NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Expanding the First2 STEM Success Network

在科学、技术、工程和数学领域培养和保持一支多元化、创新的劳动力队伍(简称STEM)对美国在世界上的竞争力至关重要，但全国调查显示，美国目前和未来都缺乏高素质的STEM专业人员。造成这一短缺的一个问题是，在所有申报STEM专业的大学生中，超过一半的人在大专教育的头两年辍学或更换专业。这个问题对第一代大学生来说尤为严重。如果我们能将STEM学位的毕业率提高25%，我们将占到未来10年所需额外劳动力的75%。该项目汇集了西弗吉尼亚州的本科生、K-12教育工作者、大学教职员工和政策制定者，组成了第一个STEM成功联盟。该联盟旨在提高STEM本科生的大学入学率和成就率，重点是农村第一代(FG)学生通过大学的头两年。我们共同的愿景是提高学生STEM成功的核心是假设学生本身应该是解决方案的共同创造者。First2联盟将在网络改进社区(NIC)、研究实习、同行指导活动和第一个大使计划中吸引350多名FG本科生。作为首任大使，学生被引导探索家庭生活和STEM学习之间的脱节，并向家乡的学生和K-12利益相关者、他们的大学机构和州立法者进行外联，以阐明脱节并建议政策/实践变化，以更好地支持农村第一代STEM学生的成功。我们的变革战略是实施网络改进社区(NIC)的成熟方法，以研究、改进和复制影响STEM持久性的有前途的计划。具体地说，First 2改进团队将：1)改善准备和过渡到大学；2)用3)将农村家庭文化和大学STEM文化联系起来，取代扼杀STEM自我效能发展的根深蒂固的制度做法。作为一个农村州，西弗吉尼亚州在网络、联盟和长期合作的发展方面落后。First2学生成功联盟将执行一项全面的计划，以建设长期联盟的组织能力，其中包括一个永久的枢纽组织，在这样做的过程中，我们将学习如何有效地协作，并将所学到的知识记录下来。可以推广First2联盟模式，以帮助其他农村州发展自己的STEM劳动力队伍。最后，First2联盟将促进我们对提高STEM第一代学生成功的障碍和解决方案的了解。有许多研究探讨了总体上与中学后留存相关的因素，以及具体与STEM流失相关的因素，但很少有针对农村学生的研究。First2联盟将进行一项严格的教育研究研究，旨在促进对影响农村学生进入STEM职业道路和坚持STEM职业道路的因素的了解。从改进科学和研究的角度来看，我们假设我们的工作将适用于提高所有第一代STEM学生的持久性，而不仅仅是农村学生。这个NSF包括联盟是由NSF建立的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助的。EPSCoR通过加强STEM能力和能力来提高目标司法管辖区(州、地区、联邦)的研究竞争力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Developing and maintaining a diverse, innovative workforce in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (known as STEM) is critical to American competitiveness in the world, but national surveys report a current and future shortage of highly qualified STEM professionals in the US. One problem creating this shortage is that more than half of all college students who declare a major in STEM fields drop out or change their majors in the first two years of their post-secondary education. This problem is particularly acute for first generation college students. If we could increase the STEM degree completion rate by just 25%, we would make up 75% of the additional workforce needed over the next decade. This project assembles undergraduate students, K-12 educators, college faculty and policy makers in West Virginia to form the First2 STEM Success Alliance. The Alliance aims to improve the college enrollment rate and success of undergraduate STEM students, with emphasis on rural first generation (FG) students through their first 2 years of college. At the core of our shared vision to improve student STEM success is the assumption that the students themselves should be co-creators of the solutions. The First2 Alliance will engage over 350 undergraduate FG students in the Networked Improvement Communities (NICs), research internships, peer-mentoring activities, and the FIRST Ambassador Program. As FIRST Ambassadors, students are guided to explore the disconnect between home life and STEM study, and conduct outreach to hometown students and K-12 stakeholders, their collegiate institutions, and their state legislators to illuminate the disconnect and suggest policy/practice changes to better support rural first generation STEM student success. Our change strategy is to implement the proven methodologies of Networked Improvement Communities (NICs) to study, improve and replicate promising programs that impact STEM persistence. Specifically, First2 Improvement teams will: 1) improve preparation for and transition to college; 2) replace ingrained institutional practices that stifle the development of STEM self-efficacy with 3) connect rural home culture and college STEM culture. As a rural state, West Virginia lags behind in the development of networks, alliances and long-term collaborations. The First2 Student Success Alliance will execute a comprehensive plan to build organizational capacity for a long-term Alliance, which includes a permanent hub organization and in so doing we will learn how to collaborate effectively and will document what we learn. The First2 Alliance model can be disseminated to assist other rural states in developing their own STEM-capable workforce. Finally, the First2 Alliance will advance our knowledge of barriers to and solutions that increase the success of first generation students in STEM. There are many studies that inquire into the factors that correlate with post-secondary retention in general, and with STEM attrition specifically but few that focus on rural students. The First2 Alliance will conduct a rigorous educational research study aimed at advancing understanding of the factors affecting rural students' entry into and persistence in STEM career pathways. From an improvement science and research perspective, we hypothesize that our work will apply to improving the persistence of all first generation STEM students, not just rural students.This NSF INCLUDES Alliance is co-funded by the NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). EPSCoR enhances research competitiveness of targeted jurisdictions (states, territories, commonwealth) by strengthening STEM capacity and capability.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.