A Comprehensive Model for Improving the Success of STEM Majors through the STEM Center

2012年，美国总统科技顾问理事会（PCAST）发布的“Engage to Excel”报告宣布，未来十年，美国需要在STEM领域增加100万名大学毕业生。全国STEM专业40%的留存率是满足这一需求的主要障碍。该项目的目标是通过调整和结合三种行之有效的方法来增加STEM毕业生的数量和质量。第一，针对学生谁打算追求STEM专业在他们的大学生涯的开始，将通过创建参与者之间的社区为学生在STEM课程的成功做好准备;发展必要的阅读，记笔记和时间管理技能;加强数学的基本概念;并帮助学生了解他们的个人有效学习的方法。第二种方法将扩大在STEM学科中使用有效的循证教学方法。第三种方法是让学生在大学生涯的早期就参与到一门课程的研究中来。该项目的组成部分将形成一个全面的模式，以提高STEM毕业生的质量和数量，可以在许多机构复制和维持。萨姆休斯顿州立大学的STEM中心将整合和改进经过测试的干预措施，以留住STEM学生。使用查尔斯·A·Dana中心在得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校，该项目团队将创建一个沉浸式的夏季体验进入STEM专业，“框架和基础”，专注于特定领域的技能框架，为大学的成功和STEM内容在数学，化学和工程技术的基础。STEM中心将扩大基于探究的学习（IBL）实践和面向过程的指导探究学习（POGIL）方法在STEM学科和学位课程中的使用。为了让学生参与科学实践，该项目将在STEM课程中嵌入基于课程的本科生研究体验（CURE）。这门新的以研究为重点的课程，学生将在完成第一年的STEM课程后立即参加，这将使他们迅速做好准备，对每个学生沿着与确定的教师导师一起开发的原创主题进行有意义的科学研究。本课程将特别针对转学生和那些传统上在科学领域代表性不足的群体。虽然该项目将利用经证明的做法，但其创新主要在于其综合办法。项目评价将增加关于干预措施有效性的知识，特别是关于将干预措施纳入这一模式的知识。评估的内容将包括保留措施，课程完成和毕业;比较学生参加IBL和POGIL课程在批判性思维能力，论证能力，学业成绩等方面的收益;比较学生在不同学科的表现，以确定技能的可转移性;比较修毕“框架”和“基础”课程的学生与未修毕课程的学生的学习成果;以及调查学生在经修改的学习环境中的表现，以研究他们在教与学策略方面的差异。

In 2012, the "Engage to Excel" report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) declared a national need for an additional one million college graduates in STEM fields over the next decade. The 40% retention rate among STEM majors nationally presents a major hurdle to meeting this need. The goal of this project is to increase the number and quality of STEM graduates by adapting and combining three proven approaches. The first, aimed at students who intend to pursue STEM majors at the outset of their college careers, will prepare students for success in STEM coursework by creating community among participants; developing necessary reading, note-taking, and time-management skills; reinforcing fundamental concepts in mathematics; and helping students understand their individual approaches to effective learning. The second approach will expand the use of effective, evidence-based teaching methods across STEM disciplines. The third approach will engage students in research in a course early in their college careers. The project's components will form a comprehensive model for increasing the quality and quantity of STEM graduates that can be replicated and sustained across many institutions.The STEM Center at Sam Houston State University will integrate and improve upon tested interventions for retaining students in STEM. Using methods and materials developed by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the project team will create an immersive summer experience for entering STEM majors, "Frameworks and Foundations," to focus on frameworks of field-specific skills for collegiate success and foundations of STEM content in mathematics, chemistry, and engineering technology. The STEM Center will broaden the use of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) practices and Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) methods across STEM disciplines and degree programs. To specifically engage students in scientific practice, the project will embed a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in the STEM curriculum. This new research-focused course, which students will take as soon as they complete their first-year STEM coursework, will quickly prepare them to conduct meaningful scientific research on an original topic developed by each student along with an identified faculty mentor. This course will particularly target transfer students and those from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences. Although the project will utilize proven practices, its innovation mainly lies in its comprehensive approach. The project evaluation will add to the body of knowledge about the effectiveness of the interventions and, especially, their integration in this model. Elements of the evaluation will include measures of retention, course completion, and graduation; comparison of students taking IBL and POGIL courses with respect to gains in critical thinking skills, argumentation skills, academic performance, etc.; comparison of students' performance across disciplines to identify transferability of skills; comparison of learning outcomes of students who complete the "Frameworks" and "Foundations" courses with learning outcomes of students who do not; and surveys of students in the modified learning environments to examine perceived differences in teaching and learning strategies.