**2. STEM engagement through mentoring in a makerspace**

Enhancing the relevance of STEM through stronger STEM programming that values assimilation of Hispanic and Indigenous culture, language, traditions, and ways of knowing through a transactional process could benefit underrepresented communities. A mentoring approach through "shared interactions, experiences, and mutual exchanges" with the La Frontera Mobile STEM lab is introducing STEM faculty and educators to culturally appropriate outreach strategies. Strong STEM mentorships over a two-year period have shown to benefit underrepresented students with improving scientific efficacy and scientific identity, with students feeling as if they belong to a community of scientists [6]. Gaps in achievements, representation and interest in STEM are persistent across all levels of educational achievement, with African Americans, Latinos, and Indigenous populations representing only 6% of the total STEM labor workforce, with URM representing 25% of the total population in the United States [7, 8].

Outcomes from the pandemic presents an opportunity to improve technology training postsecondary institutions for many Hispanic and Indigenous students. Enhancing the relevance of STEM through stronger STEM programming that values *Enhancing Educators' Cultural and Digital Literacies through Makerspace Development Activities DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112613*

assimilation of Hispanic and Indigenous culture, language, traditions, and ways of knowing through a transactional process could benefit underrepresented communities. A mentoring approach through "shared interactions, experiences, and mutual exchanges" could assist STEM faculty in identifying culturally appropriate outreach strategies [9]. Transformative STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning spaces have grown rapidly in schools, universities, libraries, and museums as "Learning Labs" or "Makerspaces." These spaces are designed to encourage deep engagement with STEM-integrated content, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration while sparking curiosity [10].

Makerspaces are informal sites for creative expressions in STEAM (sciences, technology, the arts, engineering, and mathematics) in which learner's blend digital and physical technologies in an informal learning environment to share with a wider community [11]. Makerspace emphasizes learning through direct experiences, handson projects, inventions, and is based on a constructionist learning theory [12]. The La Frontera project outcomes would assist in addressing a gap in literature investigating how to establish a STEM culture through faculty development beyond grant funding. Beavers et al. [13] project leveraged 3D printing in a library to first engage and create interest in fabrication programs. STEM faculty previously viewed the library as an independent unit or place, disconnected from academic programs. However, providing a fabrication printer formed a grassroots effort to engage the community in pop-up challenge activities, creating interest groups and encouraging administration to support a formal makerspace area. Faculty worked with support staff and student workers to create pop-up makerspace activities, hosted a mini-maker faire, provided financial incentives to students to participate in pop-up activities and the maker faire, supported robotics and makerspace camps, which created a culture of STEM engineering engagement, educator professional development, and resulted in improved STEM undergraduate programing. Outcomes brought about increased engagement, use of student support library services by faculty and students, and improved teaching practices [10]. It has been observed through a strong scientific community mentoring plan, quality STEM engagement has increased along with opportunities for educator development to STEM faculty, K-12 teachers, and preservice teachers. Program outcomes contribute toward understanding how remote mobile makerspace programs may impact isolated URM STEM enrollment, retention, self-efficacy and persistence in STEM. Examining persistence through a lens of social influence will address gaps exploring relationships between the scientific community, makerspace community, industry, faculty, and mentoring and how relationships might be leveraged as an agent approach toward social change. Literature has shown the development of efficacy, identity, and values predicts URM persistence but the impact of makerspace on engagement in STEM have limited support in literature [6].

Mobile makerspaces assist with building capacity beyond the university to assist with educator professional development toward using technologies and assist with providing connections to engineering outreach and engagement [1]. The dynamic nature of makerspace activity may help sustain faculty curiosity/intellectual growth through the inherent challenges. Mobile makerspaces offer strong internal outreach opportunities, with educators' responding positively to professional development centered on digital and design literacies offered in a mobile makerspace environment perhaps due to the creative and flexible approaches during pop-up activities. Mobile makerspace pop-up activities increase awareness and understanding of digital literacies in an active learning atmosphere [2]. Digital literacies in mobile environments often incorporate use of creative mobile technologies: 3D modeling, fabrication,

robotics, laser cutting and lendable technologies. In addition to providing increased access, mobile makerspaces have been shown to positively connect to engineering outreach, increasing diversity within engineering education tasks [1] while exciting diverse audiences, but often lack robust participation in curricular models. Research needs include contributing mobile makerspace curriculum approaches in which improved participation through pop-up challenge layout and instructional foster participation beyond excitement to strong engagement [3].
