Enhancing Math Education at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College

Atlas Executive Consulting secured a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to facilitate and implement equitable teaching and learning in the remote classroom environment for STEM courses at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC). The grant project aimed to increase enrollment in math courses at KBOCC, which experienced a drastic decrease of 22% due to the pandemic.

KBOCC had previously implemented a new math curriculum centered around growth mindset and productive persistence that resulted in record high enrollment in math courses of more than 40% of the student population in 2019. However, the remote learning environment brought about by the pandemic made it challenging to reimagine the collaborative classroom implementations, resulting in lower completion rates and decreased enrollment in math courses.

To address this issue, the grant project invested in the professional development of faculty at KBOCC. The project strengthened the faculty network of support and knowledge alignment with Indigenous knowledge circles and non-profit organizations that share holistic community-centered values. This equipped faculty with the necessary skills to facilitate and implement equitable teaching and learning in the remote classroom environment for STEM courses.

Through the grant project, KBOCC increased student enrollment, engagement, and persistence in math courses, surpassing the pre-pandemic population within 14 months. The project also established KBOCC’s first STEM learning hub in the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, training students and community members in data and software skills. This will increase the capacity of indigenous scholars in the data and software community, ultimately empowering the reservation in their journey towards data sovereignty in the era of big data.