Online, Outside, and in the Community: Making the Case for Science Education Relevance in Native American Communities

Leech Lake Tribal College, Cass Lake MN

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to support Native-serving institutions of higher education in building their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities. In alignment with these goals, the Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) project named "Online, Outside, and in the Community: Making the Case for Science Education Relevance in Native American Communities" provides a coherent suite of activities that enhance the college's STEM degree program. While the degree was developed to equip current and future generations of American Indian students with the skills necessary to enter a competitive and rapidly evolving STEM workforce, community surveys indicate a disconnect between these careers and the perceived importance and accessibility of STEM education within the community. To address this disconnect, the LLTC project builds the college's capacity to provide relevant, high quality STEM instruction and improved accessibility to STEM education within the Leech Lake communities. The project's activities focus on four main areas: outreach, expanding distance education offerings, improving access to technology, and student recruitment and retention. The multiple components are designed to improve STEM outcomes for Native students including increasing Native representation in the STEM workforce, thereby decreasing economic disparities within the Leech Lake community. With their ongoing commitment to produce graduates prepared to answer the local and regional workforce demands, LLTC is extending beyond its traditional local student base to provide accessible STEM education through community service-oriented outreach and distance education development. The project utilizes an array of complementary activities including 1) the provision of wifi hotspots around the reservation community, computer skills training, and a computer loan program to increase Internet access for students; 2) the development of additional online STEM courses; 3) the modification of developmental math courses using Backward Design; 4) a series of culturally relevant STEM outreach activities in area high schools; 5) professional development training for their faculty on distance education instructional techniques; 6) the formation of a cohort structure for STEM students; and 7) the development of a formal recruitment strategy aimed at local secondary students. The strengthening of LLTC's educational capacity will result in long-term benefits for the both the college and the community including greater STEM enrollment, increased community engagement with LLTC STEM, higher numbers of Native graduates entering the local STEM workforce, and improved economic stability for Native people and their community. 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.