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连接学习社区模式对本科生保留率、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，将学生的研究经历与同伴对同伴和教师的指导结合起来，提供了一个吸引人的、支持性的互动学习环境，以影响学生的学习成果。该模型包含了几个因素：具有相似社会文化背景的同龄人的影响，学术导师对培养有效学习技能的影响，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基于证据的干预措施，对STEM劳动力中代表性不足的少数族裔的途径产生积极影响，这种干预措施可以适用于包括社区大学在内的类似机构。研究人员将实施混合方法设计，以调查连接的学习社区是否会影响代表性不足的少数族裔STEM学生的学习成绩、保留率和自我效能感。采用多元回归模型对年龄、社会经济地位、性别、家庭教育历史、婚姻状况等协变量对学业成功、留任和自我效能感的影响进行定量分析。定性数据将被收集和分析的原因，以支持在研究中观察到的定量效应。项目前和项目后访谈将用于评估学生对其学术经历的满意度，学习社区成员的感知利益，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STEM教育提供一个新的范例。本项目由历史上的黑人学院和大学本科项目（HBCU-UP）扩大参与教育研究项目支持。该项目支持创建和研究STEM教学和学习的新模式和创新的想法，调查影响代表性不足群体学生的差异参与和成功率的潜在问题，并为STEM教育实践和干预提供知识。

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.