THE SCIENCE OF HIP HOP: Exploring STEM through BEATS and LYRICS – @TXST on October 21st [CLICK FOR RECAP VIDEO]
History and Overview. The School of Social Work at Texas State University (TXST) has worked extensively in partnership with the TXST Upward Bound Program and other partners to increase STEM/CS (STEM including Computer Science) engagement and interest among high school students. Opportunities include innovative learning experiences shaped by the STEM-B.E.A.T.S. (Building Excellence in Academics and Transitions to Success) model that centers around four key areas of STEM/CS with the recognition that Computer Science is integrated throughout. Students participate in immersive workshops on the Texas State University Campus to explore the latest in science, technology, engineering, and math but through the lens of Hip Hop culture. All five elements of Hip Hop culture are emphasized including emceeing, deejaying and production, graffiti/writing, breaking, and knowledge of self, allowing engagement with the full spectrum of creative arts and social emotional learning. Students also have immediate access to discovery, learning, and creating with music and digital technology in the on-campus music studio and makerspace, while focusing in-depth on STEM themes during each workshop. The model is designed to couple STEM/CS-based learning objectives with music and cultural interests while also providing ample opportunities for students’ creative expression. STEM/CS success is believed to be fostered through creative problem solving and self-expression within science, technology, engineering, and math, as discrete, yet overlapping disciplines (see below).
The Science of Hip Hop. This one-day event in partnership with Young Women in Bio brings these separate exciting workshops together into one dynamic collection of immersive experiences. Participants can engage workshops consecutively allowing a cumulative, scaffolded, and integrated experience. Each immersive room/workshop/museum is discrete in many ways (i.e., unique exhibits, activities, and hands-on experiences) but is also connected through shared topical tracks (e.g., Mental Health and Sustainability) that span multiple rooms. For example, there is at least one Mental Health related interactive exhibit in the Math and Science Rooms, but in the Math room the exhibit leverages the intersections of Math, Hip Hop culture, and Mental Health. In the Science room the exhibit leverages the intersections of Science, Hip Hop culture, and Mental Health. Aside from the four discrete yet overlapping STEM/CS rooms, there is also a main shared area for participants at the end with opportunities to help frame and synthesize the overall program, specific rooms, exhibits, and thematic tracks. Throughout the rooms, large visuals are used to graphically portray concepts, themes, and connections, a portfolio is provided (physical and digital) with resources and information about the day’s activities and direction for further learning/exploration, and cultural and global connections are continuously made. Each space provides opportunities for students to explore, reflect, build community with other participants, and reach their own conclusions about engaging STEM/CS through Hip Hop culture.