Examining the Impact of a Learning Community Model and Critical Pedagogy on Minority Student Retention in STEM

本尼迪克特学院将研究互联学习社区模式对本科生留校率、学业成功和自我效能的影响。该模式以班杜拉的社会认知理论为基础，以学生的研究经验为特色，结合点对点和教师指导，提供了一个引人入胜和支持性的互动学习环境，以影响学生的结果。该模式包含了几个因素：具有相似社会文化背景的同龄人的影响，学术导师在培养有效学习技能方面的影响，获得负责任的职业道德的影响，以及更好地理解STEM教育的好处的影响。该项目预计将通过产生一种可适用于包括社区大学在内的类似机构的循证干预措施，对STEM劳动力中代表不足的少数族裔的路径产生积极影响。研究人员将实施一项混合方法设计，以调查互联学习社区是否影响代表不足的少数族裔STEM学生的学习成绩、保持能力和自我效能。多元回归模型将被用来解释学业成功、保持和自我效能感与年龄、社会经济地位、性别、家庭教育历史和婚姻状况等协变量之间的差异。将收集和分析定性数据，以寻找致病因素，以支持在研究期间观察到的定量影响。项目前和项目后的访谈将用于评估学生对其学术经历的满意度、对学习社区成员身份的感知好处、对STEM职业的兴趣以及坚持STEM的承诺。这项研究可能会为针对代表性不足的学生的本科生STEM教育提供一种新的范式。该项目得到了历史黑人学院和大学本科生计划(HBCU-UP)的支持，该计划扩大了教育领域的参与研究。该项目支持在STEM教学和学习中创建和研究新模式和创新的想法，调查影响来自代表性不足群体的学生的差异参与和成功率的根本问题，并产生知识，为STEM教育实践和干预提供信息。

Benedict College will examine the impact of a Connected Learning Community Model on undergraduate student retention, academic success, and self-efficacy. The model, based on Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, features student research experiences coupled with peer-to-peer and faculty mentoring and provides an engaging and supportive interactive learning environment to influence student outcomes. The model incorporates several factors: the influence of peers with similar sociocultural backgrounds, the influence of an academic mentor in fostering effective study skills, the influence of acquiring a responsible work ethic, and the influence of a better understanding of the benefits of STEM education. The project is expected to positively impact the pathway of underrepresented minorities in the STEM workforce by producing an evidence-based intervention that could be adapted for similar institutions, including community colleges.The researchers will implement a mixed-methods design to investigate whether a connected learning community impacts the academic performance, retention, and self-efficacy of underrepresented minority STEM students. Multiple regression models will be used to explain the variation of academic success, retention, and self-efficacy with covariates such as age, socioeconomic status, gender, family education history, and marital status using the quantitative data. Qualitative data will be collected and analyzed for causative factors to support the quantitative effects observed during the study. Pre- and post-project interviews will be used to assess students' satisfaction with their academic experience, perceived benefit of membership in the learning community, interest in STEM careers, and commitment to persist in STEM. The study can potentially produce a novel paradigm for undergraduate STEM education targeting underrepresented students. This project is supported by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) Broadening Participation Research in Education track. This program track supports ideas to create and study new models and innovations in STEM teaching and learning, investigate the underlying issues affecting the differential participation and success rates of students from underrepresented groups, and produce knowledge to inform STEM education practices and interventions.