University of Maryland, Baltimore CURE Scholars Program: A Culminating Design Thinking Capstone Experience

Dr. TaShara Bailey, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Dr. Gia Grier McGinnis, University of Maryland, Baltimore*, Sequoia Wright, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Description

The UMB CURE Scholars Program is a year-round, holistic STEM and healthcare pipeline program for West Baltimore middle and high school youth. Scholars enter the program at 6th grade and continue through the end of high school. CURE provides afterschool and summer programming, and annual STEM exposition fair, as well as social-emotional support and parent and community engagement through its social work program. High school scholars participate in paid summer internships in partnership with Baltimore City's summer employment program. As the oldest scholars are now juniors, we seek to design a culminating project-based capstone experience ending in their 12th grade year that would allow them to synthesize their work from the prior six years of effort through a Design Thinking Framework. Ultimately, we ask the questions, "What does it mean to "graduate" from the CURE Program?" and "What knowledge and skills do they need to demonstrate readiness for STEM/healthcare college and career programs?"More details on the courses and sequencing »

Goals of the Program

Foundational:

Meta:

  • Students will be able to understand the Catalyst Innovation Design Thinking Process through a series of hands-on STEM activities and research.
  • Students will develop an individual, experiential capstone project in order to synthesize the foundational and humanistic knowledge obtained throughout their CURE experience.

Humanistic:

  • Students will be able to demonstrate civility, collaboration, diversity and gain social/ emotional skills to navigate diverse academic settings.
  • CURE CORE Values Agreement CURE Values.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 59kB Oct7 20)

Learning Outcomes

Using the Catalyst Innovation Framework for design thinking (from the Center for Care Innovations)

  • Learning Outcome 1
    See & Experience->Inclusion and Empathy
    • Students will be able to understand the concept of empathy through the use of empathy mapping for STEM and healthcare problems. (Humanistic)
    • Students will develop a sense of social consciousness through immersive research experiences which expose them to issues of diversity and inclusion in healthcare and STEM fields. (Humanistic)
  • Learning Outcome 2
    Dimension & Diagram->Collaboration
    • Students will be able to understand foundational concepts in Chemistry, Anatomy, and Robotics in order to identify a health education or cancer prevention topic (Foundational)
    • Students will collaborate with diverse stakeholders, community and global partners to refine topics (Humanistic)
  • Learning Outcome 3
    Question & Reframe-> Starting small + Learning fast
    • Students will be able to create journey maps to identify problems and ideate solutions (Meta)
  • Learning Outcome 4
    Imagine & Model-> Making things tangible
    • Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of Baltimore's history and health/ resource disparities, through case studies and service learning opportunities.(Foundational/ Humanistic)
  • Learning Outcome 5
    Test & Shape/ Pitch & Commit-> Sharing Unfinished work early and often
    • Students will revise, refine, and communicate project (Meta)

Assessing Program Outcomes

Overall CURE Program Evaluation Tools

  • Annual Focus groups (parents/ guardians, scholars, mentors, staff)
  • Fact Sheet (scholar performance)
    • iReady, MAP Scores, Sylvan Learning Center Assessments
  • Career Interest Survey
  • Sense of Belonging
  • Needs Assessment
    • Social Work Services/ Follow-up measures
    • Community Engagement Center
  • Dissemination of Scholar Research
  • Leadership Opportunities
  • Honors and Awards (Scholastic Achievement)
  • Community Anchor Institution
    • Community Benefits Surveys

Design Thinking Framework and Capstone Documentation and Evaluation

*The scholars will complete a series of scaffolded experiences that will be catalogued in an e-portfolio which will be scored using the following rubric:

 Rubric to Model for Portfolio Scoring *example from the Black Horse Pike Regional School District*

Demonstrative Program Deliverable 

Throughout the program, scholars will be developing an e-portfolio, which is a scaffolded experience that weaves together the Catalyst Innovation for Design Thinking Framework. The portfolio is modeled after Spelman College's "Spel-folio."

Implementation Strategies 

This intervention may work best in institutions that already have pipeline programs and base funding.

  1. Aligning with institutional mission/s and context/s
    1. Secure and Maintain Senior Administration Buy In
    2. Institutional Buy In
  2. Community Engagement/ Buy In
    1. Advisory Structure
    2. Strategic Committees
  3. Parent Buy In
  4. Marketing Strategies
  5. External Promotion for Local and National Awards
    1. Program Promotion
    2. Scholar Research Promotion

More details on the courses and sequencing »