Longitudinal Study on the Impact the Sunday Academy Model had on STEM Learning and Success of American Indian Students

部落学院和大学计划（TCUP）的一个目标是提高为美国土著学生服务的特定高等教育机构的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教学和研究能力。将教学能力扩展到地方大学预科人群是中心工作的重要组成部分和更广泛的影响。该项目直接符合这一目标，而且将增加对土著学生有吸引力的教学方法有效性的知识体系，并增加他们对STEM学习和职业的兴趣和成功。部落国家研究小组（TNRG）领导了一项研究，该研究将描述背景并捕捉非正式STEM教学经验的影响，即周日学院模式（SAM）。近20年来，SAM主要由美国国家科学基金会支持，由北达科他州的部落学院进行，北达科他州立大学（NDSU）和北达科他州大学（UND）参与。该项目为居留地和临近居留地的学生和教师提供了STEM教学丰富活动，并吸引了大约2000名学生。这项研究将通过混合的方法进行，包括焦点小组，学生学业成功和追求的测量，以及对照比较。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。

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. Extending the instructional capabilities to the local pre-college population is a significant element and broader impact of the central work. This project aligns directly with that goal, and moreover will increase the body of knowledge on the efficacy of instructional methodologies that appeal to Native students and increase their interest and success in STEM studies and careers.Tribal Nations Research Group (TNRG) serves as the lead for a study that would describe the context and capture the impact of an informal STEM instructional experience, the Sunday Academy Model (SAM). SAM has been supported largely by NSF for almost two decades and has been conducted by the tribal colleges of North Dakota, with participation of North Dakota State University (NDSU) and the University of North Dakota (UND). The program has provided STEM instructional enrichment activities for on- and near-reservation students and teachers, and has engaged approximately 2000 students. The study will be pursued through mixed methods that include focus groups, measures of student academic success and pursuit, and control comparisons.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.