Implementation Project: Increasing the Quality of STEM Education and Research

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Implementation Projects in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate program provide support to design, implement, study and assess comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the numbers of students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research. This implementation project at Tougaloo College, a small, private institution, provides a multilayered approach to broaden opportunities for African-American students to succeed in STEM majors. The focus of the project is on two critical fields, namely mathematics and the physical sciences. The project is guided and informed by an on-going evaluation, as well as by internal and external advisory committees.Tougaloo College will engage students from the pre-college level, during the first year, and up until graduation by using holistic strategies to identify, inform, motivate, and support students for success. These intervention strategies are anticipated to lead to increased enrollment in STEM disciplines, higher success rates in gatekeeper courses, increased retention of freshmen, and an increase in the number of students entering into the graduate school and STEM workforce. The project has the objectives to: increase recruitment and retention of STEM majors by revamping the summer bridge program and developing an interdisciplinary freshman curriculum; provide students with the opportunity to see the value of STEM in addressing real life problems through research; and revitalize faculty by creating a learning community with comprehensive training in a student-centered learning pedagogy. This approach, building a bound STEM learning community prior to entry into college, then providing a holistic academic and research environment, will demonstrate a reliable performance model for small colleges and universities that are concerned about first year STEM student attrition.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.