Pathways to Indigenous STEM (Ma:cidag wo:g STEM Wui)

部落学院和大学计划（TCUP）的一个目标是提高为全国土著学生服务的特定高等教育机构的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教学和研究能力。Tohono O'odham社区学院（TOCC）的“Pathways to Indigenous STEM （Ma:cidag wo:g STEM Wui）”项目通过增加STEM课程的数量和多样化交付模式，以及加强对学生的学术支持，直接实现了这些目标。扩大STEM课程设置和改善学术环境，以更好地满足本土学生的需求，鼓励学生追求具有挑战性和回报的STEM学位和职业，从而使国家的劳动力多样化，为国家的繁荣和安全做出贡献。从研究该项目的有效性中获得的知识将有助于我们了解招聘和留住STEM中代表性不足的学生的最佳实践，并为下一代STEM专业人员做好准备。在TOCC开发的“迷宫中的人教育模式”（MiME）将作为一个基于文化的课程开发和项目评估框架，并将为TOCC的STEM课程和项目的本土化提供一个有意和系统的方法。该项目将通过以下四个目标来实现这些目标：(1)应用文化响应教育模式，以文化响应的方式整合STEM学科；(2)增加物理科学和在线STEM课程的课程设置；(3)通过让学生参与实习和研究经验来促进学生的专业准备；(4)增加对学生从高中转到TOCC和TOCC转到其他大学的支持。该项目将对STEM教学改进进行评估和设计，将在当前一代Tohono O'odham学生的背景下纳入自决和基于文化的教育元素。项目计划包括独特和创新的教学策略，与Tohono O'odham文化兼容，目标是让学生利用21世纪的知识和传统知识来面对当前和未来的挑战。结合基于MiME模型的土著教育模型，对理解如何实施和评估基于文化的教育有重大贡献。尽管MiME模型在文化上是TOCC特有的，但该模型将STEM整合到传统文化知识库中的概念可以适用于部落学院、大学和其他少数民族服务机构。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the nation's Indigenous students. The "Pathways to Indigenous STEM (Ma:cidag wo:g STEM Wui)" project at Tohono O'odham Community College (TOCC) directly addresses these goals by increasing the number and diversifying the delivery mode of STEM courses and strengthening the academic support for students. Expanding the STEM curricular offerings and improving the academic environment to better meet the needs of Native students encourages students to pursue challenging and rewarding STEM degrees and careers, thus diversifying the nation's workforce and contributing to our country's prosperity and security. The knowledge gained from studying the efficacy of the project will contribute to our understanding of best practices for recruiting and retaining underrepresented students in STEM and preparing the next generation of STEM professionals.The "Man in the Maze Education Model" (MiME) developed at TOCC will serve as a culturally-based framework for curriculum development and program assessment and will provide an intentional and systematic approach to Indigenizing TOCC's STEM curriculum and programs. The project will realize these goals by focusing on four objectives: (1) Application of a culturally responsive education model that integrates STEM disciplines in a culturally-responsive manner, (2) increasing the number of curricular offerings in the Physical Sciences and online STEM courses, (3) promotion of the professional preparedness of students by engaging them in internships and research experiences, and (4) increased support for transitioning students from high school to TOCC and TOCC to other colleges. This project will result in an assessment and design for STEM instructional improvement that will incorporate elements of self-determination and culturally-based education within the context of the current generation of Tohono O'odham students. The project plan includes unique and innovative instructional strategies that are compatible with the Tohono O'odham culture with a goal of preparing students to face current and future challenges using both 21st-century knowledge and traditional knowledge. Incorporating an Indigenous education model based on the MiME Model represents a significant contribution toward understanding how to implement and assess culturally-based education. Although the MiME Model is culturally specific to TOCC, the model's concepts for integrating STEM into a traditional cultural knowledge base can be adapted for application at tribal colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.