applied in various fields of science and engineering. Courses are enhanced through special projects, field trips, college campus visits, and the annual Sci-Tech EXPO. The purpose of the program is to motivate and prepare participants from diverse backgrounds to complete a rigorous program of mathematics in high school so that they can successfully pursue STEM studies and careers, which are vital to advancing the regional and national welfare.
UTAH PREP is based on the TexPREP program that originated at the University of Texas at San Antonio and which was named as one of the Bright Spots in Hispanic Education by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2015. TexPREP was adapted by UVU for use in Utah for non-minority serving institutions and in regions with lower minority populations, but with great academic and college participation disparity. With NSF funding for a two-year pilot program, the project partners are building UTAH PREP through a networked improvement community, collective impact approach that, if demonstrably successful, has the ability to scale to a national level. This pilot program's objectives include: 1) creating a UTAH PREP collaboration with commitments to a common set of objectives and common set of plans to achieve them; 2) strengthening existing PREP programs and initiating UTAH PREP at two or three other institutions of higher education in Utah, each building a sustainable local support network; 3) developing a shared measurement system to assess the impact of UTAH PREP programs, adaptations, and mutually reinforcing activities on students, including those from groups that are underrepresented in STEM disciplines; and 4) initiating a backbone organization that will support future scaling of the program's impact.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The NSF-funded Utah PREP program sought to broaden participation in science and engineering education and professions by enhancing and expanding the PREP summer Science, Technology Engineering, and Math (STEM) program for middle school students. PREP summer programs consist of 6 to 7 weeks of math, science, and engineering courses plus career exploration field trips and career speakers. PREP recruitment targets students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM careers, including girls, Latinos, and Native Americans. When feasible, PREP programs are housed on college campuses in order to help the students develop an affinity for higher education.
Prior to receiving the NSF grant, Utah PREP consisted of 3 programs (at Utah Valley University, Weber State University, and Utah State University eastern – Blanding). There was no administrative structure linking these programs, which limited sharing of information and educational resources. Funding from the NSF facilitated the following improvements to the Utah PREP program:
- Expansion from three sites serving about 400 students to 11 sites serving over 800 students. The added sites are located at Dixie State University UT, Southern Utah University UT, Salt lake Community College UT, Tuba City AZ, Hopi AZ, Gallup NM, Pine Ridge SD, and Pocatello ID.
- Inclusion of students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM (overall enrollment is about 48% girls, 28% Native American, and 14% Latino).
- Creation of a shared, online warehouse containing virtually all information and documents needed to establish and run a PREP summer program. This warehouse contains hundreds of pages of information related to recruiting and registering students, securing funding, hiring support personnel, educating parents about PREP, designing and running field trips, organizing a career speaker program, as well as detailed descriptions of course curricula and much more.
- Improved networking among the PREP sites, including meetings among site directors and assembling nearly all PREP students for an all-day “SciTech Expo”.
- Increased proficiency in STEM fields (25% to 60% increases in test scores).
The NSF-funded Utah PREP program has provided STEM education and career exploration to over 2,000 middle-school students, giving those students a solid foundation for success in high school and university.
Last Modified: 08/23/2019
Modified by: Daniel Horns
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