Projects

This project is a longitudinal qualitative study on the experiences of Indigenous graduate students in an Indigenous-focused STEM cohort. The research from this project could lead to best practices in creating academic environments that best support Indigenous students’ development socially, academically, and professionally.

This study seeks to develop a culturally adapted intervention to address the growing needs among Burmese American caregivers who have children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Phase I of the project engages with impacted families, clinicians, as well as community leaders to understand the help-seeking experiences among Burmese families. Phase II of the project examines the preliminary efficacy and feasibility of an 8-week intervention that seeks to increase healthy literacy, parenting self-efficacy, and social support among Burmese caregivers of children with ASD.

Future Matters is a nonprofit organization committed to the skill and academic development of students grades 7th-12th from historically marginalized and disadvantaged communities in South Bend, IN. We support students in their pursuit of their postsecondary educational and career goals by providing the guidance, mentorship, and resources needed for success. Our main focus as an organization is to expose our students to as many postsecondary career and educational paths and to equip them with the skills and resources needed to successfully access the educational and career paths that they believe to be the best fit for them. For our students wishing to attend college, we expose them to a wide variety of college environments by way of fully funded campus visits and college trips. We also provide support in the form of college prep courses and resources (e.g. tutoring and vouchers for standardized tests prep courses). Similar resources are offered to our students aspiring to be college athletes, adding resources (funding for participation in sports camps, film development, and general exposure) needed to be appropriately recruited by collegiate athletic programs. Lastly, we expose our students to career opportunities related to skills and trades by arranging campus tours at local businesses as well as internship opportunities.

The Purdue CDF Freedom School Program pilot operated for the first time in West Lafayette in the Summer of 2023 in collaboration with First United Methodist Church, who served as a site sponsor. Freedom School is a free six-week, literacy-based summer program for students in grades K-12 (locally we targeted K-5). The mornings start daily with a Harambee celebration (Kiswahili for let’s pull together) and following are dedicated to the integrated reading curriculum, which is based on the overarching program theme of I Can Make a Difference! With each week having a unique subtheme; Week 1 (…in myself), Week 2 (…in my family), Week 3 (…in my community), Week 4 (in my country), Week 5 (…in my world), and Week 6 (…with hope, education, and action). The afternoons consist of various activities including STEM engagement, creative writing, field trips, and social action activities. Freedom School encourages a love of reading and learning through a culturally diverse curriculum. The Integrated Reading Curriculum affirms our scholars with engaging literature and exposure to the broader community through addressing an array of local and global social justice topics . Our site hires college-aged students (primarily preservice teachers) to teach and mentor our scholars in classrooms with a 1:10 teacher to student ratio. During the six weeks, we also encourage the parents of our scholars to be engaged in their child’s learning through weekly empowerment workshops. In summer 2023 we were proud to partner with the Indy Hunger Network to incorporate the Cooking Matters program within our parent sessions. Our continued goal for this project would be for it to serve as a community-based summer clinic and informal training site where PSTs can practice implementing teaching strategies and techniques acquired from coursework, graduate students apply coaching and qualitative inquiry skills under the guidance of faculty who have opportunities to work collaboratively to address various issues of our participants and stakeholders related to: 

• Children’s reading attitudes, motivation, and proficiencies,
• Family/Parent Involvement, literacy, and language practices,
• PSTs dispositions and beliefs around culturally relevant teaching practices and practical experience with relationship building, 
• Church involvement, perceptions of ministry work, antiracist pedagogies, supporting and strengthening collaborations of faith-based sponsors of Freedom Schools

Project website: https://education.purdue.edu/cl2ear/research-initiatives/purdue-cdf-freedom-school-program/

Lead/PI: Dr. Breanya Hogue

Executive Director/Lead Pastor: Duane Carlisle

Co-PIs: Dr. Christy Wessel-Powell, Dr. Ofelia Scheppers, Dr. Michelle Fry, Dr. Amber Neal-Stanley, Dr. Signe Kastberg, Dr. Laura Bofferding, 

Research Team: Mengying Xue, Sara Luo, Tirtha Karki, Muna Sapkota, Eloisa Maria Cayanan Nuguid, Dr. Araba Ayiaba Ziekpor Osei-Tutu

This project team is using augmented reality (AR) to promote environmental sustainability among underrepresented students at a local after school program in Lafayette, Indiana. William R. Watson, professor of learning design and technology (LDT) in the College of Education, is the director of the Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments. He oversees the environmental sustainability service project with three LDT doctoral students, Deepti Tagare, Anthony Ilobinso, and Chi-Jia Hsieh, who designed, developed, and facilitated the project. Funded by the College of Education’s Diversity Fellow grant led by Dolby, aimed to promote an awareness of environmental sustainability among diverse students (ages 6-9 years) by holding workshops at the Hanna Community Center in Lafayette, IN.

The team augmented-reality (AR) based hands-on activities, storytelling, and play based learning. During these sessions, the young learners were virtually transported to a wetland habitat where they explored the flora and fauna and were engaged in specially designed AR activities that focused on educating them about recycling and the reuse of waste materials.

The primary goal was to create awareness about environmental sustainability among diverse students from local minority communities while also offering them the opportunity to interact with an emerging technology like augmented reality. The team realized AR is exceptionally well-suited for promoting learning within the flexible and relaxed contexts found in after school programs. The Purdue team is currently analyzing the collected data, and the next steps involve synthesizing the findings and sharing them through academic publications and conference presentations.