Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The Agriculture & Nutrition for Girls While Encouraging Leadership & Stem-Enrichment (ANGELS) Program was held at the University Tennessee at Chattanooga in the Summer of 2023, Fall of 2023, and Summer of 2024. The overall goal of the ANGELS Program is to complement traditional and non-traditional STEM-education with experiential agricultural, nutritional and project management activities to help create a successful middle school to college pathway leading to STEM-related careers. Project Directors accomplished these goals by delivering an interactive STEM curriculum with complementing experiential agricultural, nutrition, and problem-solving activities for six weeks during the ANGELS Summer Pilot in 2023. The ANGELS Enrichment Program commenced in the Fall of 2023 providing project management tools and techniques that encouraged a participant-developed project that addressed food security issues. The ANGELS BETA Summer Camp commenced in June of 2024 to emphasize the need to encourage proper social interactions as educators during the teaching and learning processes while adhering to the ANGELS Program's original goals. Lessons learned and recommendations for future summer bridge programs were captured while navigating the day-to-day interaction with fifteen middle school girls. The ANGELS Summer Pilot included the efforts of three female undergraduate students who served as near peer mentors and one male undergraduate engineering management student, all who were paid interns. In addition, a graduate environmental science student participated in the ANGELS Summer Pilot as a course requirement, leading science activities. Enhancements to the ANGELS Program broadened our impact by offering more diverse ways to stimulate middle school girls' interest in STEM by pairing STEM with the arts. We hosted a STEM from Dance Workshop called "Breathe" that included building a lung model and introduced a participant-led, choreographed dance routine that was performed for parents during the ANGELS Summer Pilot's closing ceremony. A secondary focus was on 'soft' skills such as teamwork and problem-solving through project-based learning using the Project Management Institute Education Foundation's "PM Skills for Life" curriculum. This project-based learning program provided a unique environment for participants to identify food deserts, examine the evidence, ask questions, and propose solutions to the problems they encountered during the summer pilot activities and beyond. The participants met twice per month on Saturday at a participating high school. Teams worked together to identify areas in need, determine the most practical items to place in meal kits, and successfully deployed the "ANGELS Thanksgiving Meal Project" in November 2023. As a result of this and similar project-based exercises, the participants learned to become early adopters of solving problems. As a result of parent input at the close of the ANGELS Summer Pilot, we repeated the pilot but on a smaller (4-week) scale and with a focus on STEM education by introducing the ANGELS Beta Summer Camp. The ANGELS Beta Summer Camp extended the arts with cultural cooking, visual arts, and guitar lessons. In addition, the ANGELS Beta Summer Camp incorporated Scratch Coding where participants designed and built their own gardens in Roblox. These classes created alternate avenues to stimulate middle school girls' interest in STEM. The ANGELS Beta Summer Camp included two of the three female undergraduate students who served as near peer mentors during the ANGELS Summer Camp and one additional female undergraduate STEM Education (Math) student, who was a paid intern. In addition, a post doctorate STEM Education female professional volunteered during the ANGELS Beta Summer Camp. The programs exposed fifteen female middle schoolers per year to accomplished females and minorities in STEM-related fields through speaker workshops, STEM activities, and industry fieldtrips and weekly farm visits throughout the ANGELS Summer Pilot. Participants were selected on a first-come, first-serve basis upon submitting a complete application. Forty percent (40%) of the ANGELS Summer Pilot participants will be first-generation college students, if they choose to earn a bachelor's degree. Two-thirds of the 2023 summer pilot participants continued with the ANGELS Enrichment Program in the Fall of 2023. Two of the summer pilot participants enrolled in high school the following school year and were therefore unable to return for the 2024 ANGELS Beta Summer Camp. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the eligible summer pilot participants returned for the ANGELS Beta Summer Camp. Project directors were not able to successfully connect with the parents of the remaining students. All (100%) of the ANGELS Beta participants identify as Black or African American. Changes/Problems:The format for year two of this project initially contemplated student's participation in an enrichment program with their families (visiting local groceries and evaluating the quality of their offer of produces to the public) in the spring 2024. Based on their findings and subsequent data analysis, students' participants would evaluate the quality of produce available to the public and the quality of services provided at different zip codes. However, due to time conflicts and the difficulties that field visits to the grocery stores would impose to the students and their families to accomplish the tasks, we decided to replace part of the year two activities with 4 weeksANGELS Beta Summer Camp. program during summer 2024 as previously described. This change did not affect the quality of the program since most participants were involved in theANGELS Enrichment Programin the Fall of 2023. The format for Year 2 of this project initially contemplated students' participation in an enrichment program with their families (visiting local groceries and evaluating the quality of their offer of produce to the public) in spring 2024. Based on their findings and subsequent data analysis, students' participants would evaluate the quality of produce available to the public and the quality of services provided at different zip codes. However, due to time conflicts and the difficulties that field visits to the grocery stores would impose on the students and their families to accomplish the tasks, we decided to replace part of the year two activities with the 4-weeksANGELS Beta Summer Camp program during summer 2024 as previously described.This change did not affect the quality of the program since most participants were involved in theANGELS Enrichment Programin the Fall of 2023.Additional lessons learned and recommendations for future summer bridge programs were developed while navigating the day to day interaction with fifteen middle school girls. This Summer Camp, held in June of 2024, encouraged proper social interactions while adhering to the ANGELS Program's original goals. We included an emphasis on technology through coding and computer science, various engineering fields, and included a mental health focus. Throughout the summer experience, we encouraged the ANGELS participants to imagine themselves as engineers or agricultural scientists and had them engage in reflective processes (e.g., journaling) to foster their sense of connection to STEM. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has provided many training opportunities for all partners involved and professional development opportunities for the PD and Co-PD's of this project. Informal professional development was provided by the Public Education Foundation (PEF) and STEM Education professionals in the UT system during the curriculum-building cohorts. A PEF executive shared an innovative instructional strategy to assist in curriculum development for the K-12 audience. UTC STEM Education professional, Dr. Stephanie Philipp, provided guidance to the UTC Professors and STEM teachers on the 5E lesson plan development. UTK Curriculum Specialist Dr. Jenneifer Richards shared foundational concepts on designing agricultural experimental and inquiry-based science through interdisciplinary curricula. ANGELS participants during the Summer programs had opportunities to interact with array of female experts in STEM fields. The students learned about the professionals' research projects, personal and professional experiences / struggles and accomplishments in STEM. The panel of presenters discussed the importance of diversity and inclusion in STEM fields, highlighting the need for more women and underrepresented groups. Guest speakers delved into overcoming challenges in STEM fields and the importance of persistence and learning from failures. The PD and Co-PD had the opportunity of sharing their experiences and interacting with a larger community of experts interested in the field during the "Bridging the Gap Between Personal and Social Responsibility Through Knowledge, Engagement, and Action" conference which took place at the 2024 Gulf-South Summit in Auburn, Alabama. Furthermore, a conference paper has been submitted and accepted for the 8th Annual Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity Conference to be held in San Antonio, Texas in February 2025. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Many documents / opportunities have been used to disseminate the results of this project. Several technical agricultural brochures have been prepared and distributed to members of the community including students' participants and their families. The same brochures are also available to members of the community at large. Lesson plans that were tested and evaluated during the ANGELS Summer Pilot have been updated and will be disseminated among the STEM academic community in the near future. Lessons learned from the project have also been presented at different events including: "Bridging the Gap Between Personal and Social Responsibility Through Knowledge, Engagement, and Action," took place at the 2024 Gulf-South Summit April 15-17, 2024, Auburn University - Auburn, AL. "Participant acceptability of the STEM-focused ANGELS pilot for adolescent females from racial/ ethnic minority groups". Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Annual Conference. July 29-August 1, 2024, Knoxville, TN Furthermore, a conference paper "Agriculture & Nutrition for Girls While Encouraging Leadership & Stem-Enrichment (ANGELS) Programs" has been submitted to Proceedings for the 8th Annual Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) Conference to be held in San Antonio, Texas in February 2025. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The major goal of the ANGELS Program is to increase the number of underrepresented females in STEM-related fields by deploying career stimulants using agricultural activities. The majorgoal of theANGELS Program is to increase the number of underrepresented females in STEM-related fields by deploying career stimulants using agricultural activities.The overall effectiveness of the program concerning the fulfillment of this will not be known until participants in the program, who are middle school age minority females, conclude their secondary education. However, all three objectives of the program were accomplished. The first objective; to provide traditional and non-traditional STEM educators with 15 experiential agricultural lesson plans including those adaptable to urban and peri-urban environments was accomplished with a myriad of agricultural activities, in the greenhouse and the open field plots. We focused on participants' engagement and learning the essence of such activities. Furthermore, many related collateral projects using agricultural products were performed enriching participants knowledge about transformation and use of these products. Participants were exposed to many project-based exercisesto solve real-world problems around securing food production. Lesson plans developed will be published in peer-reviewed platforms in the near future. The last objective, increase the number of minority / underrepresented females interested in STEM careers was measured by the pre/post program evaluation analyses. The ANGELS Summer Pilot were inconclusive concerning increased interest in STEM careers. Although not significant, data from pre/post-intervention showed increases in "interest in math content" (3.89±1.46 vs. 4.09±1.36, respectively) on 7-point Likert-type scale; "perceptions of being in an environment supportive of science careers" (3.16±0.52 vs. 3.25±0.50, respectively) on a 4-point Likert scale; and "intent to pursue STEM-related education" (3.15±0.33 vs. 3.23±0.35, respectively) on a 5-point Likert scale. Similarly, pre-post assessments of ANGELS Beta Summer Camp were conducted. Although not significant, data from pre/post-intervention showed decreases in "perceptions of being in an environment supportive of STEM careers" (3.64±0.40 versus 3.46±0.42, respectively) on a 4-point Likert scale; and "intent to pursue STEM-related education" (3.23±1.21 versus 3.11±0.28, respectively) on a 5-point Likert scale; and no change in "perceptions of importance of STEM careers overall" (3.82±0.57) on a 4-point Likert scale, among the 7 participants with completed pre- and post-program evaluations. Participants perceived that being aware of what they are eating now and having more self-discipline about what they eat was the most important takeaway from the ANGELS Beta Summer Program.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
0
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience -Participants to our program were selected from different middle schools in Hamilton County in coordination with teachers from each of these identified schools. 15 participants were admitted and successfully concluded the summer activities. The demographic information on the participants is: 12 participants identify as Black or African American 3 participants identify as mixed race with one being Pacific Islander Changes/Problems:One recreational activity mentioned in the narrative was a visit to an indigo farm in middle Tennessee.As a result of the farm closing abruptly, these plans were interrupted, but we were able to source the indigo dye from them and successfully complete the lesson on using the indigo plant as a dye alternative. Another change was our ability to continue the work with Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy after some staffing changes with our points of contact there. We were able to solidify a working relationship with STEM School of Chattanooga and were able to host the ANGELS Enrichment Program there in the Fall 2023. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Prelimary results were communicated to parents during the End of Camp Presentation on Friday, August 11, 2023. A proposal has been submitted for the 2024 Gulf-South Summit "Bridginig the Gap Between Personal and Social Responsibility Through Knowledge, Engagement, and Action" (April 15-17, 2024) Auburn, AL. Status: Pending What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Updating drafts of Lesson Plans and brochures and preparing them for sharing among the academic community via open source journals and other ideal methods.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
https://blog.utc.edu/news/2023/08/angels-summer-camp-at-utc-inspired-young-women-in-stem/ Activities We created a weekly curricular program for summer 23 activities which lasted from June 12th to July 28th and included: a- Diverse agricultural activities in different sites including UTC teaching and learning garden, the Jericho Farm, the Smith Berry Farm, Fruits, and Fether. b- Field trips and visits to different sites of interest such as the Mayfield Dairy. c- Career presentations and conferences presented by personalities with expertise in different fields of sciences. d- Nutrition lessons and health cooking oriented by a nutritionist, chef, and a chemist. The value of food as medicine and use of alternatives to Sodium chloride, and the Healing herbs e- Girls-Centered activities on Mental Health, Self-Care, and Character. All activities were planned over two blocks of three weeks schedule with one week interruption in between for reorganization and preparation of material necessary to successfully accomplish the program. Each week was designated a special theme to enrich and broaden the agriculture curriculum: Week Date 2023 Theme Observations 1 06-12 / 06-16 Leadership The highlight of this week were the activities that helped us to get to know the Campers and them to get to know each other. 2 06-19 / 06-23 Nutrition We wanted them to focus on eating whole foods and drinking plenty of water. We tried it! 3 06-26 / 06-30 Engineering The goal of the Engineering Week was similar to its national component, to introduce girls to as many engineering disciplines throughout this Summer Program as possible. 4 07-10 / 07-14 Girl-Centered Focused essentially on girls' mental health, self-care, and character. 5 07-17 / 07-21 Agriculture Despite agriculture being assigned a specific week, agricultural activities extended over the entire. Agriculture is taught as least once per week in other weeks; however, during this week, agricultural lessons is were taught as least once per day. 6 07-24 / 07-28 Social Science The goal here were for the ANGELS participants to make the social connections with food security and social justice which were issues that have been discussed throughout the camp Experts in different fields, according to each week's theme, were invited and participated in our program sharing their experience, providing guidance to students' participants in the project. Among the many experts invited we included: project managers, engineers, nutritionists, physicians, scientists, artists, pharmacist, human and health performance, counselor, dance instructor, among others. Week One Theme: Leadership 6/12/2023 6/13/2023 6/14/2023 6/15/2023 6/16/2023 TIME Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FARM Friday 9:00-9:30 Opening Session Day One Review Intro to Agriculture Ms. Jade Clark Guided Journaling Travel to Farm 9:30-10:30 Icebreakers Group Organization Quaker Oat Story Farm Friday! 10:30-10:45 Break Break Break "Horton Hears a Who?" Smith Berry Farm 10:45-11:15 Establishing Norms Ethics Dr. Sandra C. Affare Lunch @ 11a Cooking Demo Precision vs. Accuracy Irene Hillman Movie (Benwood Auditorium) Intro to Nanoparticles (Parent Permission Slip) 11:15-11:45 End at 12:15p Crossroads 11:45-1:15 Lunch Travel to Escape Room Pancake Lunch Lunch Travel back to UTC 1:15-1:45 Personality Assessment Colors with Gena Ellis Holt Hall Room 229 Team-Building Activity (Parent Permission Slip) Time to Escape Food Security/ Food Equity Lesson 1 Metro Building Room Agricultural Lesson 1 Juneteenth Celebration Multicultural Affairs 1:45-2:15 Plant Cell Dr. Jose Barbosa 2:15-2:30 Break Start Time: 1:45p Break Break Lupton Hall ~ 1st Floor 2:30-3:00 Open Forum Discussion 432 Market Street Journal Decorating Intro to Food Justice Free Play 3:00-3:30 Free Time Return to Campus Art Guided Journaling Free Play 3:30-3:45 Holt Hall Dismissal Holt Hall Dismissal Cooking Lab Dismissal Holt Hall Dismissal Lupton Hall Dismissal STEM Careers Industrial Engineer Civil Engineer Agriculture Scientist Biologist Sound Engineer Week Two Theme: Nutrition 6/19/2023 6/20/2023 6/21/2023 6/22/2023 6/23/2023 TIME Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FARM Friday 9:00-9:30 Week 1 Recap Career Presentation Smoothie Breakfast Evaluations 9:30-10:30 Sodium Lesson Nutrition Dr. Aileen Litwin Intro to Nanoparticles Sugar Lesson Weeks 1 & 2 10:30-10:45 Break Break Break Break 10:45-11:15 Juneteenth Holiday Teaology (Tea Making) The Chattery 10:30a - 12:00p Agricultural Lesson Food is Medicine Mrs. Sara Mitchell Chemistry Lesson Dr. Keenan Dungey Enjoyed Overnight Oats Discussed Pros/ Cons of 11:15-11:45 Oats vs Smoothie for Breakfast 11:45-1:15 No Camp TODAY! Lunch @ 12:15p Lunch Lunch Lunch @ 11:15p 1:15-1:45 STEM from Dance Workshop STEM from Dance Workshop Dance Discussion Ms. Bailey Newell Surprise Activity: 1:45-2:15 2:15-2:30 Break Break Break UTC Challenger Center 2:30-3:00 STEM from Dance Workshop STEM from Dance Workshop Cooking/ Nutrition Overnight Oats Jordan Yseth, RD Bill Floyd, Flight Director 3:00-3:30 3:30-3:45 No Dismissal Lupton Hall Dismissal Lupton Hall Dismissal Metro Bldg Dismissal Challenger Dismissal STEM Careers. Chemist Pediatrician Registered Dietician Astronaut * Examples of week 1 and week 2 schedules are in the tables above. Due to space and file size limitaion the remaining schedules cannotbe attached but will be provided upon request in the proper format that was shared with all participants. Furthermore, fliers and recruiting poster can be provided if needed.
Publications
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