WA3: Research Proposal

I hope to use my ethnographic research to promote educational programs, especially Project STEEM in particular. Project STEEM is in its final year of the grant, and the people directing and funding the program are trying to set up a new, more developed program under a different title. Perhaps my ethnographic research could assist them in their own research and development.

I am researching Project STEEM in particular because I participated in it during my senior year of high school. It reinforced my interests in math and science, introduced new aspects and technologies of both, helped me organize my college plans, and even helped me grow socially. My main research question is: What is the impact of educational programs on the schools, community, and students involved?

According to Project STEEM’s official website http://orgs.tamu-commerce.edu/steem/default.asp, the university received $1,500,000 from the Greater Texas Foundation to promote interest and learning in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Education & Math. The grant funded two projects starting in 2007: Infinity Institute and X-TEEMS Academy. Unfortunately, the grant could only support three years of the program, so this is the final year.

The official website declares in a sort of thesis statement for the purpose of the program that “it is known that math and science test scores of students across the US have remained low and essentially unchanged for the past 10 years. Ineffective teaching methods and low student interest (very reflective of  Yancey’s research), especially within the Science, Technology, Engineering, Education, and Math (STEEM) disciplines, contribute to the low scores of US students. In this project, teachers’ and students’ interests and attitudes towards STEEM disciplines will be transformed, and the effects of these changes will be determined in a variety of ways. By exposing math and science instructors to different teaching methods and having them implement these methods, and at the same time spark the interest of students through various activities, the low scores and students’ attitude can be transformed.” This is the basis of my own historical research; I will look into the literacies of math and science and how they have developed throughout the years. I will also explore how Project STEEM has influenced the literacy of the students involved.

The website continues: “Math and science teachers and students from 6th through 12th grades will be selected from ten rural and financially disadvantaged school districts. The teachers will be exposed to various project-based learning approaches under the supervision of TAMU-Commerce professors. The students will be involved in various activities (some of high intensity) that are designed to spark interests in the STEEM disciplines; they include: in-class lectures, dry and wet lab experiments, and science-based team building activities. The effects of these activities on the achievement of students at different levels will be determined. In addition, a group of twenty-six high achieving high school students from east Texas rural and financially disadvantaged schools will participate in an intense summer science program and their interest in science monitored over a 3-year period. Activities include instruction in STEEM areas, with an emphasis on biomathematics, by university professors and graduate teaching assistants. The students will be involved in various laboratory exercises, science-based team building activities, and field trips to industrial labs, including Texas Instruments (Dallas), and Tyco Industries, and university research labs, including, The University of Texas at Dallas, and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. It is believed that early and extended exposure of students to these types of activities can also change their interests and attitudes towards STEEM disciplines.” While this states the focus and procedure of Project STEEM, it also provides me with some select groups to focus on in my research. To study these students, I plan to post surveys and request for interviews from a few students I know personally and the alumni in the online community. Some of the questions I could use are:

• “How has Project STEEM affected your education? Social life?”
• “Why did you join Project STEEM?”
• “How do you view math and science? Academics in general? Did Project STEEM affect your perspective of such things?”

I could also speak with a few people who didn’t participate in Project STEEM and ask questions such as:

• “Have you heard of Project STEEM? How?” (I need to look into anything promoting STEEM, such as advertisements and flyers)
• If so, “Do you wish you could’ve participated?”

I have spoken to the director of Project STEEM, Dr. Kerri O’Connor, and she has given me permission to use the official website and the photo galleries posted on the site. She also informed me of the online social community for Project STEEM alumni.

I will study the photo and video galleries posted on the official website, observe the online community for alumni and ask how STEEM has affected the students personally, and attend any STEEM events I can attend. For example, the X-TEEMS Academy will have their Expo Day sometime in the fall to review the progress of the individual teams. Also, the coordinator of Project STEEM, Mrs. Margaret Laws, will be going to Wolfe City to attend that school’s X-TEEM project development meeting once they receive their shipment of solar panels. She has invited me to join her when she goes so I can study the group and their progress. In all of my research, I will examine trends in student activity and the use of specific literacy skills and devices, such as apprenticeship models.

 I plan to use my research to promote educational programs, examine the academic ambition and success of the students involved. I also want to study the key literacy devices implemented in the program such as co-apprenticeship and the use of specific technologies (Kathleen Yancey), educational background (Deborah Brandt), and modes of literacy (Lauren Resnick).

By researching the impact of Project STEEM, we can see the effect of educational programs in general. These programs encourage students to explore and achieve in the fields they study, as well as help them to grow personally. Project STEEM is a part of Texas A&M University-Commerce and thus affects the students in the surrounding community. Looking at impact of Project STEEM on the community of Commerce will benefit the Commerce Writes Research Project.

 

 

Draft for Permission Request Form

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Nathaniel Brinlee

Email (preferred): nbrinlee@leo.tamu-commerce.edu

Cell phone number: (903) 360-3907

 

I understand that I am being interviewed and recorded for an ethnographic research project conducted by Nathaniel Brinlee for English 102 at Texas A&M University-Commerce taught by Dr. Shannon Carter. I agree to let him/her use the interview to write a paper for the class. It will not be used for any other purpose. I have been informed that if I become uncomfortable at any time during the interview, I do not have to answer questions and can ask to end the interview. I am aware that I can request that a pseudonym be used. I understand that by signing this form, I give permission for the interview to be used for the purposes stated above.

 

Do you agree to participate in the interview        YES     NO

Should a pseudonym be used?                             YES     NO

Signed: _______________________________________________________

 

Date: ___________________

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If contacted online, I will include a similar statement in the beginning of the surveys and emails to inform the interviewee of the purpose of the research and ask if they would like the use of a pseudonym.

Analyzing the Field Research Project

1. (Space) Both divisions of Project STEEM were held during the summer, and X-TEEMS Academy is currently in the portion of the program in which the individual teams conduct their personal research projects. I could visit one or two of the schools as they gather for a meeting, but most of my research will be from the Project STEEM website, photo and video galleries, some select statistics, and interviews with the students who are/were involved. I could also possibly look into the regular student body and compare them to the students of Project STEEM.
2. (Actors) The research will pertain to students and their academics. I will analyze the statistical data of math and science academia among students in general, students involved in Project STEEM, students not involved, and I could go deeper into the individual subgroups within STEEM itself, such as the students who were previously much less interested in math and science. I could interview them and analyze their personal educational statuses in the style of Brandt’s research.
3. (Activities) The students of Project STEEM engaged in many math and science labs and lectures, as well as several team-based labs and experiments, some of which included a tadpole bio-lab, a hologram lab, and a team-based Lego Mindstorms® Robotics competition.
4. (Acts) In the tadpole bio-lab, the students knocked out tadpoles with anesthesia and then viewed them under microscopes. In the hologram lab, students went into a photographer’s “dark room” and used special glass to catch an image; later, students took the exposed glass to another lab to dip it in chemicals that maintain the image and holographic properties.
5. (Objects) Throughout the various labs, students used many different devices. However, the most used tools were computers and microscopes.
6. (Events) The X-TEEMS Academy will be getting back together sometime in the fall to show their progress on the projects.
7. (Times) The Expo will be sometime in the fall, and it will be a few hours long.
8. (Goals) Project STEEM is based on promoting math and science, as well as education in general. The students attend so that they may learn more and get inspired to achieve.
9. (Feelings) The students involved in Project STEEM are excited to learn and conduct their team experiments. Some of the students are less enthusiastic as first, but grow interested as they participate.

 

1. My main research question is: What is the impact of educational programs on the schools, community, and students involved?
2. I plan to research Project STEEM. I participated in Project STEEM in the summer of ’08 and throughout the ‘08-‘09 school year. It influenced my own education – I learned more about Texas A&M University-Commerce and the Honors College through seminars held during the camp.
3. I have spoken to the director of Project STEEM, Dr. Kerri O’Connor, and gotten permission to use the website and photo galleries. Dr. O’Connor also told me to let her know if I needed any additional information and she would see what she could find for me.
4. I will conduct my research analyzing the photo galleries, interviewing Project STEEM alumni, and investigating statistics for academic success. I have even found an online community for alumni.
5. I have already spoken to the director of Project STEEM, and I plan to post surveys and ask for interviews through the online community for alumni. I also know a few alumni quite well and could ask them for interviews as well.

WA2

To include the photos and formatting, I have uploaded this document to www.Scribd.com. Please do not let this discourage you from viewing it though! Simply visit the link below.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/20468563/Project-STEEM-An-Inspiration-to-Aspire