By Ammie Ruddle
Braelyn Young, 19, who attends West Virginia University, was one of 10 undergraduates chosen within the nation to receive a spot in the 2022 Research Interdisciplinary STEM Education Experience, RISE, according to a WVU College of Education and Human Services online announcement.
The RISE program is a nine-week research “experience” for undergraduates in chemistry, education, life sciences, mathematics, or physics. Students will learn in both formal and informal environments and will focus on understanding obstacles such as exclusion, mental or physical disabilities, or diversity.
The project will take Young to a multitude of rural communities. “Many of those communities will be Latin American communities,” Young said.
“I like to look at it as two different roles I have,” Young said. “The first role is going to be analyzing the data from field research that has been collected over the past couple of years. The (research) is video data of families interacting in a math museum that was set up specifically (for) this research project. My job will be to analyze this data looking for student-thinking related to the informal setting.
“My second role will be field research for a different research project called HEAL,” Young continued. “I will be working with a team where we will travel to different parts of {the state of} Washington conducting week-long summer camps that focus on teaching concepts through the arts in a hands-on, informal approach. When I am not at these summer camps, I will be working on the data analysis for the informal mathematics research.”
The families participating in the week-long summer camps applied to be a part of the project.
Darla Young proudly talked about her daughter’s achievements saying, “She took so many college classes she is graduating early.”
Young’s goal for the program is to evolve as a researcher. She would like to continue honing her teaching skills so that she can ultimately receive her doctorate and “one day, teach educators how to teach math from a hands-on approach.”
