Collaborative Research: Making to Advance Knowledge, Excellence, and Recognition in STEM (MAKERS)

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Tuskegee University is leading a team of Alabama institutions, which includes Auburn University, Alabama A&M University, Auburn University Montgomery, Southern Union State Junior College, and Lawson State Community College, with support from Oakland University to implement a collaborative S-STEM project titled "Making to Advance Knowledge, Excellence, and Recognition in STEM" (MAKERS). The MAKERS project will provide scholarships to up to 158 students majoring in the biological, physical, mathematical, geological, and computer and information sciences; engineering; and associated technology areas. The MAKERS team will implement and assess a comprehensive list of hierarchical, evidence-based interventions designed to facilitate transfer, increase persistence and retention, and prepare Scholars for graduation and future careers in STEM fields. The MAKERS S-STEM model is designed to attenuate the potential factors that decrease persistence of low-income students in STEM degree programs by integrating STEM enrichment, research, and peripheral activities. The nature of many of the MAKERS project components and the wide range of institutional contexts show promise for improving outcomes for students at other institutions with similar demographics while capitalizing on their existing resources. MAKERS' hallmark intervention will be "Learning by Making," which will involve interdisciplinary Scholar clusters identifying and investigating problems affecting their local communities, and applying their STEM knowledge to "make" a product that has the potential to solve those problems.The major objectives of MAKERS are to: (1) increase student retention and graduation rates; (2) prepare students with the STEM academic foundation, professional skills and experiences needed to enter the STEM workforce or graduate school in STEM disciplines; and (3) investigate the MAKERS model's impact on recruitment, retention, success, and graduation of students in the target population and majors. The MAKERS project is innovative because, rather than focusing solely on developing the students' academic potential or restructuring institutional variables, it will empower students as active agents in their education by creating connections between their majors and the local community, mitigating potential inhibiting factors in the students' social context. Three unique aspects of the project - immersion of scholars in the "Learning by Making" process; strong cross-institutional social and professional networks; and the use of online platforms for support and collaboration - have the potential to transform the learning process for these students, helping them develop a STEM identity, fostering agency, and persisting to degree completion. A team of evaluation experts will continuously assess its interventions using mixed methods and provide feedback to the investigators to identify new best practices that will be added to the extant knowledge base on broadening participation of low-income groups in STEM fields.