Dillard University- DUWISHES Initiative 2024
Abstract
Over the last 10 years, the DU WISHES program has attracted over 576 minority female high school students from disadvantaged school districts communities in Southern US states like Louisiana, Alabama, and from as far away as Florida, Maryland, and Arizona, where 40percent of the participants are retained in STEM fields and 19 percent in related STEM-Medical fields. This program contributed to the success of the DU physics department being number two in graduating Black females in Physics in the USA. This proposed outreach program is a continuation of the successfulDU WISHES program over the years that supports the workforce in DAF and other areas. The overarching goal of this unique summer program is targeting disadvantaged, underrepresentedstudents, especially black females in high schools from families, including veteran-current military families to increase the awareness of crucial STEM fields and increase the capacity within the Air Force workforce. This will be grounded in space force science in STEM. By increasing therecruitment activities and strengthening retention in STEM majors at the high school and undergraduate levels, providing the necessary systemic mentoring support in research topic relatedto DAF, and strengthening tutoring support systems, DUWISHES can establish a pipeline to Dillard for students interested in STEM disciplines. In addition, the program will broaden the STEM learning community by employing new pedagogies that increase inquiry-based activitiesand skills through hands-on and minds-on training, including critical thinking and exploration education activities to discover Space Science by doing space sciences activities, inspiring students to ask how and why and explore the reasoning behind the observation of the outcomes of theexperiments. The DU SFS WISHES program will continue to establish new talented scholars and maintain them in SandT fields to provide DAF with the adequate training skills needed for today’s technology-driven Space Force. This is bridging the gap of the necessary educational trainingcurriculum which is required for any talented workforce. This program will help to bridge the gap of disadvantaged, underserved minority participants and give special recruiting attention tostudents in STEM from families of veterans- current military personnel. This has been a longstandingproblem in strategic plans for each governmental department or branch.Anticipated outcomes-Impact on the institution- Increase the recruitment of talented, disadvantaged, underserved, female students in the Physics department and inspire them to engage in the current AFOSR funded project and train them for the DAF workforce.Impact on students- Contribute to advance the curriculum, attract more minorities to be trained in Space Force Science and to form a qualified community for future workforce for the nation’shomeland security. This will also create a baseline to help further assess the process.Impact on DoD-The proposed project will contribute to the AFRL-AFOSR STEM program described in the latest AFRL-AFOSR- FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2022-0004.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 07, 2024
- Source ID
- FA95502310607
Entities
People
- Abdalla Darwish
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Dillard University
- United States Air Force