The Modern Blanket Toss: Engaging Underserved Students in STEM Fields through Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

University Of Alaska Fairbanks Campus, Fairbanks AK

Investigators

Abstract

The project, "The Modern Blanket Toss," refers to a Native American blanket toss, in which an Eskimo Indian is bounced upward from a blanket held tautly by a group of other Eskimos in order to allow the central Eskimo to scout the environment. The blanket serves as a trampoline to allow the scout to gain greater knowledge of the environment. Implemented as a metaphor in this project, the Modern Blanket Toss is the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a tool to help young Alaskan Natives gain an understanding of their environment and to further their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The project serves rural populations and Alaskan Natives through the use of technology that can directly improve Alaskans? awareness of their environment and its changes: UAVs and geographic information systems (GIS) technology. Intellectual Merit The project aims is to demonstrate a three-part program of science education built around cutting-edge STEM technologies, science communication and leadership skills, and community involvement. Its goal is to better expose rural and Alaskan Native students to STEM careers, prepare them for higher education, and enable them to contribute to their communities. The project is based on current educational research demonstrating the need to integrate traditional classroom instruction with activities designed to turn knowledge into action. The program combines cybertechnology, small-group and hands-on instruction, and innovative concepts of community engagement. The project partners with Upward Bound, a US Department of Education program with the proven ability to propel high school students into college, and leverages that success to focus on the specific goal of increasing student interest in STEM majors and careers. The project also includes teacher professional development for rural high school teachers. A thorough evaluation ensures that results from the program are tracked with scientific rigor. Given Alaska?s pressing need for mapping and environmental monitoring, engaging high school students in UAV projects significantly increased the state?s GIS datasets as the students themselves move into STEM careers. Broader Impacts The Modern Blanket Toss project is designed to directly improve the 60 participating students' interest in STEM fields, expanding their horizons like the ancient Inuit practice from which the project draws its name. It is also transferable and scalable for broad application in Upward Bound programs across the US. A key product is a curriculum and video series detailing the program's strategies to increase STEM engagement in underserved populations. Though these products address programs that focus on UAVs, they can potentially encompass a much broader educational strategy in which any number of science activities could substitute for UAV education. Results are to be widely disseminated through both Alaska's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) network and Upward Bound media and events, including a national workshop held at the conclusion of the award period.