TERC Scholars Program

On site for up to 10 hours per week, each TERC Scholar becomes an active member of a project team and works under the supervision of the project’s leaders to help advance project goals and gain STEM education knowledge. Scholars engage in authentic research activities, such as classroom data collection, literature syntheses, instrument testing, data coding and analysis, and case study development.

TERC Scholars come from a variety of backgrounds and majors. Each scholar is assigned a mentor who assists them in navigating a professional workplace and guides them toward professional development opportunities.

Quick Facts

Program Dates: September – May
Location: In-person and/or virtual
Application Opens: Rolling
FAQs: Click here for a complete list of FAQs.

If you’d like more information, please fill out the following form.

Current Scholars and Projects

Coming soon.

Past Scholars and Projects

Claire Shapiro
Middlebury College, Class of 2024; Majors: Economics and English Literature

Mentor: Jodi Asbell-Clarke

Claire supported the work of the INFACT and EdGE groups to promote inclusive models of teaching computational thinking (CT) to elementary and middle school students. Read an article she wrote about her experience here

Where are they now? Discover here.

Akiko Voelcker
Bunkerhill Community College, Class of 2022, Major: Entrepreneurship

Mentors: Teresa Lara-Meloy and Christina Silva

Akiko worked with the Visualize Teaching project. Read an article by Akiko about her experience here.

Where are they now? Discover here.

Anya Carbonell
Boston University, Class of 2022, Major: Undeclared

Mentors: Audrey Martinez-Gudapakkam and Sabrina De Los Santos

Anya worked with the Aprendiendo Project to support Spanish speaking parents through learning pedagogy that will enable them to support preparing their children for learning math in kindergarten. Read an article by Anya here and here.

Where are they now? Discover here.

Angela D’Souza
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, College of Education, Doctoral Student: Mathematics, Science, and Learning Technologies
Research at the intersections of science, technology studies, and environmental studies

Mentors: Mia Ong and Nuria Jaumot-Pascual

Angela worked on the Native STEM Portraits (NPS) project which is a longitudinal study on the experiences of Native STEM students, faculty, and professionals and the barriers and supports they encounter in STEM. She also supported the IMS-SEIL project, an institute on qualitative meta-synthesis methods for STEM education graduate students, postdocs, early career researchers, and faculty. Read an articles by Angela here.

Where are they now? Discover here.

Katie Yao
Boston University, Class of 2021, Major: Health Sciences

Mentors: Gilly Puttick and Santiago Gasca

Katie worked with the Innovate to Mitigate project. In this exploratory study, they report results from an open innovation competition challenging young people age 13-18 to develop a method for carbon mitigation.

Katie’s also worked with Mia Ong and Nuria Jaumot-Pascual to support two projects: Literature Analysis and Synthesis of Women of Color in Technology and Computing (LASOW), and Native American Women and Two-Spirit Individuals in Computing Higher Education: A Photo Elicitation Study of Persistence (NAWC2).

Where are they now? Discover here.

Harry Dam
Boston University, Class of 2021, Major: Economics, Minor: Engineering Sciences

Mentors: Martha Merson

Harry worked on the Interpreters and Scientists Working on Our Parks (iSWOOP) Project which is a multi-faceted project providing professional development for park rangers, developing visual media on park-based scientific topics, and researching park visitors’ interests. Harry supported this project by gathering and synthesizing data for annual reports to funders and advisors, conducted relevant literature reviews for proposals and publications, assisted with the project’s online and social media presence, and supported park rangers with visual aids.

Where are they now? Discover here.

La’Reya Brown
Boston University, Class of 2020, Major: Behavior & Health

Mentors: Eli-Tucker Raymond, Ph.D. & Maria Olivares, Ph.D.

La’Reya supported the Re-Making STEM Project and worked on her own research project as she sought to understand more about youth behavior, emotional well-being, and identity building in academic settings. Her purpose was aimed at understanding youth identity development and learning.

Nicole Shearer
Wheelock College/Boston University, B.S. in Social Work, 2019

Mentors: Karen-Mutch Jones & Judy Storeygard

Nicole supported the Doing the Math Project, which focuses on professional development of mathematics paraeducators in grades K-3. Nicole’s passion for youth advocacy enabled her to greatly strengthen paraeducators knowledge and teaching abilities, who often encounter multiple students with disabilities and those for whom English is a second language. Through the TSP, Nicole broadened opportunities for a diverse range of early childhood learners and improved access to continuing their education.

Where are they now? Discover here.

 

I loved the camaraderie, the ability to deepen and strengthen my work in a non-competitive, safe space… The regular and structured discussions with TERC mentors were very helpful to my growth as a scholar.”

– TERC Scholar Intern