New Mexico PREP Academy: Improve STEM Knowledge for Underrepresented Middle and High School Students Tamara E Stimatze Public Health Sciences New Mexico State University Jacqueline Zeiber Counseling and Educational Psychology New Mexico State University Patricia Sullivan, Steven Stochaj Engineering Outreach and Recruitment New Mexico State University Luis Vázquez Counseling and Educational Psychology New Mexico State University Introduction In the early 1980’s Congress requested that the National Science Foundation (NSF) provide educational and professional development opportunities for people of color, women, and people with disabilities pursuing a career in the sciences and engineering [1] Although the number of underrepresented groups pursing degrees and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is increasing – the number of people from underrepresented communities, such as Hispanic or Latino, as well as women, remains unequal [2] Engineering is a STEM domain in which underrepresented groups continue to remain unequally represented In 2016, 59.3% of students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in engineering identified as white, where as only 10.4% identified as Hispanic or Latino, and 5.9% identified as more than one race or ethnicity [2] Women, in particularly, remain underrepresented in engineering with 19.5% of bachelor’s degree recipients identifying as women in 2006 and only 20.9% of women recipients in 2016 [2] Given the continuing issue of underrepresented groups in engineering, New Mexico State University offers the New Mexico PREP Academy for middle and high school students interested in education and careers in STEM This program provides an opportunity for Hispanic or Latino students, as well as young women, to explore engineering concepts and potential careers in a fun and engaging environment The 2019 PREP Academy: Program Overview The New Mexico PREP Academy is an intensive, hands-on STEM education program offered to high school and middle school students during the summer of 2019 The overarching goal of the New Mexico PREP Academy is to increase educational opportunities for underrepresented groups, such as people of color and women, in engineering The program is held at New Mexico State University and lasts weeks During the program, students are exposed to college life by staying in dormitories, eating in the dinning hall, and attend daily lectures, activities, and field trips All educational activities focused on improving students’ engineering knowledge and the introducing students to different careers options available in engineering The New Mexico PREP Academy students learn about a variety of engineering topics, such as aerospace, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, survey, and engineering technician Each domain is covered through an education unit and explores engineering concepts such as friction, displacement, and torque through hands-on activities, guest lecturers, and field trips Hands-on activities consisted of building an electrical circuit, a demonstration in 3D printing, and engaging in a robotics competition Guest lecturers were external (and internal) entities working in different engineering domains, such as aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, and a visit from a surveying company Field trips consisted of visits to the NASA Challenger Center, White Sands, and more Methods Participants The 2019 New Mexico PREP Academy consisted of 24 middle school students and 26 high school students for a total of 50 students Fifty-two percent of students identified as male and 48% identified as female The participants in 2019 consists of a diverse ethnic background Approximately 60% of participants identified as Hispanic/Latino(a) and 42% identified as Caucasian All students submitted an application to the 2019 New Mexico PREP Academy and all applicants were accepted into the 2019 program Measures Students completed a pre- and post-assessment of engineering knowledge on the first and last day of the academy The assessments were limited to 40 minutes and consisted of multiple choice, as well as definition matching questions Results Overall, the 2019 New Mexico PREP Academy students demonstrated a significant improvement in their understanding of STEM concepts and terminology On the multiple choice portion of the assessment, students improved their application of STEM concepts such as displacement, duration, and support weight, t(46) = 3.33, p = 0.002 Further, students significantly improved their understanding of terminology and definitions for terms such as ratio, contaminate, and acceleration, t(46) = 3.75, p = 0.000 Application Terminology Percentage Correct Axis Title 0.75 0.7 0.65 0.6 0.55 Pre-Test 0.8 0.75 0.7 0.65 0.6 Post-Test Pre-Test Post-Test Summary and Conclusion Overall, participation in the 2019 New Mexico PREP Academy increased students’ knowledge regarding the application of engineering concepts and terminology References U.S Congress, NSF Authorization and Science and Technology Equal Opportunities Act Report www.congress.gov/bill/96th-congress/senate-bill/568, Dec 1980 National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2019 Special Report NSF 19-304 Alexandria, VA Available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd, Mar 2019 TAMARA STIMATZE Tamara Stimatze is a PhD candidate in Experimental Psychology with a minor in Applied Statistics at New Mexico State University JACQUELINE ZEIBER Jacqueline Zeiber is currently pursuing an Ed S in School Psychology at New Mexico State University PATRICIA SULLIVAN Dr Patricia Sullivan is the Associate Dean of Outreach and Recruiting for the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University STEVEN STOCHAJ Dr Steven Stochaj is the interim Department Head and professor in Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University LUIS VÁZQUEZ Dr Luis Vázquez is the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at New Mexico State University