USC students teach STEM to middle-schoolers, using a game (USC Rossier)
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Aranda.
A new research project led by Darnell Cole explores the impact of multigenerational STEM mentoring on L.A. middle schoolers.
By Nadra Nittle, USC Rossier School of Education, March 29, 2023
How do you boost the number of marginalized students in the sciences?
That’s a question Darnell Cole, a USC Rossier professor of education and co-director of the Center for Education, Identity and Social Justice, has wrestled with throughout his career. His new research project, known as SEEDS (Student Engagement, Exploration and Development in STEM), sets out to answer it by exploring the impact of multigenerational mentoring on the math and science engagement of middle school students from economically disadvantaged Los Angeles neighborhoods.
“Our focus is connecting the middle school students with college students who live in these communities as mentees and mentors together around the construct of STEM engagement through online gaming,” Cole said. “The middle school students get to see people who look like them, who might have experienced things that they’ve experienced, engage in science concepts.”
The mentors, several of whom are USC students, are all majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects at two- and four-year colleges, and they benefit from their relationship with the middle school students as well. For one, they are viewed by the middle schoolers as scientists rather than as college students at risk of not graduating, as those from low-income backgrounds and communities of color are often framed, Cole said. “It helps solidify their identity beyond these kinds of characteristics that are often deficit-oriented and changes into an asset-oriented view,” he said.