Black History Month

Persistent racial injustices and inequities in the United States and in STEM fields underscore the need for creative, research-based approaches to address these concerns. In particular, creative approaches are needed for studying and addressing racial injustices and inequities in STEM education, where racial equity and STEM learning are both given careful and thoughtful consideration. This project focuses on supporting emerging scholars who have new ideas and approaches for approaching racial equity in their scholarship and work.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous media sources have placed a spotlight on the critical role of science and scientists in promoting public health. In contrast to many existing media sources that portray images of adult scientists, this project will develop media that portrays youth scientists as they conduct scientific research related to COVID-19. This media will be developed based on the findings from focus groups with youth of color, and it will include features that are designed to encourage youth to see the value of science while envisioning themselves as participants in science.

This project will develop an extensive professional development to 15 school teachers and engage 250 underrepresented inner-city 4th-6th grade students with agricultural life sciences experiences that connect to real issues in food science, health, environment, and energy.

This project will develop an ongoing partnership with disadvantaged schools across a 14-county region of New York that will facilitate teacher and student recruitment, preparation, and mentorship for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Project activities will focus on basic genome analysis and bioinformatics, and the partnership will be directed by the University at Buffalo Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences (BCLS) and the New York State Area Health Education Center System (NYS AHEC).

Bits-2-Bites is a strategies project that will engage middle school and high school students in learning to apply computational thinking and computer based tools to address STEM related community issues.

This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase student motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by designing, implementing, and testing an afterschool internship program that will engage older youth in work-based learning experiences in in STEM fields.

The program will positively influence the engineering self-efficacy and orientation to STEM majors with African American students living in an underserved region of the United States, the Mississippi Delta. Students in this program are immersed in engineering design activities requiring the application of science and mathematics principles. The program model includes pre-engineering courses in computer science, computer aided drafting, and electronics. These are designed and facilitated by university faculty. Undergraduate seniors are trained by faculty and then serve as mentors. Engineering design activities, career orientation activities and robotics summer camps for elementary and middle school students are facilitated by high school faculty. At the beginning of the spring semester, students participate in an international robotics competition. This robotics program is year-long and occurs after school, and halfway through the year students enter their designs in a robotics competition. Beginning in the freshmen year, students are allowed to remain in the program throughout their years in high school.

This ITEST project aims to research the STEM career interests of late elementary and middle-school students and, based on the results of that research, build an informal education program to involve families and community partners to enhance their science knowledge, attitudes, experiences, and resources. There is an emphasis on underrepresented and low income students and their families.

This project will develop opportunities for students to learn creatively in science through inquiry. The project will prepare 72 middle school teachers to work with approximately 1800 students from economically disadvantaged schools who have had few opportunities to participate in technology-rich, inquiry-based learning environments.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous media sources have placed a spotlight on the critical role of science and scientists in promoting public health. In contrast to many existing media sources that portray images of adult scientists, this project will develop media that portrays youth scientists as they conduct scientific research related to COVID-19. This media will be developed based on the findings from focus groups with youth of color, and it will include features that are designed to encourage youth to see the value of science while envisioning themselves as participants in science.

Welcome to Detroit and the Belle Isle Aquarium, where students come to see fish, turtles, and frogs and leave with learning and excitement about what they, too, could be doing in the world of science.  This project starts with teacher professional development to enhance their knowledge of biology and ecology and to help them prepare their classes to benefit the most from their field trip visit.  Aquarium educators (and our education researchers) follow up with classroom visits, and teachers get the opportunity to reinforce lessons with small grants to enhance learning opportunities.  Want t

Attention all STEM teachers — are you looking for ways to incorporate music and sound into your classroom? Check out these hands-on DIY ideas from Youth Radio’s Brains and Beakers science speaker series. Explore creative ways to experience sound — from digital visualization to science rap battles to creating your own instruments out of scrap parts. 

Careers in the U.S. that require STEM knowledge have grown rapidly, reinforcing the need to develop a future
workforce that is prepared to meet growing business needs and solve global challenges. Considering that there is a low number of
students pursuing STEM degrees and the low percentages of minority students in the STEM pipeline, STEM education has
been a focus of local and national education curriculum reform efforts. Extending beyond the classroom, university, industry,

This project aims to expand the implementation of a NSBE-supported program, "Summer Engineering Experiences for Kids" (SEEK), from 14 sites in 2016, to 31 by 2019; from 3,825 3rd-5th grade African American, Hispanic, and female students in 2015, to cumulative 27,000 across the nation over the three-year duration of the project.