HSI Conference: URBANO-INCREASING ACCESS AND SUCCESS IN URBAN STEM PROGRAMS

美国国家科学基金会（NSF）致同事的信NSF 17-092：改善西班牙裔服务机构（hsi）的本科STEM教育呼吁项目支持会议，这些会议将确定有关hsi本科科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）教育的最关键挑战和机遇，以及属于NSF使命，政策和实践的潜在可行解决方案。为了响应这一呼吁，该项目的主要研究者将研究城市hsi的STEM教育问题，重点关注城市西班牙裔学生的需求和情况，与郊区或农村机构的学生相比，他们可能面临一系列不同的问题。这些挑战包括：体验式学习的机会有限，尤其是研究经验；中学阶段的学术准备相对薄弱。此外，这些城市西班牙裔学生在社会经济地位较低的群体中所占比例过高。这种情况可能需要长途通勤到学校，并在校外工作，这两者都可能影响学生的成功和获得学位的前景。会议将讨论城市机构特有的问题，重点是使用技术和体验式学习方法来帮助STEM教育的保留和成功。会议报告将包括NSF设计HSI项目的建议，并将与高等教育企业广泛分享。纽约城市学院将召集来自大纽约/新泽西地区院校的学生、教师和管理人员，以及来自行业和政府的代表参加为期两天的会议。此外，将有来自全国其他地区的主要城市hsi的参与者。会议将围绕三个关键问题进行组织：哪些问题导致了西班牙裔学生的STEM差距，这是城市大学所特有的，而不是农村或郊区大学所特有的？技术和体验式学习的哪些方面可以用来解决这一差距？在这些解决方案集中，哪些类型的干预措施似乎可以解决城市大学环境中行业、学术界和学生提出的差距、需求和挑战？寻找这些问题的答案也将为探索与全国西班牙裔学生相关的问题打开大门，更广泛地说，还有其他在追求高等教育目标时面临重大挑战的代表性不足的学生群体。会议将强调与会者相互积极接触的机会。会议主题包括：1)学术界：进入准备阶段的差距，2)工业界：进入就业阶段的差距，以及3)学生：进入表现阶段的差距。其他主题包括在创客空间中使用社交媒体建立社区和体验式学习。还将举办海报会议，以最大限度地扩大与会者之间的交流机会。

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Dear Colleague Letter NSF 17-092: Improving Undergraduate STEM Education in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) calls for projects to support conferences that will identify the most critical challenges and opportunities regarding undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at HSIs, and potential actionable solutions that fall within NSF's mission, policies, and practices. In keeping with this call, the principal investigators of this project will study issues in STEM education at urban HSIs, focusing on the needs and circumstances of urban Hispanic students, who may face a different set of issues compared to students at suburban or rural institutions. These challenges include: limited opportunities for experiential learning, particularly research experiences; and relatively weak academic preparation at the secondary school level. Moreover, these urban Hispanic students are disproportionately represented in groups with lower socioeconomic status. Such circumstances may require commuting long distances to school and holding jobs outside of campus, both of which can impact student success and prospects for degree attainment. The conference will address questions unique to urban institutions, with an emphasis on the use of technology and experiential learning approaches to assist retention and success in STEM education. A conference report, including recommendations for designing an HSI program at NSF, will be produced and shared widely with the higher education enterprise. The City College of New York will convene students, faculty, and administrators from institutions in the greater New York/New Jersey area, along with representatives from industry and government for this two-day conference. In addition, there will be participants from leading urban-based HSIs drawn from other regions around the country. The conference will be organized around three key questions: What issues contribute to the Hispanic student STEM Gap that are particular to urban, as opposed to rural or suburban colleges? What are the aspects of technology and experiential learning that can be brought to bear on addressing this Gap? What types of interventions in these solution sets appear to address the Gap and the needs and challenges posed by industry, academia, and students in an urban college setting? Seeking answers to these questions will also open the door to exploring issues that are relevant to Hispanic students across the nation, and more broadly, to other groups of underrepresented students who face significant challenges in pursuing their higher education goals. The conference will emphasize opportunities for participants to engage with each other actively. Session themes include: 1) Academia: the Gap into Preparation, 2) Industry: the Gap into Employment, and 3) Students: the Gap into Performance. Additional themes include Using Social Media to Build Community and Experiential Learning in MakerSpaces. A poster session will also be conducted to maximize opportunities for networking among the conference attendees.