Focus of the intervention
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have been a source of inspirational discoveries and transformative technological advances, helping the US develop the world's most competitive economy (National Science & Technology Council, 2018). Within the next decade, our nation will need one million more STEM professionals than it can produce (United States Congress, Joint Economic Committee, 2014). Currently there are a surplus of STEM careers and a depleted pool of individuals to assume these opportunities. One reason for the gap between the number of STEM career opportunities and STEM human resources is created by STEM exclusion. To address this, many initiatives on increasing the participation of those underrepresented and marginalized in STEM with primary attention given to women and people of color. STEM academic and workforce environments have come under scrutiny for their omitting persons of low socioeconomic status. 
The environments in which persons of low socioeconomic status live, go to school and to work do not have the cultural capital to encourage and nurture motivation and interest in STEM. In geographic regions where qualified teachers do not live and learning opportunities are not available, the experiences should be available online. UBOnline is a STEM diversity and inclusion initiative that harnesses the flexible and autonomous power of distance learning technology to afford persons of low socioeconomic status access to educational opportunities in STEM. 

Study population—
The population served by this project are secondary students of low socioeconomic status whose families' annual taxable income is at or below 150 percent of the poverty threshold. UBOnline intends to collaborate with centers, colleges and universities that host Upward Bound programs. While at the host institution during the summer residential program, the students have access to computers connected to the internet and have the resources to manipulate engineering design graphics software applications.
Contextual factors
The researcher evaluated the technological infrastructure available to the Upward Bound program participants. It also assessed the Upward Bound program staff attitudes toward implementation of technology and engineering courses and online learning opportunities among the educational opportunities they wish to afford their students.
Outcomes of the intervention
From 2014 to 2019, Basic descriptive data was collected and reported based on analyzing student responses to inquiries concerning technology and internet access it was found that 77.3 percent of Upward Bound programs have access to open computer labs during the academic year. Ninety-four percent of programs have access to open computer labs during the summer. Sixty-nine percent of Upward Bound programs have access to the internet/wifi in the residence halls during the summer. Eighty-five percent of programs are interested in integrating technology or engineering courses among the selectable elective courses offerings. Sixty-nine percent of programs would be interested in offering these learning opportunities using distance learning technology
Relevance to the UI community
This study is most relevant to the UI community due to the known low numbers of minority students. Basic STEM concepts are best learned at an early age—in elementary and secondary school—because they are the essential prerequisites to career technical training, to advanced college-level and graduate study, and to increasing one's technical skills in the workplace. The results of this prove the feasibility of integrating innovative STEM online educational opportunities in the curriculum of outreach programs that serve students of socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Next steps would be to create informal, online learning environments for students participating in these programs to practically test the feasibility of online learning integration.
References
National Science & Technology Council. (2018, December). Charting a Course for Success. A Report by the National Science & Technology Council. Available at: file:///C:/Users/pefaulkner/Downloads/STEM-Education-Strategic-Plan-2018.pdf 

US Department of Education (2010). Transforming American Education Learning Powered by Technology. Office of Educational Technology: Washington, DC.


Integrating STEM online learning initiatives in educational outreach programs

Poster Preview No. 1-17

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UI is excited to announce the rescheduled 12th Annual Conference on Understanding Interventions December 10 & 12, 2020! As you may recall, the original conference scheduled back in March 2020 had to be cancelled due the worsening global conditions, and further declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay tuned for details regarding the virtual conference.

On December 10, 2020 from 12:00-5:00pm (EST), and December 12, 2020 from 11:00am-5:00pm (EST), UI will host the Virtual 12th Annual Understanding Interventions Conference powered by Underline. Attendees will experience plenaries, workshops, symposia, and poster presentations on hypothesis-based research on interventions and initiatives that broaden participation in STEM careers. The conference will continue to facilitate the dialogue among education, behavioral, and social science researchers, evaluators, and faculty in STEM fields who participate in intervention programs. Graduate students in these fields are strongly encouraged to attend. Workshops, sessions, and posters will communicate effective strategies from successful STEM intervention programs, present results from empirical research studies, and synthesize the translation of research findings into practice on STEM learning, undergraduate research, graduate education, and student retention.

12th Conference on Understanding Interventions 2020

12th Annual Understanding Interventions Conference continues to facilitate the dialogue among education, behavioral, and social science researchers, evaluators, and faculty in STEM fields who participate in intervention programs. Workshops, sessions, and posters communicate effective strategies from successful STEM intervention programs, present results from empirical research studies, and synthesize the translation of research findings into practice on STEM learning, undergraduate research, graduate education, and student retention.

Robert Cobb Jr

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Integrating STEM online learning initiatives in educational outreach programs

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