Arlington Undergraduate Research-based Achievement for STEM (AURAS)

理学院和工程学院正在合作，将这些学院的第一学期新生留校率提高15%，每年增加约100名STEM毕业生。阿灵顿大学基于研究的STEM本科生成就（AURAS）的目标是使用基于研究的方法和最佳实践来增加STEM专业学生的保留率，特别是女性和少数族裔。所采用的策略包括：(1)在数学（特别是预科和微积分I）和化学（工程师化学和普通化学）课程的高损失课程中实施公认的最佳实践新兴学者计划，以及(2)本科生研究机会（“真实体验”）将一年级和二年级的本科生与教师导师在实验室经验中配对。数学成绩/准备程度与学生在STEM领域的保留率之间的显著相关性已经确立，并且正在成为这些战略的目标。这些项目的影响正在评估中，特别是在微积分预科阶段使用新兴学者技术和在学生学术生涯的早期阶段使用真实经验。所提议的活动的智力价值在于，它基于当前对STEM专业学生流失原因的研究。之前对该机构STEM学生中这些因素的评估已经确定了该项目中使用的干预措施。在这所大学和其他地方，工程和科学专业的学生流失主要发生在头两年。如果成功地提高了这所大型公立城市大学的留校率，那么针对STEM学生的高损失入门科学和数学课程的密集集中学习计划，以及随后激励学生学习STEM的真实体验，可以应用于其他机构。评估计划将确定这些组成部分在提高留用率方面的有效性。这些组成部分如果成功，预计将在筹资期结束时实现自给自足。对微积分预科水平的新兴学者知识体系的贡献是该计划的另一个优点。这个项目的广泛影响是双重的。首先，提高留校率的主要目标人群是在阿灵顿、大草原、达拉斯和得克萨斯州沃斯堡等少数族裔占多数的学区高中毕业的一年级大学生；因此，预计在STEM领域代表性不足的群体中保留的人数会增加。这些毕业生应该有非常充分的准备，有重要的真实研究和工作经验，这将有助于他们的职业生涯或研究生教育。第二，这个项目的成果将在国家会议上以及在科学和教育文献中广泛传播，有助于形成可在其他地方采用的最佳做法。

The Colleges of Science and Engineering are collaborating to increase retention of incoming first-time first-semester freshmen in these colleges by 15%, to produce a total of about 100 additional STEM graduates per year. The goal of the Arlington Undergraduate Research-based Achievement for STEM (AURAS) is to use research-based approaches and best practices to increase the retention of STEM majors, particularly women and minorities. Strategies being used include (1) implementation of the recognized best-practice Emerging Scholars program in high-loss courses in math (specifically, Pre- and Calculus I) and chemistry (Chemistry for Engineers and General Chemistry) courses, and (2) undergraduate research opportunities ("authentic experiences") pairing first- and second-year undergraduates with faculty mentors in laboratory experiences. A significant correlation between mathematics performance/readiness and student retention in STEM fields has been established and is being targeted by these strategies. The impact of these programs is being evaluated, especially the use of Emerging Scholars techniques at the pre-Calculus level and the use of authentic experiences at this early stage of students' academic careers. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity is that it is grounded in current research on the causes of attrition among STEM majors. A previous assessment of those factors among STEM students at the institution has determined the interventions to be used in this project. Attrition among engineering and science majors at this institution and elsewhere occurs largely in the first two years. If successful in improving retention in this large public, urban university, the combination of an intensive focused-study program in high-loss introductory science and math courses for STEM students and subsequent authentic experiences motivating students for STEM study could be applied at other institutions. The evaluation plan will determine the effectiveness of these components in increasing retention. The components, if successful, are expected to become self-supporting by the end of the funding period. A contribution to the Emerging Scholars body of knowledge at the Precalculus level is another merit of this program.The broader impact of this project is twofold. First, the primary target population for increased retention is first-year college students that graduated from high school in the majority minority school districts of Arlington, Grand Prairie, Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX; thus the increased retention is expected to be in those groups that are under-represented in STEM fields. These graduates are expected to be exceptionally well prepared with significant authentic research and work experiences that will help in their careers or post-graduate education. Second, the results of this project will be disseminated widely at national conferences and in the scientific and educational literature, contributing to the body of best practices that can be adopted elsewhere.