A State University -Tribal Colleges Partnership to Initiate Systemic Changes to Increase STEM Content in K -12 Education

North Dakota State University Fargo, Fargo ND

Investigators

Abstract

The Colleges of Engineering and Education at North Dakota State University, together with four North Dakota Tribal Colleges, partner to design a program that bridges the pathways to engineering careers for American Indian students in the Tribal Colleges and in high schools. Five workshops for the partner faculty include presentations by nationally known figures and discussion on authentic assessment, science and engineering pedagogy, cultural integration in education, best evaluation practices, and proposal development. At a summer camp, faculty engage in free exchange of ideas while designing items for evaluation. The items are experiential activities for middle and high school students to work on during four Sunday Academies. They include lesson materials, assessment strategies, demonstrations and opportunities for additional studies. The long-term goal is to develop proposals to continue the collaboration to provide opportunities to attract and retain American Indian students in STEM disciplines.