Modern Blanket Toss: Findings and Observations

2016 FINDINGS
The mission of Modern Blanket Toss was to help these Upward Bound students
develop interest in STEM fields through the use of technology that can directly
improve the well-being of Alaskans. The project’s goal was to demonstrate how
a three-part program of science education built around 1) cutting-edge STEM
technologies (in this case, UAVs), 2) science communication and leadership skills,
and 3) community involvement, can better expose these students to STEM
careers, prepare them for higher education, and enable them to contribute to
their communities.
Seven Upward Bound programs participated in Modern Blanket Toss over the
three year program period: Chefornak, Seward, Bethel, Nikiski, Shishmaref,
Chevak, and Saint Mary’s. These communities vary widely in terms of location,
local economy, population size, poverty levels, racial makeup, and income,
representing a cross-section of rural Alaska. Overall, 28 individual students
attended at least one summer session of the Modern Blanket Toss program – 19
students attended one summer session, six students attended two summer
sessions, and three students attended three summer sessions. Approximately 60
individual students participated in the Modern Blanket Toss activities at their
Upward Bound site.
The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the effectiveness
of the Modern Blanket Toss program in increasing the
likelihood that participating students would go on to pursue
college degrees in STEM areas and ultimately pursue STEM
careers. The evaluation used six indicators to measure the
program’s effectiveness, including 1) Upward Bound local
coordinator capacity to facilitate the program locally; 2)
student satisfaction and engagement with program activities;
3) student knowledge about the Modern Blanket Toss
content; 4) student communication and leadership skills; 5)
student interest in STEM and confidence in STEM abilities;
and 6) student academic data including their overall grade
point average and their math and science course grades
specifically.
Key Findings
At the beginning of the project, Upward Bound local coordinators reported
already feeling they had the knowledge and ability to implement science
practices and project-based learning with their students, yet by the end of the
three year project they reported significant gains in their knowledge about
UAVs and GIS software instrumental in planning and carrying out community
projects.
• Local coordinators made the greatest gains in four areas: how to build a UAV,
applications of UAV technology, the safety rules and regulations that apply to
flying a UAV, and how to acquire different types of data using UAVs.
• Three areas showed no gains, because coordinators reported high levels of
knowledge at the beginning of the program: The range of science, technology,
engineering and math careers that are available to students; the level of math
and science students will need for various science, technology, engineering, and
math careers; and principles of flight (e.g., lift, drag, gravity).
• Coordinators reported a low level of initial knowledge and little growth
related to several important content areas that were potentially important to
community projects: how to ask questions using GIS software; how to use GIS
mapping software; and how to acquire data from databases.
• Students reported consistently high satisfaction with the Modern Blanket
Toss summer program. In particular students noted the following:
• Students were excited about learning new technology.
• Students liked the hands-on aspect of the course, both the experience flying
and the application of mapping.
• Students felt that the connections they made with people was an important
benefit of the program and appreciated working together with like-minded
peers, and cited this as an important aspect of the program.
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