Youth Enjoy Science Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center: Increasing Engagement and Opportunity for Underrepresented Minority Students

Abstract

The Youth Enjoy Science (YES) Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) R25- funded training grant, designed to increase the pipeline of underrepresented minor­ity (URM) students entering college and pursuing biomedical research and health care careers in the Cleveland Metropolitan and surrounding school districts. The three components of the program include: Learn to Beat Cancer, engaging middle school students and their families; Research to Beat Cancer, designed for high school students and college undergraduates; and Teach to Beat Cancer, focused on enhancing science, technology, engineering, and mathemat­ics (STEM) teaching capacity among high school teachers. This study focuses on Research to Beat Cancer, which, in 2018 enrolled 36 URM students as paid sum­mer scholars. Students were assigned to a faculty mentor, were taught laboratory safety, responsible conduct of research and the scientific method, and then immersed in full-time laboratory cancer research during an eight-week period. Twice each week, students participated in Lunch and Learn Seminars where faculty members provided combined motivational and scientific guidance lectures. In a capstone poster session at the end of the program, students presented their research to peers, medical and graduate students, family members, faculty, community members and leaders. Students’ perceptions of the program were reported using descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic analyses. Twenty-four of the 2018 YES students (67%) and 19 (53%) mentors completed the online post-program survey. Opportunity was a major qualitative theme from student and mentor responses. Future research will investigate the long-term impacts of YES, including college enrollment.Ethn Dis. 2020;30(1):15-24; doi:10.18865/ed.30.1.15

Sustaining Student Engagement – Successes and Challenges of a Virtual STEM Program for High School Students

“…Descriptions of the overall SEO/ YES program and the near peer mentor component have previously been described. (Qua et al, 2020a;Qua et al, 2020b) In response to the pandemic, the program was adapted to a totally virtual format, using zoom technology. To design the new virtual format, we relied primarily on our previous 17-year experience with high school students, indicating that our most successful and well-received programs were those that were highly engaging and interactive, that involved active versus passive learning, that stimulated student question and answers and that encouraged students to think and interact on-the-spot.…”

Training the Next Generation of Health Equity Researchers: Exploring STEM Pathways and Best Practices

“…12 Innovation of a three-pronged program illustrates components reaching middle school students and their families, high school students and undergraduates, and high school teachers to strengthen capacity (Qua et al). 13 Of the 900 students enrolled in the SLAM high school program, 90% enrolled in college (Harris et al). 14…”

The Appalachian Career Training in Oncology (ACTION) Program: Preparing Appalachian Kentucky High School and Undergraduate Students for Cancer Careers

“…Programs funded by the NCI and other cancer research training programs have been shown to increase awareness of cancer and cancer prevention methods (Cameron et al, 2012); increase interest in cancer research (Hein & Kidd, 2018); increase interest in medical and/or cancer-related careers (Alfred et al, 2011); and produce a high number of students pursuing and completing medical, professional, and doctoral programs (Alfred et al, 2011;Gronemeyer, 2011;Hein & Kidd, 2018). These programs for high school and undergraduate students have primarily focused on promoting cancer research training to underrepresented racial minority youth populations and/or students from urban areas (Alfred et al, 2011;Hein & Kidd, 2018;Qua et al, 2020).…”