Building Capacity: The Dominican University STEM Success Model to Support Students through Critical Transitions

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The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. This project will advance the aims of the HSI Program by implementing teaching and student support practices that can increase the success of undergraduates in early STEM courses. Research has shown that such early success can be crucial to student retention and long-term success in STEM fields, an issue of national interest. To promote success in introductory STEM college courses and support the transition from lower-division to upper-division coursework, the project will: (1) implement a STEM Summer Bridge program to prepare entering students for success in college-level STEM courses; and (2) transform first and second-year courses in biology, chemistry, and mathematics to promote engaged student learning and to enable diverse students to succeed in STEM fields. This project aims to enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education and to increase retention and graduation rates of undergraduate students pursuing STEM degrees. Each intervention will include three components: (1) peer-led team-learning approaches and course-embedded tutors to improve academic performance; (2) inclusive pedagogy to improve student course engagement and student-faculty relationships; and (3) supplementary support through a Student Success Case Manager who will connect students to university and community resources related to financial, social, or emotional challenges, and who will facilitate their academic success. Project activities are designed to provide first-generation and nontraditional college students with the academic, psychosocial, and community supports needed to succeed in STEM. To generate knowledge, the project will investigate the extent to which the summer bridge program, peer-led team-learning, inclusive pedagogy, and case management improve academic performance and persistence in the first year, and evaluate the impact on student relationships, sense of community, and the effectiveness of academic supports for at-risk students. The student body at Dominican University is 74% commuter, 51% Hispanic, 50% first generation to attend college, and 49% low income. This diversity is representative of nationwide demographic trends in higher education. Thus, evidence generated about the effectiveness of this project can have broad applicability for other colleges and universities.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.