Targeted Infusion Project: Ensuring the Vitality and Sustainability of the Virginia Union University Physics and Pre-Engineering Program

历史上的黑人学院和大学本科项目（HBCU- up）通过有针对性的输液项目支持基于证据的创新模式和方法的开发、实施和研究，以提高HBCU本科生的准备和成功，使他们可以攻读STEM研究生课程和/或职业。弗吉尼亚联合大学将实施一套全面的以学生为中心的策略，以改善物理和工程预科学生的学习体验，并确保这个项目的活力，使其能够为扩大黑人和非裔美国学生以及低收入家庭学生在物理和工程领域的参与做出贡献。该项目将增加物理学和工程学毕业生的数量，并确保他们为进入物理学和工程学研究生课程和/或职业做好充分准备。该项目还将通过修订面向全校学生的通识教育物理课程，并提供基于项目的学习研讨会和其他资源，为全校STEM教师实施基于研究的教学策略，对我校产生广泛影响。最后，该项目将有助于社区了解在以教学为重点的文科院校的小型物理系背景下常见的高影响力教学实践的有效性。一个严格的混合方法评估计划将检查项目活动对学生表现和心理社会结构的影响，这些影响通常与STEM高等教育的保留有关。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。

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Targeted Infusion Projects supports the development, implementation, and study of evidence-based innovative models and approaches for improving the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may pursue STEM graduate programs and/or careers. Virginia Union University will implement a comprehensive set of student-centered strategies to improve the learning experience for physics and pre-engineering students and ensure the vitality of a program that is well-poised to contribute to efforts to broaden the participation of Black and African American students and low-income students in physics and engineering fields.The project will increase the number of physics and engineering graduates and ensure they are well-prepared to enter physics and engineering graduate programs and/or careers. The project will also make a broad impact at VUU by revising a general education physics course that serves all VUU students and provide project-based learning workshops and other resources for implementing research-based instructional strategies to all VUU STEM faculty. Finally, the project will contribute to the community's understanding of the effectiveness of common high-impact teaching practices within the context of small physics departments at teaching-focused liberal arts institutions. A rigorous mixed-methods evaluation plan will examine the impact of project activities on student performance and psychosocial constructs typically associated with retention in STEM higher education.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.