Transitioning Learners to Calculus in Community Colleges (TLC3): Advancing Strategies for Success in STEM

改善社区学院数学课程的学生成绩对于满足国家对STEM(科学、技术、工程和数学)大学毕业生的需求非常重要。该项目名为“社区大学学生向微积分过渡”(TLC3)，将汇集一个由高等教育研究人员、数学家和数学教育工作者组成的团队，以改变体制方法，以确定和补救阻碍学生在社区大学学习和通过微积分II的障碍。TLC3的重大影响将涉及支持旨在提高历史上不应得的学生，特别是代表不足的少数族裔(URM)学生的成功的教学改进，从而最终促进国家STEM劳动力的多样性。TLC3的更广泛的目标是建立和测试理论模型，根据成功项目中的项目、结构和教学策略，预测STEM URM学生在从微积分到微积分预科II(DPC2)的发展序列中的成功。该项目采用了混合方法，包括对948所社区大学的普查调查，以及侧重于少数族裔服务机构的案例研究。这些模型将为变革工具(即院校自我评估)的发展提供信息，以审查机构准备情况，以促进URM学生在DPC2序列中取得成功。从TLC3联网社区中挑选的五家机构(至少有50家机构)将测试这些模型和自我评估工具。院校自我评估工具将帮助确定一种专业发展方法，各部门和机构可以用来弥补阻碍学生在DPC2序列中取得成功的障碍。该项目得到了美国国家科学基金会改善本科生STEM教育计划(IUSE)和EHR核心研究(ECR)计划的支持。ECR计划强调基础STEM教育研究，以产生该领域的基础知识。

Improving student outcomes in mathematics courses in community colleges is important in meeting the nation's demand for college graduates in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Entitled "Transitioning Learners to Calculus in Community Colleges" (TLC3), the project will gather a team of higher education researchers, mathematicians, and mathematics educators to transform institutional approaches to identifying and remedying barriers that impede student progress to and through Calculus II in community colleges. A significant impact of TLC3 will involve supporting instructional improvements aimed at increasing the success of historically undeserved students, particularly underrepresented racial minority (URM) students, thus contributing ultimately to the diversity of the nation's STEM workforce. The broader goal of TLC3 is to build and test theoretical models that predict STEM URM student success in the Developmental to Pre-calculus to Calculus II (DPC2) sequence, based on programs, structures, and instructional strategies in successful programs. The project uses a mixed-methods approach, including a census survey of 948 community colleges and case studies focused on minority-serving institutions. The models will inform the development of a change tool (i.e., the institutional self-assessment), that examines institutional readiness to facilitate successful outcomes for URM students in the DPC2 sequence. Five institutions selected from a TLC3 networked community (with a minimum of 50 institutions) will test the models and self-assessment tool. The institutional self-assessment tool will help identify a professional development approach that departments and institutions can use to remedy barriers that inhibit student success in the DPC2 sequence. This project is supported by NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program (IUSE) and the EHR Core Research (ECR) Program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field.