Enhancing senior high school student engagement and academic performance using an inclusive and scalable inquiry-based program

The multi-disciplinary nature of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers often renders difficulty for high school students navigating from classroom knowledge to post-secondary pursuits. Discrepancies between the knowledge-based high school learning approach and the experiential approach of undergraduate studies leaves some students disillusioned by STEM. We present Discovery, an inquiry-focused learning model delivered by STEM graduate students in collaboration with high school educators, in the context of biomedical engineering. High school STEM students of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds engaged in iterative, problem-based learning designed to emphasize critical thinking in an iterative manner within the secondary school and university environments. Assessment of grades and survey data suggested positive impact on students' STEM pursuits, notably in under-performing and repeating student cohorts. Discovery presents a scalable platform blurring the divide between secondary and post-secondary learning, providing valuable learning opportunities and capturing cohorts of students that might otherwise be under-engaged in STEM.