What keeps T3 going

Why do some community science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs keep going after their grant funding ends, while others stop? If you were part of a T3 program, your site's story can help answer the question.

Take part

What I'm studying

I'm Adam V. Low, a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more than 10 years, Teaching Through Technology (T3) programs ran in rural and island communities. Students used drones, 3D printers, and design tools to build projects that helped their own communities.

Grants paid for most of that work, and grants end. Some T3 sites stopped when the money stopped. Others kept going, or turned into something new: a makerspace, a class, a small business, a local job pathway. My research asks what made the difference.

I'm also tracing how the values set in T3's early years carried into what came after. The goal is practical: to help schools, tribes, communities, and funders plan programs that last.

How the study works

The study compares many T3 sites side by side, including the ones that ended. Every site's story counts.

Gather each site's storyFrom the people who ran and worked with each site, using the questions on this page, alongside published reports.
Describe each site the same wayFor example: Did leadership back the program? Were there community partners? Did staff stay? Was there local money when the grant ended?
Compare the sitesThe method, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), looks for the combinations of conditions found where programs lasted. It allows for more than one path: what worked in one village may differ from what worked in a city school.
Share what I learnIn my dissertation and papers, and in a plain-language summary for the people and communities who took part.

The questions are about programs, not about you personally, and they never ask about individual students. I don't use student records.

A short history of T3

T3 started on NSF grants, and T3 Alaska kept the work going after the last grant ended in 2020.

2014 to 2016The Modern Blanket TossA National Science Foundation (NSF) project with Upward Bound students at five Alaska sites: Bethel, Chefornak, Nikiski, Seward, and Shishmaref. Students learned to fly drones, 3D print, and design, and used those skills on projects that helped their own communities.¹
2017 to 2020T3 AllianceWith a second NSF grant, the model grew into the T3 Alliance, a network of Upward Bound programs across 17 states in the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which supports places that receive less federal research funding. Other TRIO programs joined during these years and paid for their programming from other funding sources. Sites ran trainings for coaches, badges for skills, and community projects.^{2, 3, 5, 6, 7}
2020 onT3 AlaskaWhen the NSF grant ended, the work continued in Alaska as a university program, which still runs today. It adapted through COVID and helped start a makerspace, a college course, and new organizations, including Remote Hands.⁴
2026T3 ActionT3 Action, a separate and independent Alaska nonprofit, began building on the T3 model: hands-on technology trainings in communities, led by local trainers.

The values behind T3

These ideas guided T3 from its early years. Part of the study asks whether the values help explain why T3 Alaska kept going after the NSF grant ended.

Safe places to learnLearners can try, fail, and try again without fear.
Trust in peopleStudents and communities are capable of real, important work.
Self-determinationCommunities decide what they need and what to build.
Learning togetherKnowledge is made with communities, not delivered to them.
MentoringEveryone mentors someone and is mentored by someone.
Doing something to helpProjects answer a real need in the learner's own community.

Who I'd like to hear from

Adults, 18 or older, who took part in a T3 program in one of two ways:

Directors, staff, and partnersUpward Bound and TRIO directors, school and district administrators, site coaches and coordinators, and staff of tribes, local governments, businesses, or nonprofits that worked with a T3 site.
Educators and other adultsClassroom teachers, after-school staff, coaches, and other adults who took T3 trainings or used T3 with students but did not lead a site.

Before you start

Taking part is voluntary. You can skip any question or stop at any time.
I may name sites in what I write. I name or quote a person only with their permission.
Please don't name individual students in your answers.
Calls are not recorded.

I am 18 or older, and I took part in a T3 program as a director, staff member, partner, educator, or trainee.

Directors, staff, and partners24 questions about how your site's program ran and what happened after the grant. About 20 minutes.Open Part A
Educators and other adults8 questions about how you used T3 in your classes or programs. About 15 minutes.Open Part B
Rather talk?Book a 30-minute call. We go through the same questions and I type your answers into the same form.Book a 30-minute call

To open the questions, tick the box above.

Former T3 student or family member? Thank you. A later part of the study is for students and families. Email me to hear when it opens.

My two roles

I helped lead T3, and I'm board president of T3 Action, an Alaska nonprofit that builds on the T3 model. This study is my own doctoral research. It is not a T3 Action program, and taking part or not has no effect on your relationship with T3 Action or with me. If you'd rather talk to someone else about the study, contact my faculty advisor.

Adam V. Low, researcherPhD student, University of Alaska Fairbanks · alow@alaska.edu
Dr. Daisy Huang, faculty advisorUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks · dhuang@alaska.edu