Broadening Participation Research Project: Promoting Rural Opportunities for Student Achievement in STEM (PRO-STEM)

北卡罗来纳州中央大学（North Carolina Central University）的研究人员将研究农村社区中代表性不足的少数民族学生在STEM方面取得成就的障碍。他们将确定来自北卡罗来纳州农村高中的新生接触STEM和获得教育资源的模式，并生成数据来指导干预措施，以提高学生保留率。具体目标是：(1)利用基于社区的实践进行形成性研究，以确定与STEM成就相关的地理特定文化和社会决定因素以及教育因素；(2)对形成性数据进行三角测量，为基于多维社会学框架的计划的发展提供信息，以招募和留住农村学生接受STEM教育；(3)对原型项目“获得STEM机会”（GO STEM）进行可行性和试点测试，这是一个夏季桥梁项目，重点关注关键的农村劳动力问题和相关培训，以改善STEM课程和学位的准备和招聘。研究结果将证明以社区为基础的方法在提高农村社区STEM保留率方面的有效性。研究人员将使用混合方法设计和基于社区的视角来优化数据收集和研究结果的三角测量。研究问题是：(1)STEM教育如何在课堂、学校、县和州一级优先进行？城市学校和农村学校有区别吗？(2)城市和农村学生在接触、兴趣和招聘STEM方面的具体障碍和挑战有何不同？(3)在STEM领域招收和留住学生需要什么支持？该项目将分两个阶段实施。在第一阶段，研究人员将进行结构化访谈和焦点小组，以评估影响学生保留率的障碍，并调查来自农村社区的新生，以确定与教育程度和学位选择相关的社会决定因素。行为预测综合模型将用于指导第一阶段的形成性数据收集活动。在第二阶段，研究人员将使用第一阶段的结果来开发和测试一个试点项目（GO STEM），该项目侧重于影响农村学生留用的具体需求、知识、态度和信念。该项目将提供经验证据，证明以社区为基础的方法在缓解农村代表性不足的少数民族学生中STEM代表性不足的有效性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Researchers at North Carolina Central University will examine the barriers to student achievement in STEM among underrepresented minorities in rural communities. They will identify patterns of STEM exposure and access to educational resources among incoming freshmen from rural high schools in North Carolina and generate data to guide interventions to increase student retention. The specific goals are to (1)conduct formative research, using community-based practices, to identify relevant geographically-specific cultural and social determinants and educational factors associated with STEM achievement, (2) triangulate formative data to inform the development of a multidimensional sociological framework-based program to recruit and retain rural students in STEM education, and (3) conduct feasibility and pilot testing of the prototype program Gaining Opportunities in STEM (GO STEM), a summer bridge program that focuses on critical rural workforce issues and relevant training to improve preparation for and recruitment into STEM-based coursework and degrees. The research results will document the effectiveness of a community-based approach to increase STEM retention in rural communities.The researchers will use a mixed-methods design and community-based perspective to optimize data collection and triangulation of the research results. The research questions are (1) How is STEM education prioritized at the classroom, school, county, and state level? Are there differences between urban and rural schools? (2) How do urban and rural students differ on specific barriers and challenges relative to STEM exposure, interest and recruitment? (3) What supports are needed to recruit and retain students in STEM?. The project will be implemented in two phases. In Phase I, the researchers will conduct structured interviews and focus groups to assess barriers that impact student retention and survey incoming freshmen students from rural communities to identify social determinants relative to educational attainment and degree selection The Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction will be used to guide formative data collection activities in Phase 1. In Phase II, the researchers will use the results of Phase I to develop and test a pilot program (GO STEM) that focuses on the specific needs, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that impact the retention of rural students. The project will produce empirical evidence of the effectiveness of a community-based approach to mitigating STEM underrepresentation among rural underrepresented minority students.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.