7500 Views (as of 05/2023)
  1. Rita Karl
  2. http://national.tpt.org/about/who-we-are/
  3. Managing Director of STEM Media & Education
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. Twin Cities Public Television
  1. Brenda Britsch
  2. Sr. Research Scientist
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. SciGirls, National Girls Collaborative Project
  1. Alicia Santiago
  2. Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. Twin Cities Public Television
Presenters’
Choice

Latina SciGirls: Promoting Middle School-Age Hispanic Girls' Positive STEM Id...

NSF Awards: 1515507

2018 (see original presentation & discussion)

Informal / multi-age

Twin Cities PBS has produced a fourth season of the Emmy Award-winning PBS show, SciGirls, that includes six half-hour episodes filmed in Spanish, showing groups of girls and their Latina STEM mentors investigating culturally relevant STEM problems of interest to Hispanic communities across the U.S. Filmed in Hispanic communities in Colorado, Arizona, New York, Texas, California and Puerto Rico, Latina STEM mentors and girls represent diverse cultural backgrounds and ethnicities.

The approach to Latina SciGirls is rooted in research-based strategies proven to engage girls in STEM, and the need to address specific barriers that prevent many Hispanic girls from participating fully in STEM studies and careers. These barriers include lack of STEM identity (girls’ perception of themselves as scientists or engineers) and limited exposure to STEM role models. Latina SciGirls also provides opportunities to connect girls and their families with in-person Latina role models via community outreach in diverse Hispanic communities across the country.

Latina SciGirls also supports an external research study with The University of Colorado-Boulder,  testing the hypothesis: The SciGirls model, when augmented to address specific barriers to STEM engagement of Hispanic girls ages 8 to 13 and their parents, will promote the development of positive STEM-related identities in Hispanic girls. The study will investigate Hispanic girls’ personal experiences in engaging with Spanish-language media, STEM role models, activities and family celebrations; and how those experiences contribute to their STEM identity development against cultural and gender-based stereotypes. An external evaluation by Knight Williams, Inc. includes front-end, formative and summative phases.

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Discussion from the 2018 STEM for All Video Showcase (31 posts)
  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 14, 2018 | 06:01 a.m.

    ¡Hola!  Welcome to Latina SciGirls 

    Latina SciGirls: Promoting Middle School-Age Hispanic Girls' Postitive STEM Identity Development is a mainly Spanish-language project produced by Twin Cities Public Television (tpt) that expands SciGirls, the Emmy Award-winning transmedia project based on best practices for engaging elementary and middle school-age girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). At is heart is a television series on PBS designed specifically for girls. The project addresses important barriers that young Latinas face including stereotypes around ability, lack or limited exposure to STEM role models, and lack of knowledge of STEM fields. Evaluation shows that Latino parents and children want culturally responsive STEM media; they enjoy dubbed and translated SciGirls resources from previous SciGirls seasons but want episodes featuring Spanish-speaking girls from Latino communities. Latina SciGirls responds to these barriers and needs; it is the fourth season of the PBS Kids series produced primarily in Spanish with English subtitles. The series includes six half-hour television episodes showing groups of girls and their Latina STEM mentors investigating culturally relevant science and engineering problems of interest to Latinas and their families. Television mentors and girls were filmed in Hispanic communities across the U.S. and represent various cultural backgrounds and ethnicities including Mexican, Central and South American, Puerto Rican and Caribbean. The project also includes a series of family and girl-friendly online video profiles of Latina STEM professionals showing the daily life of a female scientist or engineer, and provides opportunities to connect girls and their families with in-person Latina role models via community outreach in diverse Hispanic communities across the country. Paired with culturally responsive outreach, research and evaluation, this new season furthers SciGirls’ goal of helping change how all girls see STEM, and how the world sees girls!

     

  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 14, 2018 | 06:10 a.m.

    Thanks for viewing the video about Latina SciGirls!  We hope you enjoy learning about this project as you watch the video. Also, please visit the SciGirls CONNECT website to learn more about our research and access bilingual resources for girls, parents, and educators. We welcome all ideas, comments, questions and feedback about our project!

     

    Gracias por ver nuestro video de Latina SciGirls. Esperamos que disfrutes aprendiendo sobre este proyecto mientras ves el video. También puedes visitar la página web SciGirls CONNECTpara obtener más información sobre nuestra investigación y acceder recursos para niñas, padres de familia y educadores. Nos dará mucho gusto recibir toda clase de ideas, comentarios, preguntas que tengas sobre nuestro proyecto. 

     

     

  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 14, 2018 | 08:50 a.m.

    ¡Hola!

    We would also like to hear your opinion about what features of the project do you think are the most impactful in addressing barriers that young Latinas face in STEM?

    También nos interesaría saber tu opinión sobre ¿qué elementos del proyecto crees que sean los más efectivos para abordar las barreras a las que se enfrentan las jóvenes latinas?

    ¡Muchas gracias!  Thank you!

     

  • Icon for: Jamie Bell

    Jamie Bell

    Facilitator
    Project Director and PI
    May 14, 2018 | 12:32 p.m.

    Thank you for this video, Alicia and team. It does a wonderful job of outlining the urgent need for this work and in showing the range of engaging activities that crosscut the STEM disciplines. The experiences seem to be designed with attention to culture, developmental levels and of course language, well done! Can you share a bit more about the specific research questions you have pursued and given that you are in the third year of the project, what you are learning?

  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 14, 2018 | 03:29 p.m.

    Thank you Jamie! We are really happy that you like the project! Regarding your question, XSci (The Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative) at CU-Boulder, led by Dr. Brad McLain, is conducting the research component for Latina SciGirls. The research consists of a mixed methods study to contribute to improved programming and knowledge in the field, particularly concerning the innovative STEM role-modeling strategies employed in this project. The research component is testing the hypothesis: The SciGirls model, when augmented to address specific barriers to STEM engagement of Hispanic girls ages 8 to 13 and their parents, will promote the development of positive STEM-related identities in Hispanic girls. The XSci team is investigating Latina girls’ personal experiences engaging with the project deliverables and how those experiences contribute to the development of a positive STEM identity.

    Specifically, the research effort is investigating:

    1. Hispanic girls’ experiences with Latina SciGirls’ programs, in terms of their abilities to forge deeper and more personally relevant STEM connections and commitments, which are indicators of positive STEM identities, and
    2. Program-associated impacts of girls’ social groups (parents, families, and friends) that may or may not support these girls’ STEM engagement.

    The study includes quantitative data collection in the form of surveys, and case studies for the qualitative component. For the case study analysis, the research team is examining programs at 4 sites, looking for insights on how Hispanic girls make meaning and forge personal relevance from Latina SciGirls experiences. Case study activities started this year and include multiple sequential interviews with girls and their families, focus groups of multiple participants, and journaling (online or hardcopy) over the course of program participation. The case studies are underway (interviews with girls and their families, focus groups and journaling/online or hardcopy) and results will be available in the next coming months.

     

    Regarding the quantitative study, the data was aggregated and analyzed and no significant differences were found between pre and post surveys. Due to the sample size and the range of participant numbers per site, it is possible for one or more sites to have a large masking influence on aggregated results. The XSci team is in the process of analyzing the data by site and year, STEM content covered, size of program, and type of program. Xsci is also analyzing the data for paired samples comparisons (matching specific pre-post responses by participant).  This will provide more robust findings, if the data includes enough paired responses. 

     

    What have we learned so far from this case study work?  Without completed pre-post analyses we do not have comparative results, but we can say that parents seem to be deeply supportive of girls involvement in STEM and interaction with STEM role models when they are younger (elementary - early middle school).  Anecdotally speaking, we see some evidence that this support falls off somewhat as girls get older.  Especially notable are parents attitude changes around the roles of young women in society around quinseañera celebrations — as a coming of age ritual and marked role identification towards more traditional and accepted genderized roles — and away from STEM and other non-traditional pursuits.  This is not universal, but where we are seeing it, it is often shared by both mom and dad and may be influenced by older sisters experiences as well.  This would be an example of a specific inhibitor to STEM identity construction when in conflict with other cultural identities — suggesting an area of potential focus for solutions to lower this barrier.

    More to come!

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Denise Nacu
  • Icon for: Shabnam Brady

    Shabnam Brady

    Graduate Student
    May 14, 2018 | 01:20 p.m.

    This is wonderful! Love the project and video. What does the literature discuss regard Latin cultures and STEM and how that may or may not impact perspective/biases? 

     

    Great work. 

  • Icon for: Brenda Britsch

    Brenda Britsch

    Co-Presenter
    Sr. Research Scientist
    May 14, 2018 | 02:38 p.m.

    Thank you Shabnam! We are glad you enjoyed the video. As mentioned in the project summary, we know some of the barriers Latinas face regarding STEM include stereotypes (especially related to who does STEM and what STEM is) along with limited knowledge of STEM fields and careers. This project is really focused on providing information, examples, role models, etc. to help Latinas see STEM and STEM professionals differently and, ultimately, to help them see themselves in STEM. One key piece of our efforts, I believe, is the involvement of family. We have designed the episodes and the educational programming to include and be engaging for young Latinas AND their families, with the goal of breaking down the stereotypes that exist related to Latinas and STEM. 

  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 14, 2018 | 03:18 p.m.

    Hi Shabnam! As Brenda mentioned, we also focus on engaging families. The importance of a family support system for young Latinas has been shown to be key in developing and encouraging their interest in a STEM career. In fact, parental encouragement has been shown to be one of the strongest influences on Latino students’ early educational aspirations (Arbona & Nora, 2007; McClure & Oaxaca, 1998). It is also critical to engage and educate key family members to build students’ networks of support and encouragement (Denner and Rivera, 2011; Engelman, McKlin & Guzdial, 2011). Through a combination of media, role modeling and educational outreach, Latina SciGirls is helping parents view STEM education as a building block for their daughters’ future academic and professional success.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Denise Nacu
  • Icon for: Kalie Sacco

    Kalie Sacco

    Facilitator
    May 15, 2018 | 12:36 p.m.

    Hi Brenda, I was just scrolling down to ask a question about family engagement! I saw numerous examples in the video of girls and their families engaging in STEM together, and as you say the literature shows that is definitely an important component in encouraging an interest in STEM for Latino/a learners. Can you talk a little bit more about the outreach strategies that you have used to engage parents? For example, do you work with community partners or outside organizations to reach families?

  • Icon for: Brenda Britsch

    Brenda Britsch

    Co-Presenter
    Sr. Research Scientist
    May 15, 2018 | 12:48 p.m.

    Hi Kalie!  

    Great question. Yes! We partner with organizations across the United States (including Puerto Rico) to deliver educational programs. These partners are already serving Latino youth and have expertise in reaching and engaging Latinas and their families. One strategy for engaging families is the 'Family Fiesta'. This is a family-oriented event that each Latina SciGirls partner organization holds for their youth and families. It differs by organization, but usually includes hands-on activities, interaction with Latina STEM professionals, and a meal. 

    We would be very interested in hearing how other educational outreach programs reach Latinas and their families. Thanks again, Kalie.

    Brenda

     

     

     

  • Icon for: Rita Karl

    Rita Karl

    Lead Presenter
    Managing Director of STEM Media & Education
    May 17, 2018 | 04:51 p.m.

    As Alicia has mentioned our Engaging Latino Families guide is designed to help educators work with Hispanic families!

    We also have a bilingual guide for families, A Family Guide for Engaging Girls in STEM.

    We also provide fun bilingual activities for families to do at home together!

    Many of these resources are also available at the PBS Parents site for SciGirls.

     

     

     

  • Icon for: Dale McCreedy

    Dale McCreedy

    Vice President of Audience & Community Engagement
    May 14, 2018 | 05:26 p.m.

     Alicia, Brenda, Jamie and Rita - Fantastic video and wonderful project. I love that SciGirls has blossomed in so many ways!  Are you planning on publishing a list of the resources you used for this topic, or perhaps there is a full literature review? Dale

  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 14, 2018 | 06:07 p.m.

    Hi Dale! So great to hear from you! We are super excited about Latina SciGirls! Educators, girls and families around the nation have welcomed the program and its resources enthusiastically!  :)  We are definitively interested in publishing the results from the evaluation and research efforts of the project. We haven't shared a list of resources or a full literature review. That is a great idea!  In the next couple of months I will be working on updating the "Engaging Latino Families" guide, and will also put together an updated list of resources that I will be happy to share with you and everyone else!  

     

  • Icon for: Preeti Gupta

    Preeti Gupta

    Facilitator
    Director of Youth Learning and Research
    May 15, 2018 | 04:01 p.m.

    Great discussion. Could a next step for research include longitudinal tracking of the girls?

  • Icon for: Brenda Britsch

    Brenda Britsch

    Co-Presenter
    Sr. Research Scientist
    May 15, 2018 | 08:01 p.m.

    Yes, that would be great Preeti. We think it would be extremely valuable to be able to follow the girls longitudinally. Since we are just finishing up the 3 year NSF grant, we will be looking for ways to extend the work, both in terms of educational programs and research. Do you know of any similar programs that have included a longitudinal research component?

     

    Thanks!

    Brenda

  • Icon for: Jamie Bell

    Jamie Bell

    Facilitator
    Project Director and PI
    May 15, 2018 | 05:11 p.m.

    Alicia, thank you for sharing the thoughtful research design and questions you are working on with Brad. The knowledge you are gaining about the intersectionality of cultural and STEM identities in this work will be a valuable contribution to the literature.

  • Icon for: Terri Norton

    Terri Norton

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 16, 2018 | 05:41 p.m.

    Awesome video and program! Will the study determine how a girl's participation affects their self-efficacy in STEM? 

  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 16, 2018 | 06:26 p.m.

    Yes! The research team is investigating how girls' experiences with the program impact their science identity in terms of personal agency and self-efficacy, comfort with science content and processes, emotional connection (interest, enthusiasm, excitement, and personal relevance. 

    Thanks so much Terri for watching the video!  

  • Icon for: Preeti Gupta

    Preeti Gupta

    Facilitator
    Director of Youth Learning and Research
    May 16, 2018 | 07:43 p.m.

    Brenda,

     

    Definitely contact Dale McCreedy and Lynn Dierking on their longitudinal tracking work. Their Cascading Influences report has been instrumental in moving the field forward. We are engaged in a longitudinal study where I work at American Museum of Natural History focused on tracking high school youth who do a science research experience alongside scientists. In this study we are interested in the pathways the youth take, and focus on the choke points but also the success points. We want to study their networks of people - we are hypothesizing that the capital that youth have already and then gain should show in the relationships they maintain and grow while they are in college. We don't have findings yet. We are in year 2 of 3 and building the instruments took the longest time. 

    Is this helpful to you?

  • Icon for: Rita Karl

    Rita Karl

    Lead Presenter
    Managing Director of STEM Media & Education
    May 17, 2018 | 04:57 p.m.

    Thank you Preeti!

    Dale and Lynn are advisors on our related SciGirls CONNECT project and we are very interested in this type of longitudinal research. Cascading Influences is a really informative report. I am so glad you are doing this work at AMNH. We look forward to your findings. At FSU at the MagLab, Dr. Roxanne Hughes has done some longitudinal research with her long-term SciGirls program. The hardest part is always finding the students after they have moved on from your program! It's great to design it into the program from the start. For middle school students; it's a longer journey to careers, but I still think that it would be a worthwhile effort to consider how a retrospective longitudinal study could be used now that SciGirls programs in many places have been going on for nearly a decade. Thanks!

     

  • Icon for: Brenda Britsch

    Brenda Britsch

    Co-Presenter
    Sr. Research Scientist
    May 16, 2018 | 11:09 p.m.

    Thank you Preeti! Your study sounds very interesting. We do a lot of work with role models and facilitating interactions between youth and STEM professionals and I am intrigued by the experience and potential benefits of youth engaging in research with scientists (above and beyond exposure to and other types of interactions). I look forward to learning more when you are in a place to share findings.

    And yes, I am very familiar with Dale and Lynn's work and have found it incredibly valuable. Thanks again!

     

  • Icon for: Sylvia Mendez

    Sylvia Mendez

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 17, 2018 | 04:59 a.m.

    Love the attention to broadening STEM participation with Latinas and their families. There appears to be so many real-life examples in disaster relief that could inspire these young women!

  • Icon for: Brenda Britsch

    Brenda Britsch

    Co-Presenter
    Sr. Research Scientist
    May 17, 2018 | 12:28 p.m.

    Thank you for viewing our video, Sylvia! And yes, that is a great point about disaster relief. We know that it is important for STEM content to be relevant and meaningful to engage young women and being able to see how their work can positively impact society can be very effective. Does your work or research relate to disaster relief? 

  • Icon for: Sylvia Mendez

    Sylvia Mendez

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 17, 2018 | 04:36 p.m.

    Our work was not related to disaster relief but we had early- and mid-career faculty, as well as emeritus faculty who focused in that engineering area. We were lucky to have Dr. Terri Norton from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln participate in our IMPACT mentoring program--I enjoyed hearing about her work in this field and particularly her efforts in Japan.

  • Icon for: Rita Karl

    Rita Karl

    Lead Presenter
    Managing Director of STEM Media & Education
    May 17, 2018 | 05:00 p.m.

    On a related note, the episode we filmed in Puerto Rico was on the importance of big trees in San Juan and the U.S. National Forest there (the only U.S. national rainforest). It was filmed before the hurricane. A year later, the girls have shared their stories with us on social media around how their families decided to stay despite the devastation; what happened to the trees they studied and how the rainforest is slowly coming back. It's a really moving story.

  • Icon for: Jamie Bell

    Jamie Bell

    Facilitator
    Project Director and PI
    May 18, 2018 | 09:11 a.m.

    Rita, thank you. Roxanne Hughes work at the MagLab is exemplary of a rich partnership with SciGirls and her longitudinal work and Dale/Lynn's Cascading Influences are a good references here (thanks Preeti!). As this work evolves, Rita, I imagine SciGirls Seven is foundational. Are you finding new strategies through the Latina SciGirls work that might ultimately be added ?

  • Icon for: Rita Karl

    Rita Karl

    Lead Presenter
    Managing Director of STEM Media & Education
    May 18, 2018 | 12:14 p.m.

    Thanks, Jamie! Through our related NSF-funded SciGirls CONNECT 2 project work, we have conducted a comprehensive literature review over the past year. We have focused on research from 2013-2017 in gender equity and STEM within a specific framework that includes STEM identity and creating an inclusive learning environment using culturally responsive strategies. This framework did come out of our diversity and inclusion work in SciGirls over the course of the last decade, including Latina SciGirls. As we share the emerging themes (the updated strategies are being tested in outreach this year) and the new strategies next year; you will see a strong correlation between our work with Engaging Latino Families and our SciGirls Strategies.

  • Icon for: Mayra Mendez-Pinero

    Mayra Mendez-Pinero

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 21, 2018 | 08:51 a.m.

    Hola Alicia:

    Gracias por este esfuerzo para nuestras chicas latinas. ¡Y muchas gracias por incluir puertorriqueñas! ¡Exito!

     

  • Icon for: Alicia Santiago

    Alicia Santiago

    Co-Presenter
    Science Advisor & Latino Engagement Specialist
    May 21, 2018 | 12:14 p.m.

    ¡Muchas gracias Mayra¡ Estamos muy entusiasmados con este proyecto. Esperamos que ayude a que más chicas latinas se interesen por la ciencia y tecnología, y que sus padres y familias las sigan apoyando y animando. El episodio de Puerto Rico es uno de ¡mis favoritos¡ 

    Gracias y muchos saludos,

    Alicia

  • Icon for: Jamie Bell

    Jamie Bell

    Facilitator
    Project Director and PI
    May 21, 2018 | 09:01 a.m.

    Thanks Rita! This work is providing important knowledge for the field and CAISE looks forward to helping you, Brenda and Alicia disseminate updated strategies informed by your outreach findings.

  • Icon for: Brenda Britsch

    Brenda Britsch

    Co-Presenter
    Sr. Research Scientist
    May 21, 2018 | 01:46 p.m.

    Thank you so much, Jamie. We really appreciate it!

  • Further posting is closed as the event has ended.