EAGER: Student Support in STEM: Developing and validating a tool to assess the magnitude of college-level support provided to undergraduate students

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Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University propose to conduct exploratory research through the EHR Core Research (ECR) program to further develop and validate a survey instrument that can be used by college administrators and student-support practitioners to assess the magnitude of institutional support received by undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). An instrument to do this work does not currently exist. Such an instrument is important because it will facilitate college administrators monitoring progress in this area. It will also lead to the identification of opportunities with regard to making local STEM learning environments more supportive from the perspectives of undergraduate students in general. The research team will survey students at three institutions to assess their local environments, provide data-driven evidence for interventions tailored to the unmet needs of the target population, and monitor progress relative to effectively supporting students.Student-retention theories traditionally focus on institutional retention, even though efforts to support STEM students occur at the college level. The proposed study will bridge this gap between research and practice by extending and empirically testing the Model of Co-curricular Support (MCCS), which specifically focuses on supporting and retaining underrepresented groups in STEM. The project will extend a prior student-retention theory to provide evidence that STEM researchers, educators, administrators, and policy makers need for informed decisions to improve STEM learning environments and design effective programs, activities, and services. The project will enable institutions to gauge the effectiveness of their institutional support for undergraduate STEM students, including those from under-served populations. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, extensive, and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.