Building Capacity: Engaging Stem Transformative Experiences for Early Momentum

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

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 about how to achieve these aims. This project at Hartnell College will advance the aims of the HSI Program by creating transformative early experiences in STEM research that will help equip students to overcome obstacles to success in STEM programs. To this end, it will develop short research experiences that are structured in a workshop format. These experiences, called "Stepping Stones," will be designed to support broad student participation. It is predicted that the Stepping Stones research experiences will provide similar benefits as those that have been documented for longer research experiences. The project will directly affect the higher education experience of more than 1,000 community college students. Anticipated student outcomes include increased degree completion at Hartnell College and increased transfer to a baccalaureate STEM degree program. The project is a collaboration with Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Science Learning, a non-profit organization that aims to transform science education through research-driven innovation. Beyond its impact on developing and researching the Stepping Stone approach, this partnership has the potential to strengthen the research capacity at Hartnell College. This project seeks to enhance interest, persistence, confidence, preparation, and success of students in STEM. The Stepping Stone approach is designed to provide students with access to STEM research early in their college education. Each Stepping Stone uses a collaborative inquiry approach to engage groups of students in the investigation of an authentic STEM research project. Each Stepping Stone has a short duration and a flexible schedule, and enables students to apply design heuristics and to produce meaningful, visible products. The partnership with BSCS Science Learning will leverage experts and practitioners in the development of and research on evidence-based methods to broaden participation of STEM students. The project will investigate the impact of the Stepping Stones, including whether their systematic implementation within the STEM program improves student outcomes. The project will also analyze how collaborative faculty workshops influence the design of the Stepping Stones and how the design heuristics manifest in the Stepping Stones to improve student engagement and success. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected and analyzed to determine the impact of the project. This project seeks to develop a model that provides authentic research experiences for large numbers of undergraduate students. If successful, this model may be implemented at other colleges that have a diverse student body, and that seek to increase student engagement, persistence, confidence, retention, and success in STEM programs.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.