Program Name:  Long Beach BLAST

Location: Washington Middle School, 1450 Cedar Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90813

Principal Investigator(s):  Professor Emeritus Michael Godfrey and Dr. Asela Thomason in the Department of Information Systems and Professor Carole Cox in the Department of Teacher Education. Site program director: Alex Fey.

Contact: Alex Fey, Executive Director, Long Beach BLAST, alex@lbblast.org

Site Description: 

The Long Beach BLAST program offers a range of after-school learning experiences for children in the computer lab at Washington Middle School in Long Beach.  For two days each week, Long Beach Blast kids interact with CSU Long Beach undergraduate mentors in technology-based multi-media projects that promote language arts and literacy development. The middle school students also have the opportunity to connect with family and other community members through oral history and other research on key topics of local concern.  At the end of each semester, they present their findings in a public showcase of student work. Undergraduates participate in the program by enrolling either in special topics courses in the Department of Information Systems or in the Department of Education at CSU Long Beach.

Courses: 

• Information Systems 485: Information Systems Project
• Education Curriculum & Instruction 599: Special Topics in teacher Education

Participants (based on 2005-06 data):

• Approximately 45 6th–8th graders per academic year
• 75% Latino, 20% African American, 4% unknown
• 35% male, 65% female
• 60% English language learners
• Approximately 85 undergraduates

Collaborators:

• Department of Information Systems and Department of Teacher Education, CSU Long Beach
• Long Beach BLAST (Better Learning After School Today) in Long Beach, CA
• Washington Middle School, Long Beach Unified School District

Goals:

• Provide safe and healthy places after school for children to learn and develop a sense of self as participants in a global world
• Promote academic achievement and encourage low-income youth to pursue paths to higher learning
• Increase technology literacy
• Integrate college service learning, K-12 education, and research in an after school program for at-risk youth
• Improve the quality of graduate and undergraduate education by connecting academic coursework to practicum field experience
• Encourage undergraduates to explore the possibility of a teaching career in urban, low-income communities

Activities:

• Computer-based activities around assigned topics that need to be researched in the local community
• Designing of  personal web pages
• Showcasing students’ work

Evaluation:

• University of California Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships (SAPEP) Annual Performance Report
• UC Links Reading Assessment
• Survey of undergraduate interest in pursuing graduate or professional school studies
• Assessment of each participant’s (K-12 students, undergraduates, faculty) experience through attitudinal surveys

Research Focus: