HR: 09:45h
AN: ED21D-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Payoffs and Pitfalls of a Minority Outreach Program: An Alaskan Example
AU: * Hanks, C L
EM: chanks@gi.alaska.edu
AF: Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Fowell, S J
EM: ffsjf@uaf.edu
AF: Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Wartes, D
EM: fnmdw@uaf.edu
AF: Rural Alaska Honors Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AU: Owens, G
EM: ffdjs@uaf.edu
AF: Rural Alaska Honors Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775 United States
AB: The Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI) is a summer bridging program for college-bound high school students from remote Alaskan communities. In the 20+ years since its initiation, more than 50% of RAHI graduates eventually obtained post-secondary degrees. The success of the RAHI program provides insights into how an outreach program can achieve its goals and avoid potential pitfalls. Instrumental to the success of the RAHI program are: longevity; small size (40-45 students per summer); support from the Alaska Native community; academic rigor; aggressive recruiting; establishment of a sense of community amongst participants; and individual mentoring and support. Potential pitfalls include: overextending the program to include too many students; failure to maintain academic rigor in all courses; recruitment of students and staff who do not embrace the program's methods and goals; and attempts to evaluate the program on the basis of short-term results. Alaska Natives in Geosciences introduces college-bound Alaska Native students to the geosciences by teaching a college-level introductory geoscience class as a RAHI elective. By collaborating with RAHI, Alaska Natives in Geosciences takes advantage of RAHI's effective recruitment efforts and proven mentoring program. However, maintaining scientific rigor has been difficult due to large differences in the students' scientific backgrounds, the demands of other courses in the RAHI program and the brevity of the summer session. Immediate post-course survey responses suggest that many RAHI students thought the geoscience class was interesting but too difficult and much too time-consuming. However, surveys of RAHI geoscience students a year later suggest that many found the course a very positive experience. An unanticipated result was that RAHI students who did not take the class also gained some insight into the geosciences.
DE: 0805 Elementary and secondary education
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting