Equitable Science, Technology, Engineering, Education, and Mathematics Skills (Project ESTEEM) is a three-year Advanced Technological Education (ATE) project that will develop, field test, community college student instructional materials and related teacher support materials.

NSF Award # 0703081

Dr. Margaret Hunter,
Principal Investigator
Phone: (516) 463-5556
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Dr. David Burghardt,
co-Principal Investigator, Center for STEM Research
E-mail
Web site

Dr. Michael Hacker,
co-Principal Investigator, Center for STEM Research
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Ms. Theresa Vecchiarelli
co-Principal Investigator

Ms. Monica Trujillo
co-Principal Investigator

For more information,
please contact:
Doris Skura, Senior Executive Secretary
Phone: (516) 463-5233
E-mail
Web site

Project Summary

Equitable Science, Technology, Engineering, Education, and Mathematics Skills (Project ESTEEM) is a three-year Advanced Technological Education (ATE) project that will develop, field test, and disseminate community college student instructional materials and related teacher support materials. The Project will prepare and predispose students, particularly minority female students, to pursue further course work in STEM fields, thereby helping them build their self-esteem and enhance their career options.

Project ESTEEM is a collaboration between Hofstra University Center for STEM Research, Nassau Community College and Queensborough Community College.

Project Mission and Goals

The Project mission is to establish confidence by building competence. ESTEEM will more fully engage community college women in STEM education by strengthening their knowledge, skill, and leadership abilities, thus enhancing their ability to pursue promising and viable STEM careers. Specifically, the Project will:

• Develop a framework to enable instructors and curriculum developers to equitably adapt existing STEM materials so that an educational environment is created that is enriching for students of both genders and especially appealing to CC females.
• Model equitable educational practices by using the ESTEEM framework and guidelines to infuse gender-equitable activities and pedagogy into community college ATE curriculum exemplars.
• Improve understanding of important (standards-based) STEM concepts and skills and thereby increase students’ capability, self-esteem, and self-confidence in technical areas.
• Generate increased student and teacher interest in, and positive attitudes toward, technological careers.
• Evaluate, publish, and disseminate methods, materials, and results.

Project Deliverables

Project deliverables produced in paper- and Web-based formats will include:

• A Project ESTEEM Equity Framework that will establish curriculum adaptation criteria and provide guidance for the adaptation and implementation of STEM/ATE materials.
• Four exemplar modules that illustrate and model the utilization of the Equity Framework. These will include adaptations of one CC ATE module and faculty derived adaptations of course materials.
• A teacher guide to accompany each of the adapted exemplar modules.
• Professional development guidance for curriculum coordinators and administrators that structures professional development activities for staff.
• A media-rich Project Web site to include all Project products, lists of mentor organizations, links to salient resources, STEM career materials, examples of student work (for assessment purposes), and student-and-teacher discussion forums.

Management, Coordination and Partner Roles

David Burghardt, Ph.D. Project co-PI, is Professor of Engineering and co-director of the Hofstra University Center for STEM Research.
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Michael Hacker, co-PI, is co-director of the Hofstra Center for STEM Research.
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Deborah Hecht, Project Evaluator, CUNY Graduate Center, CASE

Margaret Hunter, Ph.D., is an environmental engineer and Associate Professor of Engineering at Hofstra University. She will serve as Project director and PI.
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Monica Trujillo, co-PI, is a member of the Biotechnology Department at Queensborough Community College.

Theresa Vecchiarelli, co-PI, teaches in the Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Processing Department at Nassau Community College.

Advisory Council

Dr. Leah Akins
Department of Engineering Technology, Dutchess Community College

Mr. Tyrone Bennett
Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program Coordinator, Hofstra University

Mr. Vince DiNoto
Kentucky Community Technical College

Ms. Ann Johnson
Higher Education Solutions Manager, Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI)

Dr. Elaine Johnson
Director, Bio-Link ATE Center for Excellence, San Francisco

Ms. Pat Martin
Northrop Grumman

Dr. Sylvia Silberger
Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Hofstra University

Gordon Snyder
Director, National Center for Telecommunications Technology, Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, MA