Connection, Community, and Engagement in STEM Education (Large Empirical, Contextual Research Topics in STEM Education)

本研究项目的目标是推进知识的学生和教师的连接到社区的学术参与的因素的看法。这项研究的三个阶段将把基础研究成果转化为应用战略，以改善高等教育STEM环境中的参与。第一阶段是工具开发阶段，将为评估目标结构（参与、参与、影响、认知等）提供有效的工具箱。将开发三种数据收集工具：学生调查，学生焦点小组协议和教师访谈协议。第二阶段的重点是解决以下研究问题：什么样的连接到社区的学术参与的显着差异作出贡献？制度特征如何塑造课堂体验以增加社区？调查将对学生和焦点小组进行，并与五所不同的中学后教育机构的学生进行访谈。数据将在机构内和机构间进行分析，以衡量高等教育机构特征对学生情感，感知，认知，归属感，参与和参与的影响。最后，第三阶段强调将成果应用于制定战略，通过这些战略，各参与机构成功的社区建设特点可以转移到其他地方。在所有阶段，研究小组为拟议的研究带来了广泛多样的专业知识和机构结构。五种不同类型的机构代表在这方面的努力：研究1（华盛顿大学），综合（明尼苏达州），硕士L（西蒙斯学院），私人，信仰为基础的（西雅图太平洋），和HBCU（塔斯基吉）。这些机构中的每一个都有独特的本科教育的历史优势;这项研究将通过调解参与和随后预测学生学习来提高对这些优势如何影响与社区联系的理解。

The goal of this research project is to advance knowledge about student and faculty perceptions of connection to community as factors in academic engagement. The three phases of this research will mold basic research results into applied strategies for improvements in engagement in higher education STEM environments. The first phase is a tool development phase which will provide a valid tool box for evaluating target constructs (engagement, participation, affect, cognition, etc.). Three data collection tools will be developed: student surveys, student focus group protocols, and faculty interview protocols. The second phase focuses on addressing the following research question: What connections to community are contributing to significant differences in academic engagement? and How do institutional characteristics mold the classroom experience toward increased community? Surveys will be administered to students and focus group and interviews conducted with students at five different post-secondary institutions. Data will be analyzed within and across institutions to gauge the effects of higher education institutional characteristics on student affect, perception, cognition, sense of belonging, engagement, and participation. Finally, the third phase emphasizes applying results to develop strategies by which successful community-building characteristics of the various participating institutions can be transferred elsewhere. In all phases, the research team brings a broad range of diversity of expertise and institutional fabric to the proposed study. Five different types of institutions are represented in this effort: Research 1 (University of Washington), Comprehensive (Minnesota State), Master's L (Simmons College), Private, Faith-Based (Seattle Pacific), and HBCU (Tuskegee). Each of these institutions has unique historical strengths for undergraduate education; this research will improve understanding of how these strengths impact connections to community via mediating engagement and subsequently predicting student learning.