AVELA -- A Vision for Engineering Literacy & Access: Understanding Why Technology Alone Is Not Enough

TL;DR

This paper highlights persistent technology access inequalities among Black and Latine communities, emphasizing the need for culturally responsive, student-led STEM engagement models to improve participation and support.

Contribution

It introduces AVELA, a holistic, culturally responsive STEM engagement model that incorporates mentorship, community representation, and service learning to address access barriers.

Findings

Many students are hesitant to engage with available technologies.

The AVELA model improved engagement through culturally responsive lessons.

Recommendations for future STEM education programs are provided.

Abstract

Unequal technology access for Black and Latine communities has been a persistent economic, social justice, and human rights issue despite increased technology accessibility due to advancements in consumer electronics like phones, tablets, and computers. We contextualize socio-technical access inequalities for Black and Latine urban communities and find that many students are hesitant to engage with available technologies due to a lack of engaging support systems. We present a holistic student-led STEM engagement model through AVELA - A Vision for Engineering Literacy and Access leveraging culturally responsive lessons, mentor embodied community representation, and service learning. To evaluate the model's impact after 4 years of mentoring 200+ university student instructors in teaching to 2,500+ secondary school students in 100+ classrooms, we conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with college AnonymizedOrganization members. We identify access barriers and provide principled recommendations for designing future STEM education programs.