Experiential Learning in STEM for a Diverse Student Population at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Through the Implementation of the UDC Rover Project

Abstract

In 2018, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) participated in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge for the first time in the school’s history. An interdisciplinary team of students designed and fabricated a two-person, human-powered rover which competed against 100 other colleges and universities. Based on their success, in 2019 UDC again formed a team to participate in the challenge, improving on the 2018 rover design and performance. This paper reports the process of implementing this experiential learning activity and how this project has contributed to the STEM curriculum at UDC, and recruitment and participation of underrepresented STEM students. Lessons learned from implementing this project is also shared and discussed in this paper.