Identifying the Critical Factors and Mindset Characteristics in College STEM Student Development

识别大学 STEM 学生发展的关键因素和心态特征

• 批准号: 1726889
• 负责人: Naga Rama Kothapalli
• 金额: $ 58.6万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-15 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1726889&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Identifying; Critical; Factors; Mindset; Characteristics

A national priority is the production of a highly trained and educated workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To support this national need, it is critical to understand the elements that affect student persistence in STEM fields. The success of undergraduate students in STEM disciplines depends on many factors, including participating in research, being effectively mentored, networking with fellow students, and developing a view of themselves as a scientist or STEM professional. This project will follow students through a four-year research engagement program, termed FYRE, at the University of Oklahoma. The project will develop tools, including surveys and interview questions, that will track student participation and engagement in STEM. By using these tools, the project leaders hope to identify characteristics that are shared by successful students. In particular, the project will focus on students from diverse backgrounds, as they are often underrepresented in STEM fields. The project will also examine learning mindsets in students, which are beliefs that students have about their learning and intelligence. Project leaders will look for correlations between having a growth mindset, or an understanding that effort can lead to achievement, and success in STEM. Understanding what makes a successful STEM student can help increase the number of STEM professionals graduating from American colleges and universities, which addresses an issue of national importance.The goal of this research project is to study a large and diverse population of undergraduate STEM students across a variety of disciplines, to identify universally important characteristics in STEM development. The FYRE program will examine a highly motivated, diverse, and inclusive STEM student cohort to accomplish this goal. The objective of this proposal is to comprehensively and longitudinally study, assess, and identify the factors critical for the STEM development of FYRE students throughout their college careers and beyond their graduation. This study will address questions pertaining to the role and malleability of learning mindsets in cultivating successful college STEM graduates. The program will specifically assess the role of learning mindset (i.e. growth-learning mindset versus fixed-learning mindset), self-efficacy, and imposter phenomenon in college STEM development. These psychological constructs will be assessed and tracked at all stages of the four years of undergraduate program. The proposed research will: 1) establish how changeable learning mindsets are in college students; 2) how effective research experiences are in developing growth mindsets in students; and 3) how important growth mindsets are in students becoming STEM professionals. The expected research outcomes are to identify the factors critical for successful STEM development at the college level, illustrate the STEM student experience across domains, and develop an internally consistent instrument for investigating STEM student experiences to be used in future FYRE implementations at other institutions of higher education. These are important contributions in improving undergraduate STEM education as they would allow for the development of more effective and successful STEM curricula and programming. The lack of STEM professionals has been identified as a major concern for the United States, both now but especially in the future. The outcomes of this proposal will contribute to graduating more highly skilled STEM professionals capable of having a positive societal impact through scientific advancement and innovation for the nation and its people.

国家优先事项是培养一支训练有素、受过良好教育的科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)劳动力队伍。要支持这一国家需求，关键是要了解影响学生在STEM领域坚持不懈的因素。本科生在STEM学科的成功取决于许多因素，包括参与研究、得到有效的指导、与同学建立网络以及培养自己作为科学家或STEM专业人员的观点。该项目将在俄克拉荷马大学跟踪学生完成一个名为Fyre的为期四年的研究项目。该项目将开发工具，包括调查和面试问题，将跟踪学生对STEM的参与和参与。通过使用这些工具，项目负责人希望确定成功学生所共有的特征。特别是，该项目将侧重于来自不同背景的学生，因为他们在STEM领域的代表性往往不足。该项目还将调查学生的学习心态，即学生对自己的学习和智力的信念。项目负责人将寻找拥有成长心态或理解努力可以带来成就与STEM成功之间的相关性。了解是什么造就了一名成功的STEM学生，有助于增加从美国高校毕业的STEM专业人员的数量，这涉及到一个全国性的重要问题。该研究项目的目标是研究不同学科的大量不同的本科生STEM学生，以确定STEM发展中普遍存在的重要特征。Fyre计划将考察一个高度积极、多样化和包容性的STEM学生群体，以实现这一目标。这项建议的目标是全面和纵向地研究、评估和确定对Fyre学生在整个大学生涯和毕业后的STEM发展至关重要的因素。这项研究将解决与学习心态在培养成功的大学STEM毕业生中的作用和可塑性有关的问题。该计划将具体评估学习心态(即成长学习心态与固定学习心态)、自我效能感和冒名顶替者现象在大学STEM发展中的作用。这些心理结构将在四年本科课程的所有阶段进行评估和跟踪。这项拟议的研究将：1)确定大学生的学习心态有多多变；2)研究经历对培养学生的成长心态有多有效；3)成长心态对学生成为STEM专业人员有多重要。预期的研究成果是确定STEM在大学层面成功发展的关键因素，说明STEM学生在不同领域的经历，并开发一种内部一致的工具来调查STEM学生的经历，供未来在其他高等教育机构实施Fyre时使用。这些都是改善本科生STEM教育的重要贡献，因为它们将有助于制定更有效和更成功的STEM课程和方案。STEM专业人员的缺乏已被认为是美国现在尤其是未来的一个主要担忧。这项提议的结果将有助于培养更多具有高技能的STEM专业人员，他们能够通过科学进步和创新为国家和人民带来积极的社会影响。

项目成果

Positioning Humanity before Progress: Students’ and Mentors’ Perceptions of the COVID-19 Impact on Undergraduate Research

将人性置于进步之上：学生和导师对 COVID-19 对本科生研究影响的看法

• DOI: 10.18833/spur/5/1/10
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research
• 作者: Savic´, Miloš;Kothapalli, Naga Rama;Lanier, Hayley C.;Freeman, Erin K.;Ratliff, Lisa;Hillermann, Emma;Martin, Courtney
• 通讯作者: Martin, Courtney