Enriching the First-Year Experience for Students at an Urban Hispanic-Serving Institution Through Peer Mentoring and Active Inquiry: A Track 1 Project

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is developing new strategies to recruit more underrepresented (largely Hispanic) students to undergraduate Earth Sciences programs by capitalizing on a required First-Year Experience (FYE) curriculum. NEIU is an urban, commuter, comprehensive university located in a residential neighborhood on Chicago's north side that provides education for a large community of minorities underrepresented in the STEM fields. This project is testing a model program to attract students to the geosciences by providing them with a high-quality, invigorating educational experience in their first year that teaches geologic principles and helps them personally connect to the university, the science, and people in the field. Project activities are designed to address the affective domain, which influences students' major and career choices. Students are being exposed to the social relevance of the geosciences through investigation of water pollution, lead in urban soils, and flooding in their neighborhoods, as well as the many other ways that geology influences their daily lives. It is expected that, as students engage with geologic principles through exciting hands-on learning experiences, they will begin to realize the power of geology to make a better life for themselves, their communities, and the world. Student connections to the university, which are oftentimes difficult to achieve for a commuter school, are being encouraged through the use of Peer Mentors who act as academic role models and coaches. Interactions with Earth Science majors and professional geoscientists are being used to encourage their interests in completing an Earth Science degree.