Faculty participate in national STEM video showcase

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Faculty in the College of Education, Health and Aviation are participating in the 2019 STEM for All Video Showcase funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) May 13-20. The team’s three-minute video, “Towards Increasing Native American Engineering Faculty,” highlights research about the factors that promote Native Americans’ entry and persistence into engineering and the engineering professorate.

Now in its fifth year, the annual showcase features over 240 innovative projects aimed at improving STEM learning and teaching, which have been funded by the NSF and other U.S. federal agencies. During the week-long event, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and members of the public are invited to view the short videos, discuss them with the presenters online and vote for their favorites.

Leading the project is principal investigator and professor in counseling and counseling psychology Dr. Sue Jacobs. Assisting is Dr. Nicole Colston, assistant research professor in the School of Teaching, Learning and Educational Sciences, and Dr. Sarah Johnson, visiting assistant professor in counseling and counseling psychology. Collaborating on the project are counseling and counseling psychology graduate students Kelsey Patzowsky, Chris Jane and Amanda Young. Dr. James Smay, professor in the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, serves as a consultant on the project as well as Dr. Sherri Turner, associate professor in educational psychology at the University of Minnesota.

“Little is known about factors that promote Native Americans’ becoming or persisting as engineering faculty members,” said Jacobs. “We hope to develop a deeper understanding of the role of barriers and supports in opting into an engineering faculty role. This could lead to best practices to provide Native Americans with experiences and supports to encourage them to pursue engineering graduate degrees and engineering faculty careers.”

The theme for this year’s event is “Innovations in STEM Education.” Video presentations address improving K-12 STEM classroom, informal environments, undergraduate and graduate education, teacher professional development and community engagement. Collectively they cover a broad range of topics, including science, mathematics, computer science, engineering, cyber-learning, citizen science, maker spaces, broadening participation, research experiences, mentoring, professional development, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core.

To view the video and participate in the online event, please visit: https://stemforall2019.videohall.com/presentations/1593.

Media Contact: Rachel Potts | 405-744-8320 | rachel.potts@okstate.edu