Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for the A-UBET Grant was Hispanic and Under-represented minority and-or low SES students and non-minority students. During the 2011-2014 period of the A-UBET Grant, 2,972 students (994 Hispanics) completed college level agriculture-related bioscience courses, exceeding the grant metric (1200 students/400 Hispanic) by 248%. In so doing, students earned 5027 college credit hours which exceeded the grant metric (3,000) by 167%.The student success rate in these courses was 91.2%, exceeding the grant metric (90%) by 1.3%. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The A-UBET Grant sponsored six bioscience workshops for A-UBET teachers. Forty two teachers participated and they collectively logged 168 hours at the workshops. This equaled the A-UBET grant metric for teacher professional growth (six workshops and 42 or more participants). However, seven teachers participated in the summer internship program as faculty mentors in research labs and they collectively logged 1,830 hours. One activity administered by the A-UBET Grant for preparing high school students for biotechnology careers, internships and advanced studies was to develop a science lab technician program for high school students. The outcome would be to attract and train highly qualified students for agriculture-related jobs and provide high school teachers in-class support for their biotechnology labs. During three years of the A-UBET grant, seven high school students completed the science lab technician training program and college biotechnology internships for three teachers in two high schools. Furthermore, Mesa Public Schools replicated the A-UBET model and created part time biotechnology science lab technician positions for their six high schools. A-UBET provided lab supplies, lab manuals, lab equipment, and lab technician support to high school bioscience teachers. A-UBET also provided three faculty mentors for the summer internship program for each year of the grant. In all, eight teachers served as faculty mentors and earned 240+ hours each of research lab experience during the summer internships. This enabled four of the summer intern teachers to complete their Career and Technical Education (CTE) certification; a requirement for teaching the biotechnology program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The A-UBET Grant has produced and presented posters illustrating grant results at the annual NACTA Conferences all four years of the grant. In 2014, Sasha Soto, the A-UBET Grant scholarship recipient was sent to Montana State University to the annual NACTA Conference to represent the A-UBET Grant and deliver the poster. Not only was Sasha an excellent ambassador for USDA/NIFA and the grant at the conference, but she also connected with other project directors and students in agriculture. Anthony Garcia, a prior USDA/NIFA grant Scholarship recipient represented the A-UBET Grant and presented the poster at the 2015 NACTA Conference in Athens Georgia. Grant results are disseminated to A-UBET Grant Advisory Board Members annually at advisory board meetings. Interim reports of grant results are distributed to internship partners (USDA/ARS ALARC, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, University of Arizona Maricopa Agricultural Center) and interested parties (Science Foundation Arizona, Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area, Arizona Audubon, Tempe Union High School District, Mesa Public Schools, Central Arizona College, and Maricopa Community Colleges) periodically. News releases have been submitted and published in the local newspaper (Arizona Republic). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During the 2011-2014 period of the A-UBET Grant, 2,972 students (994 Hispanics) completed college level agriculture-related bioscience courses (dual enrollment), exceeding the grant metric (1200 students/400 Hispanic) by 248%. In so doing, students earned 5027 credit hours in their agriculture-related bioscience courses which exceeded the grant metric (3,000) by 167%. The student success rate in these courses was 91.2%, exceeding the grant metric (90%) by 1.3%. Activities A-UBET conducted summer internships at four locations; USDA-ARS Arid Lands Agriculture Research Lab (ALARC), University of Arizona (UoA) Cooperative Extension Maricopa Agricultural Center (MAC) Lab in Maricopa, Maricopa County Cooperative Extension (MCCE) in Phoenix, and the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project and Arizona Games in Fish in central Phoenix. South Mountain Community College hosted four annual public Poster Presentations by A-UBET summer interns (July 2011-2015) and over 500 people attended. A-UBET awarded $49,829 in tuition scholarships to Hispanic and other minority high school dual enrollment students (193) enrolled in college STEAM courses. The A-UBET Grant sponsored Ms. Sasha Soto, a Hispanic student attending Arizona State University (ASU) who completed her sophomore year in a chemical engineering program with a 3.88 GPA out of possible 4.0. During four years of the A-UBET grant, seven high school students completed the A-UBET Grant science lab technician training program. Events The A-UBET Grant sponsored three "Science Nights," two "Geek Weeks," and several in-class recruitment activities to promote STEAM careers for high school students and incoming ninth graders. A You Tube video produced by the grant and Program of Study flyers were distributed to high school teachers recruiting incoming freshmen for biotechnology and agriculture-related courses. The A-UBET grant sponsored science fairs at four high schools and provided two judges for the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (2011-2014). South Mountain Community College hosted two science fairs for students at local high schools and provided judges and awards for each of the others. In all, 973 A-UBET Grant sponsored students participated in local science fairs and 252 students participated in the Arizona State Science and Engineering Fair and/or Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (102 Hispanic or other Under-represented Minority), far exceeding the grant metrics (60 in local science fairs, 24 in state and national fairs - 8 Hispanic and other minority). OUTCOMES/IMPACTS Ethnic diversity increased at USDA/ARS ALARC and at the University of Arizona Maricopa Agricultural Center (UA MAC) as a result of A-UBET's internship program. The A-UBET grant also served to increase community outreach and dissemination of research for UA MAC and ALARC. Seventy-eight students (18 Hispanics) were awarded summer internships with ALARC scientists, UA MAC and UA Cooperative Extension Professors, and Phoenix Parks and Recreation and Arizona Game and Fish Researchers during the A-UBET Grant. This number far exceeded the grant metric (18 internships/6 Hispanics). Not only did the number of internships grow during the A-UBET Grant, but the number of research partners grew as well. The Maricopa County Cooperative Extension (MCCE) and the USDA/ARS ALARC were the two original research partners with the A-UBET Grant. University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Maricopa, City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area and Arizona Game and Fish joined in years two and three respectively. The new partners brought a greater variety of agriculture related research topics and created significantly more interest among students and teachers. The importance of student scholarships was particularly important to the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension (MCCE) and UA MAC. Their research professors contributed funds for their A-UBET interns thereby leveraging grant scholarship funds and providing research opportunities for more summer interns and faculty mentors. A-UBET interns and mentors contributed over 6,750 hours at the UA labs and UA research professor contributed $7,260 for summer intern scholarships. Dr. Ed Martin, Director UA Maricopa County Cooperative Extension (MCCE), highlighted the A-UBET summer interns and their mentors in their inaugural online newsletter published September 2014. Eighty-one student interns completed over 240 hours each in their internships, each earning 3.0 hours of transferable college biotechnology internship credit. Five interns were hired in subsequent years. An important metric of the A-UBET Grant was for A-UBET Grant high school partners to produce sixty or more certificate graduates in agriculture-related areas. A-UBET Grant partners produced 89 CTE biotechnology certificate graduates (exceeding the metric by 148%). Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) which had no biotechnology program prior to the USDA/NIFA grants in 2008, led Arizona by producing 65 CTE Biotechnology graduates in 2014. Mesa Public Schools had 32 and.Saguaro High in Scottsdale, which also had a new to CTE biotechnology through the A-UBET Grant, produced 2 CTE Biotechnology Graduates (their first ones ever). Antonio Garcia, a A-UBET scholarship recipient successfully completed his graduate certificate (Connecting Environmental Science and Decision Making) from the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) May 17, 2014. Antonio completed three agriculture internships; one at the USDA/ARS in Maricopa and gained fulltime employment as a Science Lab Tech at SMCC in August 2014. James Dalton, former A-UBET Science Lab Tech successfully completed an internship in Dr. Channah Rock's water quality lab at the University of Arizona MAC in 2014. James was hired by Dr. Rock as a lab tech at MAC. James is also a fulltime student at Mesa Community College and plans to enroll at the University of Arizona College of Agriculture & Life Sciences to pursue a degree in food and water microbiology. The enthusiasm of students applying for and participating in internships was overwhelming and their research posters and presentations were unforgettable. A-UBET made the connection between coursework and career work very clear for student interns. The A-UBET Science Nights and the Summer Internship Poster Presentations demonstrated to community members the mission and scope of the USDA, the value of USDA to our community, and the diverse educational and career opportunities USDA provides.
Publications
- Type:
Books
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Biotechnology I: The Fusion of Imagination and Creativity, Kendall Hunt Publishing Company 2012.
- Type:
Books
Status:
Published
Year Published:
20136
Citation:
Biotechnology II: The Fusion of Imagination and Creativity, Kendall Hunt Publishing Company 2013.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Hull JJ, Chaney K, Geib SM, Fabrick JA, Brent CS, et al. (2014) Transcriptome-Based Identification of ABC Transporters in the Western Tarnished Plant Bug Lygus hesperus. PLoS ONE 9(11): e113046. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0113046
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Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience for the A-UBET Grant is high school Hispanic and Under-represented minority and or low SES students and non-minority students who wish to enroll in college biosciences and pursue agriculture-related careers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The A-UBET Grant sponsored two bioscience workshops for teachers last year and and provided science lab technician assistanttraining for three high school students. The grant also provided four faculty mentorships with the summer interns in UA Cooperative Extension and USDA/ARS ALARC Research labs. Twelve teachers logged a total of 72 hours of teacher development last year in the A-UBET workshops and the four faculty mentors logged 970 hours at ALARC and UA Cooperative Extension Labs. Twenty-five student interns completed over 240 hours each in their internship at ALARC and UA Cooperative Extension (over 6,100 hours total), with each intern earning 4.0 hours of college internship credit. Nine interns were invited back next year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Dr. Ed Martin, Director Maricopa County Cooperative Extension published the first MCCCE online newsletter in September 2014 and recognized the five A-UBET summer interns and their mentors at his facility.http://extension.arizona.edu/maricopa-county-cooperative-extension-newsletter-issue-1. USDA/ARS ALARC scientists joined UA MAC Lab professors and held a student intern poster presentation July 23, 2014. South Mountain Community College sponsored the USDA/NIFA Summer Intern Poster Celebration on a clear summer evening July 28, 2014; one-hundred and thirty-five people attended including more than forty teachers, administrators, professors and scientistsfrom A-UBET partner high schools, colleges universities and ARS.Finally, A-UBET partnered with Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) to create a video of summer interns describing their summer internship experiences with research posters they developed. The video will be presented at the October 2014 TUHSD Governing Board Meeting and then be posted on the TUHSD website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The A-UBET Grant having met most of the objectives begins a one-year no-cost extension that focuses on continuing the A-UBET Scholar at ASU and conducting another summer internship with The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and USDA/ARS ALARC. The number and quality of A-UBET summer internships greatly exceeded the grant projections (25 last summer). These internships were viewed by stakeholders in surveys and exit interviews as the most valuable A-UBET grant activity that should not sunsetbecause theymade the greatest impact. As a result, the A-UBET partners agreed to jointly fund one more year of the A-UBET Grant summer internships in 2015 and to seek additional funding for the future.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The A-UBET grant enabled USDA/ARS ALARC to add ethnic diversity in their labs and facilitated community outreach and dissemination of their research which are components of their mission. Though community interest in placing interns at ALARC is high, the A-UBET Grant was the only internship program that could provide both transportation and scholarship funding to its interns and as a result, ALARC scientists mentored fifteen A-UBET Grant summer interns this year, five more than the year before. Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) had no biotechnology program prior to the USDA/NIFA grants in 2008. They also had no bioscience CTE student completers through 2011. However, in just three years of A-UBET Grant support, TUHSD became the top district in Arizona with 65 students passing the Arizona bioscience CTE exam. Mesa Public Schools had 32 students pass the Arizona Bioscience CTE Exam and Saguaro High in Scottsdale had 2; their first Bioscience CTE graduates. Kendrick Chaney, a 2012 summer intern successfully completed his second year at University of California, Berkeley in a biochemistry program and completed a 2014 summer internship at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C. Antonio Garcia, a former USDA/NIFA student, intern, lab technician, and scholarship recipient successfully completed academic requirements for his graduate certificate (Connecting Environmental Science and Decision Making) from the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences May 17, 2014. Antonio completed three agriculture internships in the program, one at the USDA/ARS in Maricopa with Dr. John Dyer, ARS Research Plant Geneticist. Mr. Garcia became the newest board approved employee at South Mountain Community College in August 2014 as the Science Lab Technician for the biology department. Steve Morgan, a Corona del Sol High School chemistry teacher and Stephanie King, a Mesa Public Schools biotechnology teacher and CTE Science specialist were A-UBET summer faculty mentors and they each completed over 250 hours of field and lab work at the UA MAC Lab fulfilling their requirements for CTE certification. James Dalton, former A-UBET Science Lab Technician successfully completed an internship in Dr. Channah Rock’s water quality lab at the University of Arizona MAC Lab last summer. James was also a mentor for A-UBET summer interns in the MAC Lab and was hired by Dr. Rock as a lab assistant. James is also a fulltime student at Mesa Community College and plans to enroll at the University of Arizona College of Agriculture & Life Sciences to pursue a degree in food and water microbiology after his graduation next year. A-UBET brought researchers into high schools to recruit students for STEAM courses, agriculture careers, and summer internships. Scientists said their visits were very enjoyable and worthwhile in part because it enabled them to see, the kinds of biotech activities students do in high schools today which compares to activities they did in graduate school. Over 200 high school students attended ALARC scientist presentations. UA Cooperative Extension Professors increased the number of A-UBET sponsored interns from four last year to ten in 2014. Not only did the student interns contribute to the professors’ research, but some interns were able to complete projects their professors were unable to start because of staff reductions. The ten A-UBET interns and mentors spent over 2,500 hours this summer at UA Cooperative Extension and MAC Lab prompting the director to contribute $3,900 to South Mountain Community College to support summer intern scholarships. The enthusiasm of students applying for and participating in internships was overwhelming this year and their research posters and presentations were unforgettable. A-UBET made the connection between coursework and career work very clear for student interns. The A-UBET Science Nights and the Summer Internship Poster Presentations demonstrate to community members the mission and scope of the USDA, the value of USDA to our community, and the diverse educational and career opportunities USDA provides. The 2014 Desert Vista (DV) High School Science Bowl team had four students in the biology category and two of them were A-UBET summer interns. The DV team won the Arizona Science Bowl in 2014 and was a finalist at national Science Bowl competition in Washington D.C. Gen Fitzgerald, an A-UBET summer intern took first place in the biology category at the 2014 Arizona Science Bowl. Birgit Musheno, DV biology and biotechnology teacher and A-UBET Grant faculty mentor was the DV Science Bowl teacher. Dr. Ed Martin, Director Maricopa County Cooperative Extension published the first MCCCE online newsletter in September 2014 and recognized the five A-UBET summer interns and their mentors at his facility. Local science fairs occurred at four high schools and also at South Mountain Community College. The total number of students participating in science fairs was just over 300, 200 more than last year and exceeding the grant objective. Sasha Soto, our A-UBET Scholar who is Hispanic presented the A-UBET Grant poster at NACTA in Montana in June 2014. Eight of the twenty-five USDA/NIFA A-UBET summer interns last summer were Hispanic (32%). One high school class participated in research with ARS scientists meeting a grant objective. A-UBET served 1523 high school students (32% Hispanic, 42% minority) and provided scholarships for 58 students (38% Hispanic). The student success rate in A-UBET Grant supported college STEAM classes (final grade of “C” or higher) was 90.5%. Both of thesemetrics surpassed grant objectives. Local science fairs occurred at four high schools and also at South Mountain Community College. The total number of students participating in science fairs was just over 300, 200 more than last year and far exceeding the grant objective. Three high school students were trained by A-UBET to be bioscience lab technicians in their high school bioscience labs. One Science Night attracted over 90 students, and spring recruitment at Red Mountain High, Saguaro High, and Mountain Point High resulted in biotechnology enrollment increases of over 300%. Student success for the A-UBET Grant was 90.5 percent, exceeding the A-UBET grant objective of 90%.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience for the A-UBET Grant is Hispanic and Under-represented minority and-or low SES students and non-minority students who have a desire to enroll in bioscience courses and pursue agriculture related careers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The A-UBET Grant sponsored three teacher development workshops in plant tissue culturing, bioinformatics, and western blotting to promote advanced bioscience teacher lab skills. In addition, three instrcutors performed faculty mentorships at two agricultural research labs. Fourteen teachers logged 48 hours of teacher development last year and the faculty mentors logged 600 hours at ALARC and UA Cooperative Extension Labs. One faculty mentor is planning to develop and pilot a college course primer for summer agriculture interns and volunteers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? USDA-ARS ALARC and UA Cooperative Extension facilitated field trips for high school classes. ALARC scientists visited high school classrooms to encourage students to pursue agriculture careers. UA Cooperative Extension professors and ALARC scientists also serve on the A-UBET Advisory Board which prioritizes grant activities, establishes new participants, and creates a completion time line. Birgit Musheno, Desert Vista High School biotechnology teacher and summer faculty mentor contacted the Arizona Republic Newspaper about the A-UBET Grant agriculture internships at ALARC and Coty Miranda, Arizona Republic Reporter wrote an article on the summer internship program and the research projects student interns were working on (July 22, 2103) http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/20130702area-students-land-summer-internships.html A-UBET sponsored a Science Night and one Geek Week at partner high schools and attracted 63 students; meeting the grant objective. A-UBET conducted a summer internship program at two sites; USDA-ARS Arid Lands Agriculture Research Lab (ALARC) and University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Maricopa Agricultural Center (MAC) Lab, in Maricopa. ALARC hosted a poster presentation by the interns at the conclusion of their internships and South Mountain Community College hosted a public Poster Presentation for A-UBET summer interns on July 29, 2103; 63 community members, ALARC scientists, UA Professors, and parents attended. James Dalton, A-UBET Science Lab Technician presented a poster for the A-UBET Grant at the NACTA Conference in Virginia in June. The A-UBET Grant hosts a webpage that contains content for students, teachers, and grant accomplishments:http://azbioed.org/ Included are videos of student interns, recruitment and scholarship materials, grant results and impacts. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Our focus next year is to recruit more summer interns for University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and ALARC and to help all of our high school STEAM programs to become self-sustaining. We had three faculty mentors (High School Teacher, College Professor, and A-UBET Grant Coordinator) last year for summer interns and hope to recruit three more next year. The faculty mentorship is not only essential for student intern success, but it also provides incredible professional growth experiences for A-UBET teachers. An objective of the A-UBET Grant is to spread the use of biotech labs with agricutural applications into all high school science classes. As a consequence, many more students are doing biotech labs and the demand for biostech lab equipment has increased significantly. Therefore, another focus of the A-UBET Grant next year is to provide sufficient lab equipment for expanding high school science programs, especially those that are CTE sponsored and promote agriculture. The A-UBET Grant is proud to sponsor a USDA/NIFA scholar at Arizona State University this year. Sasha Soto, a freshman biochemistry student completed Biotech I and Biotech II before graduating from Desert Vista High last year. Sasha came to ASU with 24 credit college credit hours ans she completed a summer internship just two months ago. She is currently as an enrolled in 18 credit hours and plans to complete her undergraduate degree in 2016. Sasha is an ambassodor for the A-UBET grant and she will be attending the Latinos in Agriculture Leadership Conference in San Antonio in October 2013 with james Dalton, A-UBET Science Lab Technician.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The A-UBET grant enabled USDA/ARS ALARC to add ethnic diversity in their labs and facilitated community outreach and dissemination of their research; components the ARS mission. Though community interest for ALARC interns is high, the A-UBET Grant was the only internship program that could provide both transportation and scholarship funding to its interns and as a result, ALARC scientists requested even more A-UBET Grant summer interns for next year. A-UBET brought researchers into high schools to recruit students for STEAM courses, agriculture careers, and summer internships. Scientists said their visits were very enjoyable and worthwhile in part because it enabled them to see, the kinds of biotech activities students are doing in high schools today which compares to activities they first did in graduate school. UA Cooperative Extension Professors had four student interns in this their inaugural year with A-UBET. Not only did the student interns contribute to the professors research, but two interns completed projects professors were unable to start because they were short-handed and a third intern created an updated interactive webpage for the professors and their clients. The new web page provides real-time data on their projects for clients and quick responses to their questions. Dr. Ayman Mustafa, UA Professor said the new web page developed by his summer intern “upgraded their prior web page by at least twenty years and is the best he had seen.” The four A-UBET interns spent over 1030 hours this summer at UA Cooperative Extension and MAC Lab prompting the director to contribute $5,000 to South Mountain Community College for summer intern honorariums. The enthusiasm by students applying for and participating in internships was overwhelming this year and their research posters and presentations were unforgettable. A-UBET made the connection for students between coursework and career work very clear. A-UBET Science Nights and the Summer Internships demonstrate to community members who USDA is, what USDA does for the community and for education, and the diverse career opportunities USDA provides. Finally, A-UBET brought together three community colleges: the Estrella Mountain Community College Mathematics and Engineering Chair joined the A-UBET Grant to be a faculty mentor for ALARC student interns. In turn, she made USDA-ARS contacts so her college could submit a grant proposal for a USDA/NIFA HSI Higher Education Grant in 2013/2014. Rio Salado College joined A-UBET because of their expertise in dual enrollment registration. As a result of this partnership, A-UBET greatly increased student access to dual enrollment STEAM courses. Partner Organizations included nine high schools that offer dual enrollment STEAM courses and college prep programs of study, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Maricopa, USDA-ARS Arid Lands Agricultural Research Center in Maricopa, Rio Salado College, and Estrella Mountain Community College. The high schools have intergovernmental agreements to do STEAM dual enrollment, agree to use college curricula, register students in bioscience courses, hire CTE and college certified teachers, and promote program sustainability. They provide the A-UBET target audience, future STEAM students and teachers and they attend advisory board meetings. Thirteen student interns completed over 240 hours each in their internship at ALARC and UA Cooperative Extension. Each intern earned college internship credit. One intern was hired by ALARC for summer 2013 before he leaves for Berkeley University to pursue his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry. Nine interns were invited back next year. USDA-ARS ALARC and UA Cooperative Extension facilitated field trips for high school classes. ALARC scientists visited high school classrooms to encourage students to pursue agriculture careers. UA Cooperative Extension professors and ALARC scientists also serve on the A-UBET Advisory Board. Rio Salado Community College, a new A-UBET Grant partner provided efficient registration services for A-UBET and enrollment data for USDA/NIFA reports. Nearly two-thirds of the STEAM dual enrollment generated by the A-UBET Grant was administered by Rio Salado College. Estrella Mountain Community College provided a Mathematics/Physical Science/Engineering faculty for the summer internship program in 2013 and will provide a chemistry faculty next summer. A-UBET Collaborators include high school CTE directors and departments. CTE funds and A-UBET Grant funds were used to purchase lab manuals for all A-UBET teachers. Included in the lab manuals are student learning outcomes that align with college competencies and summative evaluations given to students each year. University of Arizona contributed $5,000 for A-UBET summer interns in 2013 resulting in an increase of four interns over last summer. Five of the thirteen UA Cooperative and USDA/ARS ALARC summer interns were Hispanic (exceeding a grant objective). A-UBET served 917 students including 104 Hispanic students who earned 3,482 college credits exceeding the grant objective by 16 percent. Over 1800 students were impacted by 26 A-UBET teachers. The student success rate in A-UBET Grant supported college STEAM classes (final grade of “C” or higher) was 92.5% for Hispanic students. Minority enrollment was 29% and Hispanic enrollment was 11.5%. Thirty-four students including ten Hispanic students presented at the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair; twenty-eight received awards including two “Special Awards.” Three students presented at Intel ISEF, and twelve students participated in the Biology Quiz Bowl. Local science fairs occurred at three high schools and also at South Mountain Community College. The total number of students participating in science fairs was just over 100, a decline from last year due to teachers having heavier teaching loads and administrators placing a greater focus on increasing student AIMS test scores. One high school class engaged in research with ARS scientists (meeting a grant objective). Three high school students were trained by A-UBET to be bioscience lab technicians in their science labs (ecxceeding a grant objective). One Science Night and one Geek Week attracted 63 students, (meeting a grant objective. Student success for the A-UBET Grant was 95 percent (exceeding the A-UBET grant objective of 90%).
Publications
- Type:
Books
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Biotechnology I: The Fusion of Imagination and Creativity, 2nd edition. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2013.
|
Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The primary goal of A-UBET is to increase the number of under-represented minority graduates in food, agriculture, and natural resource sciences. A-UBET has three objectives: conduct summer bridge academies to transition middle school graduates into high school-college agriculture coursework; bring university and ARS researchers into high school classrooms to engage students in their research; and to spread agriculture education into mainstream science classes, preparing more students for agriculture careers. A-UBET outcomes will be 3000+ university transferrable dual enrollment college credits earned by 1200+ students, at least 400 Hispanic or other minority, and 50+ will continue to pursue agriculture related college degrees. Activities: The A-UBET Grant sponsored four teacher development workshops in plant tissue culturing, microbial transformation, protein analysis, and bioinformatics to promote advanced bioscience teacher lab skills. Three ARS scientists came into high school classrooms to share their research with students and invite them to participate in research activities. A-UBET conducted a summer internship program at USDA-ARS in Maricopa and hosted a Student Intern Poster Presentation to the community at South Mountain Community College. A video of the poster presentation was produced and uploaded on the South Mountain Biosciences webpage. A-UBET awarded tuition scholarships to pay for low income high school students enrolling in college STEAM courses. A-UBET hired a new coordinator of Science Labs and a new Science lab technician for the grant. Events: Two Science nights were conducted to promote STEAM careers and programs of study for incoming ninth graders transferring to high school by a college scientist. A-UBET sponsored science fairs at four high schools and provided judges for the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair. A-UBET conducted an advisory board meeting which prioritized grant activities, established the participants, and created a completion timeline . Services: A-UBET provided student mentors for science fair projects and bioscience labs. A-UBET provided lab supplies, equipment, and lab technician support to high school bioscience teachers. Products: A Biotech II book was completed and is in print. This book will be used by bioscience high school teachers teaching college level biosciences. PARTICIPANTS: The A-UBET Grant participants included the Project Director, Coordinator of Science Labs, and the Science lab technician. The Project Director provided leadership in grant administration and Instruction. Key responsibilities included compliance with USDA-NIFA Grant Terms and Conditions, manage budgets, approve hires, conduct performance evaluations, develop sub-grants and MOU's with partners, oversee all grant activities and ensure they support the grant objectives and goals, oversee grant evaluation, develop end of year reports, certify teachers for college dual enrollment, and establish action plans for high school and community partners. The Coordinator of Science Labs oversees teacher and classroom activities including: scheduling the science lab tech for high school teachers; purchase orders for lab equipment and supplies; coordinating teacher workshops, science nights, science fairs, and student mentoring. The Science Lab Technician provides in-class services to teachers that include: delivery and dispensing of lab supplies, cleaning and calibrating lab equipment, training student lab techs, mentoring students with their projects, and judging at science fairs. Partner Organizations included nine high schools that offer dual enrollment STEAM courses and college prep programs of study, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Maricopa, USDA-ARS Arid Lands Agricultural Research Center in Maricopa, Rio Salado College, and Estrella Mountain Community College. The high schools have intergovernmental agreements to do STEAM dual enrollment, agree to use college curricula, register students in bioscience courses, hire CTE and college certified teachers, and promote program sustainability. They provide the A-UBET target audience, future STEAM students and teachers and they attend advisory board meetings. Teacher development last year included four bioscience workshops for A-UBET teachers and one faculty student intern mentor. Teachers logged 208 hours of teacher development and the faculty student mentor logged 240 hours at ALARC. Nine student interns completed 240 hours in their internship at ALARC and earned college internship credit. One intern was hired by ALARC for fall 2012 and six others were invited back next year. USDA-ARS ALARC and UA Cooperative Extension facilitated field trips for high school classes, provided scientists in high school classrooms to engage high school students in agriculture research, and accepted nine student interns into their labs. ALARC scientists also serve on the A-UBET Advisory Board. Rio Salado provides efficient registration services for A-UBET and they track students after college graduation to help us discover how many become USDA career ready. Estrella Mountain Community College provided a biology teacher for the summer internship program. A-UBET Collaborators include high school CTE directors and departments. CTE funds and A-UBET Grant funds were used to purchase lab manuals for all A-UBET teachers. Included in the lab manuals are student learning outcomes that align with college competencies and summative evaluations given to students each year. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience for the A-UBET Grant is Hispanic and Under-represented minority and-or low SES students and non-minority students. A-UBET served 532 students who earned 1545 college credits exceeding the grant objective by 54.5 percent. Over 2500 students were impacted by by 26 A-UBET teachers. Ninety-five students presented at the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair, 61 percent minority and 21 percent Hispanic. Eighty-four percent of the students received awards. Cumulatively, 311 students participated in science fairs last year; exceeding the grant objective of 300. Two Hispanic students traveled to USDA/NIFA National Conference in Texas last year and presented the A-UBET Grant poster they helped develop. Five of the nine student interns at USDA/ARS ALARC last summer were under-represented minority and three were Hispanic. We exceeded the grant objective by 50 percent. Three high school classes engaged in research with ARS scientists exceeding the grant objective of two. The A-UBET Grant trained one high school student to be a bioscience lab technician for her teacher. Three more will be trained next year. Two Science Nights were conducted last year and they attracted 105 students, which exceeded the grant objective by 55 percent. Student success for the A-UBET Grant was 94 percent, exceeding the A-UBET grant objective of 90 percent. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Several broad impacts resulted from the A-UBET Grant: The grant enabled USDA/ARS ALARC to add ethnic diversity in their labs and facilitated community outreach and dissemination of their research which are components of their mission. A-UBET brought researchers into high schools and was a humbling experience for many as they realized the need to hone their teaching and learning skills in the classes. These skills also help them be more effective "instructional directors" in their labs. A-UBET worked with high school districts to adopt common core standards that prepare students for college in STEAM disciplines. The enthusiasm by students applying for and participating in internships was overwhelming. A-UBET made the connection for students between coursework and career work very clear. Science Nights and the internships also showed community members what USDA is, what it does, and the diverse career opportunities it provides. Finally, A-UBET brought together three community colleges: the Estrella Mountain Community College Science chair joined the A-UBET Grant to be the faculty mentor for ALARC student interns. In turn, she made USDA-ARS contacts so her college could submit a grant proposal for a USDA/NIFA HSI Higher Education Grant in 2012/2013. Rio Solado College became a partner with A-UBET because of their expertise in dual enrollment registration. As a result of this partnership, A-UBET is able to greatly increase student access to grant services and college bioscience courses. Future: Our focus next year is to develop summer Ag programs for incoming freshmen students and to recruit interns for University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. We hope to again recruit a faculty mentor for our intern programs thereby providing professional growth for A-UBET teachers and mentoring support for interns.
Publications
- Biotechnology II, the fusion of imagination and creativity. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company, 2012.
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