Virginia Tech® home

Virginia Tech Partnering with Educators and Engineers in Rural Schools (VT PEERS)

The VT PEERS project’s focus on the collaborative design, implementation, and study of recurrent engineering-focused activities with rural school educators and youth in Southwest Virginia.  Overarching programmatic goals strive to broaden the conceptions of what engineering work is, who can do it, and the everyday relevance of engineering careers to rural communities. Supporting this goal, project activities include developing engineering activities that align with Virginia Standards of Learning in Math, Science, and Career and Technical Education classes and the active facilitation of both teacher professional development workshops and in-class activities. 

Research goals

  1. Build multi-faceted understanding of engineering pathways for rural youth from middle school, into and through high school, and into post-graduation decisions. 

  2. Understand individual and organizational factors that influence rural educators’ choices and practices as they integrate engineering into other subjects and settings. 

Highlighted Impacts and Outcomes

  • Regular middle-school engagement with 22 educators and their 1900 students from 7 schools in Smyth, Giles, and Bedford counties. This also included volunteer participation from 24 VT graduate students and 31 industry professionals from regional manufacturing companies.

  • Teacher professional development workshops for 16 high school teachers in a professional development workshop actively designing in-class engineering activities and bringing their students to the VT campus for engineering-focused field trips to labs

  • Awarded the Engagement Scholarship Consortium’s 2020 Excellence in Faculty Community Engagement Award

Gillen, A. L., Grohs, J. R., Matusovich, H. M., & Kirk, G. R. (2021). A multiple case study of an interorganizational collaboration: Exploring the first year of an industry partnership focused on middle school engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 110(3), 545–571. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20403

Grohs, J. R., Gillen, A. L., Matusovich, H. M., Kirk, G. R., Lesko, H. L., Brantley, J., & Carrico, C. (2020). Building Community Capacity for Integrating Engineering in Rural Middle School Science Classrooms. Journal of STEM Outreach, 3(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.15695/jstem/v3i1.01

Schilling, M., & Grohs, J. (2024). A conceptual model for engineering educators in rural places: Critical reflection and engagement. Studies in Engineering Education, 4(2). 201-221. https://doi.org/10.21061/see.97

Schilling, M. R., & Grohs, J. R. (2024). Reconciling Modern Engineering Education with the Everyday of Rural Schools and Youths. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 14(1). https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1413

*Paradise, T., *Schilling, M. R., Grohs, J., & Laney, J. L. (2022). Teacher Experiences in a Community-Based Rural Partnership: Recognizing Community Assets. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 12(1), 39-59. https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1316

Mathieson, D., Cotrupi, C., Schilling, M., & Grohs, J.R. (2023). Resiliency through partnerships: Prioritizing STEM Workforce Pathways Amid Macro Challenges. School Science and Mathematics, 123(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12575

Student Dissertations

Malle Schilling (2024) - Understanding Place and Rurality in Engineering Education through Pathways and Engagement

Joshua Garcia-Sheridan (2023) - Teacher Pedagogical Choice: Analyzing Engineering Professional Development Programs and COVID in Middle School Science Classrooms

Andrew Gillen (2019) - A Multiple Case Study of an Interorganizational Collaboration: Exploring the First Year of a Public-Private Partnership Focused on Secondary STEM Education

In the news

Funding Sources

National Science Foundation

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 1657263 and 1943098. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Community-Engaged Engineering Interventions with Appalachian Youth $1,288,622, (2017-2022)

Engineering Pathways for Appalachian Youth: Design Principles and Long-term Impacts of School-Industry Partnerships $724,032, (2020-Present)

Research Collaborators

Jake Grohs (PI), Gary Kirk (co-PI), Holly Matusovich (co-PI), Holly Lesko, Cheryl Carrico, Andrew Gillen, Tawni Paradise, Malle Schilling, Hannah Glisson, Justine Brantley, Joshua Garcia Sheridan, Veronica Van Montfrans 

Representative Departments: Engineering Education, Center for Educational Networks and Impacts, VT Engage: The Community Learning Collaborative

Programmatic Collaborators

Smyth County Public Schools, Giles County Public Schools, Bedford County Public Schools, Universal Fibers Inc., Fostek Corporation, and Celanese Corporation, and many individual educators throughout the broader Southwest Virginia region.