TY - JOUR
T1 - Life science undergraduate mentors in NE STEM 4U significantly outperform their peers in critical thinking skills
AU - Nelson, Kari L.
AU - Rauter, Claudia M.
AU - Cutucache, Christine E.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Sherwood Foundation and the Peter Kiewit Foundation for support of this project. Additionally, thanks to all student participants in the project and community partners such as Collective for Youth, Beyond School Bells, and Omaha Public Schools.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The American Society for Cell Biology. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - The development of critical thinking skills in recent college graduates is keenly requested by employers year after year. Moreover, improving these skills can help students to better question and analyze data. Consequently, we aimed to implement a training program that would add to the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students: Nebraska Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math 4U (NE STEM 4U). In this program, undergraduates provide outreach, mentoring, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to K-8 students. To determine the impacts of serving as an undergraduate mentor in this program on critical thinking, we compared undergraduate mentors (intervention group) with nonmentor STEM majors (nonintervention, matched group) using the valid and reliable California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) as a pre/post measurement. Importantly, before the intervention, both NE STEM 4U mentors and nonmentor undergraduates scored similarly overall on the CCTST. However, the posttest, carried out one academic year later, indicated significant gains in critical thinking by the NE STEM 4U mentors compared with the nonmentors. Specifically, the math-related skills of analysis, inference, and numeracy improved significantly in mentors compared with nonmentors.
AB - The development of critical thinking skills in recent college graduates is keenly requested by employers year after year. Moreover, improving these skills can help students to better question and analyze data. Consequently, we aimed to implement a training program that would add to the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students: Nebraska Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math 4U (NE STEM 4U). In this program, undergraduates provide outreach, mentoring, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to K-8 students. To determine the impacts of serving as an undergraduate mentor in this program on critical thinking, we compared undergraduate mentors (intervention group) with nonmentor STEM majors (nonintervention, matched group) using the valid and reliable California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) as a pre/post measurement. Importantly, before the intervention, both NE STEM 4U mentors and nonmentor undergraduates scored similarly overall on the CCTST. However, the posttest, carried out one academic year later, indicated significant gains in critical thinking by the NE STEM 4U mentors compared with the nonmentors. Specifically, the math-related skills of analysis, inference, and numeracy improved significantly in mentors compared with nonmentors.
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U2 - 10.1187/cbe.18-03-0038
DO - 10.1187/cbe.18-03-0038
M3 - Article
C2 - 30335602
AN - SCOPUS:85055076606
VL - 17
JO - CBE Life Sciences Education
JF - CBE Life Sciences Education
SN - 1931-7913
IS - 4
M1 - ar54
ER -