A new program aims to engage students in STEM education, specifically Native American students.
"This grant proposes to do virtual reality, learning in three tribal nation after-school programs," said Dr. Nicole Colston, an assistant research professor at Oklahoma State University.
The first year of the project starts in a few weeks...
Starting this fall, Oklahoma middle school students will learn how to use virtual reality thanks to a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a four-year program to engage Native American students in STEM career development.
Faculty from the Ferguson College of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University are teaming up with College of Education and Human Sciences faculty members to start after-school technology labs over the next three years at three tribal nation middle schools — the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Shawnee, the Pawnee Nation and the Chickasaw Nation.
Students from Chickasaw, Pawnee and Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribes will learn how to apply spatial design concepts through an after-school program led by Oklahoma State University professors, then craft building designs representing stories from their tribe’s culture. Students will be able to “walk through” and experience their completed buildings using virtual and augmented reality.
Through a $1.5million, four-year NSF grant, Oklahoma State University researchers are leveraging their earlier work with proven, college-level design courses that incorporate VR, AR, and 3D printing technologies. But this time, they are helping under served Native American middle school students develop STEM skills.
Hallmarks of the future such as virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D printing are set to help connect Native American students with their cultural past through an innovative $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
OSU Research Matters (P 46-47)