Field courses narrow demographic achievement gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology
Field courses narrow demographic achievement gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology
复制标题
DOI：
10.1002/ece3.6300
复制
发表时间：
2020-05-08
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Zavaleta, Erika S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Beltran, Roxanne S.;Marnocha, Erin;Zavaleta, Erika S.
被边缘化的学生在STEM中的代表性仍然不平等。基于课堂的体验式学习机会可以增加学生的信心和学业成功；然而，将学习扩展到户外环境的有效性尚不清楚。我们的目标是考察(A)参加和没有参加实地课程的学生在生态学和进化生物学(EEB)专业完成、大学毕业和GPA方面的人口统计差距；(B)参加实地课程的人数不足的人口群体是否不太可能参加实地课程；以及(C)参加实地课程后，代表人数不足的人口群体是否更有可能感觉到与科学相关的任务能力(以下称为自我效能)增加。我们比较了加州大学圣克鲁斯分校2008至2019年录取的本科生(N=941名学生)和没有参加实地课程的学生(N=28,215名学生)的学业成功衡量标准和人口统计数据(种族/族裔、社会经济地位、第一代和性别)之间的关系。此外，我们进行了纵向调查，以评估在基于现场的课程和基于课堂的课程(N=570名学生)中的自我效能感的获得。我们发现，在不同的人口统计群体中，未决定的、建议的EEB或建议的其他专业的学生在大学入学的比例没有差异。然而，五年后，代表人数不足的学生毕业时获得EEB学位的可能性大大降低，这表明留住学生而不是招聘导致了代表人数的差异。留校率差距的部分原因是大学毕业率较低，部分原因是其他专业的人员流失。尽管代表不足的学生不太可能参加实地课程，但实地课程与更高的自我效能感、更高的大学毕业率、更高的EEB专业保留率和毕业时更高的GPA相关。所有人口统计群体在实地课程而不是讲课课程中的自我效能感都有显著提高。总而言之，我们的研究结果表明，增加实地课程的数量，并积极促进接触来自代表性不足群体的学生，可以成为增加STEM多样性的有力工具。
Disparities remain in the representation of marginalized students in STEM. Classroom-based experiential learning opportunities can increase student confidence and academic success; however, the effectiveness of extending learning to outdoor settings is unknown. Our objectives were to examine (a) demographic gaps in ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) major completion, college graduation, and GPAs for students who did and did not enroll in field courses, (b) whether under-represented demographic groups were less likely to enroll in field courses, and (c) whether under-represented demographic groups were more likely to feel increased competency in science-related tasks (hereafter, self-efficacy) after participating in field courses. We compared the relationships among academic success measures and demographic data (race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, first-generation, and gender) for UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students admitted between 2008 and 2019 who participated in field courses (N = 941 students) and who did not (N = 28,215 students). Additionally, we administered longitudinal surveys to evaluate self-efficacy gains during field-based versus classroom-based courses (N = 570 students). We found no differences in the proportion of students matriculating at the university as undecided, proposed EEB, or proposed other majors across demographic groups. However, five years later, under-represented students were significantly less likely to graduate with EEB degrees, indicating retention rather than recruitment drives disparities in representation. This retention gap is partly due to a lower rate of college completion and partly through attrition to other majors. Although under-represented students were less likely to enroll in field courses, field courses were associated with higher self-efficacy gains, higher college graduation rates, higher EEB major retention, and higher GPAs at graduation. All demographic groups experienced significant increases in self-efficacy during field-based but not lecture-based courses. Together, our findings suggest that increasing the number of field courses and actively facilitating access to students from under-represented groups can be a powerful tool for increasing STEM diversity.