Determining the efficacy of communications technologies and practices to broaden participation in education: Insights from a theory of change

Abstract

BreakThru is the core project of the Georgia STEM Accessibility Alliance (GSAA), which is supported by the Research in Disabilities Education (RDE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Launched in 2010, GSAA is one of 10 RDE Alliances throughout the United States designed to broaden the participation and achievement of people with disabilities in STEM education and careers. The most distinctive feature of GSAA has been its use of virtual worlds and online communications platforms to support or implement most project activities. Empirical findings have informed the creation of a theory of change to explain how characteristics of technologically mediated mentoring practices may positively impact students’ internal characteristics across five indicators (intention to persist, increased self-advocacy, increased self-determination, decreased math anxiety, and decreased science anxiety). Successful internalization of these characteristics may be expected to increase students’ intention to persist in STEM education and support concrete steps to persist. This project seeks to fill a critical research gap and inform the field about the potential efficacy of e-mentoring programs and how they might be evaluated. It also seeks to determine appropriate methodologies and approaches for doing so.