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Use of near‐peer mentoring to involve minority jr/high school students in science
Author(s) -
Jett Marti,
Anderson Margery,
Yourick Debra
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a541-a
Subject(s) - internship , attrition , medical education , ethnic group , undergraduate research , psychology , medicine , mathematics education , political science , dentistry , law
There is a national lack of student interest and achievement in math/science and a high attrition rate during the first year of college. We have developed a stepwise approach using undergraduate research interns as near‐peer mentors to lead scientific experiments with groups of ~5 jr/sr high school students per college student, focusing on students from public schools in Washington, DC. Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science (GEMS) provides 1‐week paid laboratory internships for 8–12 th grade students to carry out increasingly sophisticated experiments. By 11–12 th grade, returning students can participate in high‐throughput gene cloning (4 wks), or be selected for a full summer internship. This process provides role models of diverse ethnicity to the young students who can advance to full research laboratory internships and continue even through their college years. Program evaluation has pinpointed increased self confidence and excitement toward science after participation in this ongoing summer program for which ~1500 jr/hi students who have successfully completed 1–8 week internships over the past ~12 years. Supported by the NIH/NCRR. SEPA 5 R25 RR 18619‐02