STEM 101 - Pathway to STEM Success

• The course will provide an opportunity for students to explore careers in STEM, decide on a degree path, practice college success strategies, build community and develop the skills necessary to become a master student both at and beyond Highline. Specific emphasis will be placed on strengths-based identity development, campus resources, study skills, academic and transfer planning, and information literacy in STEM.  
• Career exploration:  
  • Learn about diverse career paths in STEM, including areas of job growth, trends in different sectors, wages and skills associated with different careers, and explore career profiles of STEM professionals. Hear from guest speakers on STEM careers. 
  • Explore internships and jobs that match one’s values, interests and goals. Parse a job posting effectively. Learn basics of how to draft a resume, use LinkedIn for job networking and how to conduct an informational interview. Practice key elements of networking through online or in-person interactions.  
• Belonging to College:  
  • Explore intersections of identity, environmental barriers influenced by the student’s personal identities, implicit and explicit biases, microaggressions, imposter syndrome, stereotype threat and minority model myths. Learn self-care strategies to maintain a healthy self-concept, ways to overcome psycho-social barriers and to create an inclusive environment in STEM. 
  • Identify personal values, interests, strengths and unique skills/qualities and apply these towards academic and career goals. Describe how and when one operates at one’s best abilities and mental wellness, and connect this to a desired work environment. Write responses to personal statement prompts that showcase one’s strengths and character in a holistic way beyond academic performance. 
• College navigation:  
  • Identify sources of support at Highline, various funding types and ways to pay for college, and other campus resources. Determine steps to connect with different resources and how to build a support system around one’s needs and goals. 
  • Practice inter-cultural communication skills including professional writing, self-advocacy, active listening, and how to network. 
• Success strategies and Paying for College: 
  • Learn about evidence-backed time management strategies and common misconceptions around weekly planning, procrastination, multitasking and how to study effectively. Analyze how one spends one’s time and create a time management schedule to effectively manage course load and other obligations. 
  • Identify common misconceptions around effective learning and test-taking strategies such as learning styles and fixed abilities. Learn about and explain key evidence-backed study techniques. Through metacognitive activities reflect on study skills and use reflection to modify learning. Set specific and time based goals to develop sustainable changes in approaching STEM courses that lead to greater success. 
• Educational Planning: 
  • Develop a personalized academic plan that matches one’s chosen degree. Connect with a faculty advisor and learn elements of a successful adviser-advisee relationship.  
  • Research 4-year institutions and learn basic steps in the transfer application process. Learn how to choose a 4-year college and identify at least two potential transfer institutions. Explore factors for long-term success in STEM such as undergraduate research, internships, connecting with transfer advisors, dealing with transfer shock and how and when to consider graduate school. 
• STEM Information Literacy: 
  • Develop visual literacy by exploring data sets in STEM, how to use data to create simple plots, and how to interpret graphs. Learn how to assess online and other resources for reliability, distinguish between popular and scholarly sources, use Google effectively to find reliable and specific information, and how to avoid plagiarism. Practice reading a scientific paper for information literacy.  
  • Learn about the scientific method and draft a falsifiable hypothesis. Conduct background research on a scientific hypothesis and present results to the class.