Program Name: The Fifth Dimension & Club Tech

Location: Boys and Girls Club of Whittier, 7905 Greenleaf Avenue, Whittier, CA  90602

Principal Investigator(s):

• Professor Don Bremme, Department of Education and Child Development

Site Description:

The Whittier Boys and Girls Club Fifth Dimension provides computer mediated, after-school learning focused on the development of children’s literacy, numeracy, and logical problem solving strategies.  Although open to all children at the Club, it serves primarily low-income at-risk children from 7 to 12 years of age.  Activities include one-to-one learning through off-the-shelf educational software, digital photography projects, Internet investigations, email correspondence, and similar technology-based projects.  The program operates four days-a-week throughout the school year.

Club Tech, which operates five days-a-week, provides computer-based learning activities for youth 13 and older.  Using an organizational structure similar to the Fifth Dimension, Club Tech engages participants in web-page design, digital storytelling, digital music production, and other advanced technology projects.  Although a national Boys and Girls Club program, Club Tech is organized, staffed, and managed by Whittier College.

Supplementary Fifth Dimension and Club Tech Boys activities include tutoring and homework help, the Wizard’s Hour Reading Program, educational fieldtrips, a summer Fifth Dimension program, and a Day on Campus program. Undergraduates take part in the program by enrolling in Education 406 a theory and practicum course in the Department of Education and Child Development at Whittier.

Courses:

• Education 406: Learning and Learners

Participants (based on 2005-06 data): 

• Approximately 1030 K-12th grade students per academic year
• 85% Latino, 10% White, 5% African American and Asian
• 50% male, 50% female
• 40% ELLs
• Approximately 60 undergraduates and 2 graduate students per academic year

Collaborators:

• Boys and Girls Club of Whittier
• B.C. McCabe Foundation
• Whittier City School District
• Whittier College, Department of Education and Child Development

Goals:

• Increase academic achievement and narrow the achievement gap
• Increase technology and basic literacy skills through computer-based games and multi-media storytelling, digital photography/video & music production, computer animation and web design
• Promote collaborative and group learning skills
• Improve attitudes and aspirations toward higher learning for participating youth
• Expose potential classroom teachers to new approaches to teaching and learning using computer technology
• 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:

• Curriculum-based projects in Social Studies, Science, and Math
• Collaborative learning activities using a wide array of educational software, computer mediated production, hands-on materials and board games which promote the development of literacy knowledge and skills
• Daily online (email) communication and letter-writing activities
• Homework assistance and mentoring from undergraduate participants

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
• Document and compare participants’ year-to-year report-card grades, attendance records and California STAR test scores to similar SES and ELL students within their respective schools who are not participating in the program
• Pre- and post-survey of participants and parent interviews on post-secondary interest, aspirations, and knowledge
• Analysis of participants' daily program activity logs and progress charts to measure task completion

Research Focus:

• Sociocultural approach to informal learning and literacy development
• Mediation of learning by material culture
• Impact of the social framing of program activities on literacy (specifically vocabulary) development