Vol. 13, Issue 2, 2022

Throughout the pandemic, Understanding Interventions and the UI Journal have affirmed their commitment to highlighting efforts that ensure individuals with diverse identities and abilities have access to STEM pathways. As the world finds its way amidst the current public health and political realities, the UI Journal is proud to showcase spaces in STEM that thrive through inclusive representation. We are also excited about the growing efforts to broaden participation in these areas. Articles in this current issue focus on early exposure to STEM interventions and other programmatic strategies to improve student success and retention in STEM pathways.

A critical loss during the pandemic was the human interactions one gets from face-to-face encounters. One paper in this issue of the journal details a strategy for merging online instruction with face-to-face office hours. The strategy increases student engagement and active learning. Ultimately, the authors observed that the combination increased learning outcomes in the online format of the course in comparison to online learning alone.

In another article, the authors provide strategies for supporting first-time, first-year students. The paper describes a longitudinal program that engages students before the first year through a summer bridge and continues the engagement through graduation. The program aims to increase graduation rates for students at HBCUs.
Two papers describe efforts related to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative. The first of the two programs focuses on increasing the research understanding and belonging of second-year students through a Sea-phage program. The second focuses on influencing the early educational trajectory of students with identities underrepresented in STEM.

Leyte Winfield, PhD
Managing Editor