SUMMARY RESULTS FROM SEVEN YEARS OF LATECHSTEP: A HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AND STUDENT RECRUITING PROGRAM

摘要

LaTechSTEP is a collaborative program between Louisiana Tech University faculty and high school teachers in the region. LaTechSTEP has two primary goals 1) to recruit new STEM majors to Louisiana Tech, and 2) to build relationships between the faculty and teachers. Through this program, high school students are brought on the university campus three times each year to explore a topic such as fuel cells. The high school math and science teachers of these students are brought on campus six times each year: three training workshops, and three times with the students. This paper will present several outcomes of Louisiana Tech University's LaTechSTEP program. This program was initially piloted during the 2005-06 academic year with one high school and has grown to twelve high schools during the 2011-12 academic year. In 2007, NSF funding was awarded for the further development of LaTechSTEP (#062462). Over 300 students and over 50 teachers from 17 high schools have participated in this program since its inception. The mechanics of the LaTechSTEP program have been presented in previous publications; therefore, only a brief overview of the program logistics will be presented in this paper. Instead, this paper will focus on the outcomes of the project and will quantify the effect of LaTechSTEP on STEM enrollment and on university faculty/high school teacher collaboration. Data will be presented to show the effect of LaTechSTEP on STEM enrollment at Louisiana Tech University. Additionally, the performance of students who enrolled in STEM after completing LaTechSTEP will be compared with STEM students who did not participate in the program. Retention rates of these students will be compared with their peers who did not participate in LaTechSTEP. On a larger scale, STEM enrollment trends for Louisiana Tech University will be discussed. In order to attempt to measure the effect of LaTechSTEP on the teachers themselves, this paper will compare student performance from schools that participated in LaTechSTEP with the performance of students from schools which did not participate. Performance indicators will include mathematics and engineering GPAs, D/F/W rates, and ACT scores. Another measure of the effect on teachers will be the number of other Louisiana Tech University sponsored programs that the teachers attend. Qualitative responses from the teachers themselves will also be presented. An additional outcome of the LaTechSTEP program has been several spin-off projects. These projects will be briefly discussed. Although not a primary goal of LaTechSTEP, these new programs have provided alternative paths to the realization of the primary goals: 1) increasing STEM enrollment, and 2) building relationships with regional high school teachers.