SPARKS, Summer Program for Applied Research and Knowledge Sharing, was created in the summer of 2024 by Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) for high school students to develop their understanding of innovative academic research and entrepreneurship. The program was created to support student engagement in cutting-edge research; it was designed to foster and enhance a mindset of inquiry, problem-solving, and critical thinking in high school students, to leverage their interests and passions in real-world STEM research, and help them stay ahead of technological and research innovations, prepare for college, career, and workforce in STEM. The program was created to provide authentic and hands-on experiences for students on the research processes and life cycle, help them explore existing phenomena, uncover new phenomena, structures, procedures, and behaviors that support ethical research, offer contributions to advance the field they are interested in, and expand their knowledge, enhance their knowledge and critical thinking with a systematic and analytical approach. The program is designed in a collaborative, constructive way for learners to work with research mentors in the fields they are interested in, discuss and share perspectives with peers, explore problems and identify solutions together, and present their research findings on academic platforms.

The SPARKS program has been designed for students who have completed an introductory research course developed by a high school in the midwestern US for students from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds. The SRELO program aims to enable students to gain invaluable research experience and pursue their passion for STEM. Researchers at DPI were invited to share their interest and availability to mentor high school students as research interns for their existing research projects. 10 researchers shared information about their ongoing projects, the number of students they can work with, and prerequisites that they may need from students (e.g., coding experience, statistical knowledge). High school students (rising juniors and seniors) who completed the introductory course were invited to participate in the SPARKS program. Students were sent information about the projects and were matched with research mentors based on their interest and expertise in prerequisite skills. The internship was designed for 6 weeks during the summer, for about 20 hours a week, and 14 students participated in the program.

Students worked in small groups to read and discuss peer-reviewed articles on topics related to GenAI, STEM education in K-12 and conducting original research and inquiry. Students spent about 5 hours a week on these collaborative activities and 15 hours a week with their research mentors. The projects that students participated in included climate and sustainability, artificial intelligence, social networking, and wastewater-based epidemiology. At the end of the 6-week internship, each student presented their project findings as a poster presentation during the SPARKS closing ceremony and also presented the findings at their school symposium during the beginning of the academic year. Research mentors and faculty at DPI were also invited to attend the posters, providing the students with the opportunity to discuss their findings, answer questions, and share their learnings.

Keywords: STEM Learning Experiences, Authentic Learning, Inquiry-Based Learning, STEM Research.