Benjamin Archibeque

he/him

Education: Bachelor of Science in physics and psychology (May 2018)

Currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in physics at Florida International University

McNair Project: Student Behavior in the IMPRESS Program (2016)

Mentor: Eleanor Sayre, Ph.D.

The IMPRESS program is a two week, pre-college program that prepares first generation and deaf/hard-of-hearing students to major in a STEM field. In this program, students investigate models of climate change while improving their metacognitive skills and cultural preparation for college life. In this research project, we observe IMPRESS students working in small groups to develop tabletop experiments about aspects of climate change. We are interested in how the minority composition of student groups affects how equitable their discourse is. We follow several case study groups chosen to have a broad range of students to operationalize how discourse may be equitable. We look for moments when individuals are included or excluded and how the prevalence of those moments can create a more or less equitable environment during activities. We found that when white men are in a group they tend to marginalize other group members.