The Science Education Partnership Award program awarded the U of A $1.25 million to support STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) for underrepresented students.

The five-year grant will be used to showcase and promote opportunities for both students and teachers to engage in the STEAM field. Her Tameka Bailey, an assistant professor of biological sciences, is the grant’s project director. This is the first time the university has received a grant from a science education partnership sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

People of color are often underrepresented in STEAM education and careers due to gender, socioeconomic and cultural factors. Early access and success in STEAM classes is often a predictor of whether a student will pursue a STEAM major and eventual career. Letting go is important in cultivating a lifelong pursuit.

A key component of the grant is the one-week STEAM summer program at U of A. The program targets her sixth graders at Reed Elementary School in Dumas, who are mostly rural, low-resource, and African-American.

This program has three main goals:

1. To improve STEAM perception, academic performance and effectiveness, future orientation, graduation rate, and college admissions among 400 Dumas Year 6 students.
   
2. Improving the performance and effectiveness of STEAM teaching for Dumas STEAM teachers.
   
3. For STEAM Summer Program participants and their families, you can save money on tuition by providing a $50 seed deposit into the AR Gift Fund for 400 Students.

“For me, an underrepresented minority in STEM fields, it is very important to change the demographic, the representation in those fields,” Bailey said. “My home in Fayetteville and Gould and Dumas’ hometown, he wants to bring the two communities together. Growing up, opportunity was everything. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have become a researcher.”

Tameka Bailey

She added that research shows that students around fifth grade decide what they do with their lives. is higher. “And introducing them to the University of Arkansas makes them more likely to attend the University of Arkansas. So we want to put the university at the top of their radar.”

This grant is a major step forward in the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Yvette Murphy-Irby, Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, noted that the grant reflects the university’s community-based commitment, saying, “Our land grants, academic and Fully aligned with our research mission and focus on STEAM education and post-secondary preparation, we support educational success and help underserved communities across the state who are in great need of support. It’s targeted.”

She added: Bailey comes from a community, it was her vision that started her camp, and she collaborates with others on campus to extend her efforts in this meaningful, innovative and difference-making way. It was her desire to spread. ”

Key collaborators in shaping the curriculum and grant proposals also included Marcia Chove, Research Director of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion. Douglas Rhoads, University Professor of Biological Sciences. and Michael Daughtery, a prominent professor of STEM education.

According to its website, the Science Education Partnership Award “funds innovative science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and non-formal science education projects for pre-kindergarten through grade 12. SEPA projects are medical and clinical researchers, teachers, schools, museums, science centers, media professionals and other educational institutions.”

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas’ flagship institution, U of A offers an internationally competitive education with over 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes his $2.2 billion to the Arkansas economy through teaching new knowledge and skills, developing entrepreneurship and employment, discovering through research and creativity, and providing specialized training. contributed more than The Carnegie Foundation classifies U of A as one of the few US universities with the highest level of research activity. US News & World Report Ranks U of A among the nation’s top public universities. See how the U of A is working to build a better world in Arkansas Research News.