Getting Through the Gateway: Can Corequisite Algebra Improve STEM Progress and Degree Attainment at Community and Technical Colleges?

通过门户：必备代数能否提高社区和技术学院的 STEM 进展和学位获得率？

• 批准号: 1856720
• 负责人: Lauren Schudde
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-10-01 至 2023-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1856720&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Getting; Through; Gateway; Corequisite; Algebra

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by broadening participation and institutional capacity for STEM learning at community and technical colleges. According to mathematics placement tests, the majority of beginning students arrive at public two-year colleges under-prepared for college-level mathematics. College-level mathematics is an essential milestone for entering STEM fields and, unfortunately, many students never complete their first college-level math course. The traditional pathway for students who are not ready for college-level math is a sequence of developmental math courses that students must complete before taking college-level math (e.g., Algebra); the developmental courses do not usually receive credit towards a college degree. Corequisite algebra pairs credit-bearing college algebra with a developmental-education support course, with the potential to allow students to more quickly pass their first college-level mathematics course in the STEM sequence. Using Texas state administrative data, this project will examine whether taking corequisite algebra, as opposed to the traditional developmental math sequence, influences the STEM pipeline at community and technical colleges. The goals of the study are to: 1) Estimate the extent to which students who enroll in corequisite math courses are more likely to complete STEM courses and to obtain a certificate or degree than students in traditional developmental education programs; 2) Test which corequisite models offer the largest and smallest improvement in student outcomes, using measures of course design; 3) Examine whether students from various backgrounds (race, gender, socioeconomic status) benefit more or less from corequisite mathematics and illuminate the processes that students follow after success and failure in their corequisite course.To examine the effects of corequisite algebra course enrollment on students' educational outcomes in STEM fields, this project will apply quantitative research methods to Texas state administrative data and course-level information from corequisite courses. The PI will use two complementary methods that strengthen the possibility of making causal inferences about the impact of corequisite algebra on various STEM milestones: regression discontinuity design and difference-in-differences. To adjust for pre-treatment characteristics, the project will use placement cutoff scores and variation in course offerings across colleges to support a rigorous research design. The study will examine the varied effects of corequisite algebra across race, gender, and family income, and study which corequisite models are most effective and for which students. Community colleges and technical colleges educate the majorities of Black, Hispanic, and low-income students in the American higher education system. The study will offer evidence about how corequisite algebra courses impact key outcomes in STEM pathways (Goal 1), which corequisite models are most and least effective and for which students (Goal 2), and whether those effects vary across subgroups (Goal 3). The results will offer practical findings that colleges in Texas and across the country can use as they develop additional corequisite math coursework and seek to improve their output of students in STEM fields. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communitiesThis 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.

在NSF改善本科STEM教育计划：教育和人力资源（IUSE：EHR）的支持下，该项目旨在通过扩大社区和技术学院STEM学习的参与和机构能力来服务于国家利益。根据数学分级测试，大多数新生在进入公立两年制大学时，对大学数学水平的准备不足。 大学数学是进入STEM领域的重要里程碑，不幸的是，许多学生从未完成他们的第一个大学数学课程。对于那些没有准备好大学水平数学的学生来说，传统的途径是学生在参加大学水平数学之前必须完成的一系列发展性数学课程（例如，代数）;发展课程通常不会获得大学学位的学分。 共存代数将学分大学代数与发展教育支持课程配对，有可能让学生更快地通过STEM序列中的第一门大学数学课程。 使用得克萨斯州的行政数据，该项目将研究是否采取共存代数，而不是传统的发展数学序列，影响在社区和技术学院的STEM管道。该研究的目标是：1）估计在何种程度上谁在共存的数学课程注册的学生更有可能完成STEM课程，并获得证书或学位比学生在传统的发展教育计划; 2）测试哪些共存模型提供最大和最小的改善学生的成果，使用课程设计的措施;（3）考察不同背景的学生（种族，性别，社会经济地位）从同校数学中或多或少受益，并阐明学生在同校课程中成功和失败后的过程。STEM领域，该项目将应用定量研究方法，得克萨斯州的行政数据和课程水平的信息，从共存的课程。PI将使用两种互补的方法来加强对共存代数对各种STEM里程碑的影响进行因果推理的可能性：回归不连续设计和差异中的差异。为了调整治疗前的特征，该项目将使用安置截止分数和各学院课程的变化来支持严格的研究设计。这项研究将研究不同种族，性别和家庭收入的共存代数的影响，并研究哪些共存模式是最有效的，哪些学生。社区学院和技术学院在美国高等教育系统中教育大多数黑人，西班牙裔和低收入学生。该研究将提供证据，说明共存代数课程如何影响STEM途径的关键成果（目标1），哪些共存模型最有效和最不有效，以及哪些学生（目标2），以及这些影响是否在亚组中有所不同（目标3）。结果将提供实用的发现，在得克萨斯州和全国各地的大学可以使用，因为他们开发额外的共存数学课程，并寻求提高他们的学生在STEM领域的输出。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持努力改造和改善高等教育机构和学科社区的STEM教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

项目成果

Constructing Corequisites: How Community Colleges Structure Corequisite Math Coursework and the Implications for Student Success

构建必要条件：社区学院如何构建必要的数学课程以及对学生成功的影响

• DOI: 10.1177/23328584221086664
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: AERA Open
• 影响因子: 2.8
• 作者: Ryu, Wonsun;Schudde, Lauren;Pack, Kim
• 通讯作者: Pack, Kim

The Impact of Corequisite Math on Community College Student Outcomes: Evidence from Texas

必修数学对社区学院学生成绩的影响：来自德克萨斯州的证据

• DOI: 10.1162/edfp_a_00365
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Education Finance and Policy
• 影响因子: 2.1
• 作者: Meiselman, Akiva Yonah;Schudde, Lauren
• 通讯作者: Schudde, Lauren