GP-IN: Bridging the Gap into Geosciences for Underrepresented Pre-college Populations through Experiential Learning Opportunities

Despite investments of time and resources over the past few decades, there has been little increase in the number of students majoring in STEM degrees and entering the STEM workforce. This is particularly problematic in the geosciences as many students are unaware of the field and its career trajectories until late in their undergraduate years. This project aims to improve the awareness and increase the percentage and diversity of students interested in geoscience by exposing structurally underrepresented pre-college students to the geosciences through experiential learning opportunities facilitated through the Boys and Girls Club summer camp programs. Research has shown that among the various informal learning environments, out-of-school activities, such as summer camps, play an important role in providing large scale opportunities for students to engage in science by providing an aspect of recreation and social activities that students find appealing. This project will develop and implement four distinct 4-week summer camp modules that will actively engage pre-college students in the process of science, through inquiry-based learning around environmental challenges facing their local community. To achieve the goal of increasing awareness of the geosciences the project leaders have created a Geoscience Learning Ecosystem (GLE) comprised of approximately 10 vested geoscience partners who will volunteer resources and/or serve as research mentors for participating summer camp students. Every module in the summer camp will reflect cross-disciplinary characteristics of environmental issues and involve students in data collection with active geoscientists, analysis and interpretation of data collected, as well as communication of research findings both in written and in video formats. These activities will broaden student experiences and awareness of their community while also providing opportunities for the students to see how geoscience is relevant to their own lives and potential future career pathways. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.