Mission

The Yahng Family Discovery Center is dedicated to promoting excellence and innovation in teaching, learning, and outreach in the STEM-H disciplines.  Our mission is to increase the breadth and depth of the quantitative and scientific literacy, and the exploration of dimensions of health among our students, pre- and in-service educators, and the Appalachian region as a whole.

Berea College Division I proposes the following vision, mission, and goals for the Yahng Family Discovery Center located within the new Margaret A. Cargill Natural Sciences and Health building.  The primary focus of the Yahng Center for STEM-H Education will be fourfold:

  1. To strengthen the quality of STEM-H education on campus, increasing the number and diversity of students graduating within those disciplines;
  2. To serve as a locus for the recruitment, education, and mentorship of potential STEM-H and STEM-H teaching, majors;
  3. To coordinate and support STEM-H outreach to the local community and K-12 schools within the counties of southeastern Kentucky; and
  4. To support the Discipline Based Education Research (DBER) and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) initiatives of the Division I faculty.

Vision

The Yahng Family Discovery Center is created with a vision of students, regardless of their identity, being able to pursue their innate curiosity about the natural world and their desire to nurture our communities both in and out of the classroom.

Goals

  • Promote STEM teacher development from recruitment, through teacher preparation, to in-service professional development by collaborating with the Berea’s Education Studies Programs and with regional school districts.
  • Recruit and support students for all STEM-H majors – particularly from underrepresented groups.
  • Collaborate with STEM-H faculty to implement evidence-based teaching & learning practices to strengthen gateway courses, increase student retention, and promote inclusive teaching practices.
  • Create and maintain collaborative relationships with local, regional, and national partners in K-16 education, science, mathematics, and nursing.
  • Provide informal education and public outreach opportunities to the local community.
  • Develop and expand innovative, interdisciplinary STEM-H scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and discipline-based education research (DBER) projects.
  • Pursue federal, state, and corporate funding opportunities to strengthen Berea College and community science and education programs.