Experiences in Metacognition and Early Research to Increase Degree Completion of STEM Undergraduate Students

提高 STEM 本科生学位完成率的元认知和早期研究经验

• 批准号: 1930235
• 负责人: Diane Angell
• 金额: $ 99.69万
• 依托单位: Saint Olaf College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1930235&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Experiences; Metacognition; Early; Research; Increase

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at St. Olaf College. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide up to four years of scholarship support to 32 students pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry. The aim of the project is to increase the proportion of students who complete introductory biology or chemistry courses and subsequently earn majors in these fields. Scholars will benefit from metacognitive training, early research experiences, and activities focused on developing a sense of belonging in STEM. This project will investigate the role of metacognitive training in advancing undergraduate research experiences. Metacognitive training enables students to monitor and reflect on their learning, plan for future academic progress, and make purposeful adjustments to achieve goals. Through metacognitive workshops and regular reflective practice, the Scholars will build an awareness of the learning strategies that are personally most effective in their STEM courses. Early research experiences in faculty-led teams and in select courses are expected to stimulate Scholars' curiosity and cultivate a sense of community. Scholar support activities include peer mentoring, gatherings with faculty, and networking with S-STEM alumni. By reinforcing a sense of belonging, these activities have the potential to support achievement and persistence of biology and chemistry majors. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The role of metacognition in classroom learning is well researched. Less is known about how metacognitive training influences students' experiences as undergraduate researchers or the learning gains that result from the research experiences. The goal of this research is to understand how these skills can be cultivated in undergraduate STEM majors. This project will actively promote the development of Scholars' metacognitive skills through workshops and guided reflection about the use of research strategies. Practicing regular metacognition is expected to influence the way students perceive their research experiences and increase the degree to which students report using metacognitive strategies. The Survey for Undergraduate Research Experiences will be administered, along with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, modified for use in a mentored laboratory environment, to assess student experiences. The project will also evaluate the extent to which Scholars persist and thrive academically, and the role of Scholars' sense of STEM belonging in their success. The results will inform STEM education at other institutions and be disseminated through presentations at national conferences and publication in peer-reviewed journals. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income 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.

该项目将有助于国家需要受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员，通过支持高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业，证明在圣奥拉夫学院的经济需要。该项目为期五年，将为32名攻读生物学和化学学士学位的学生提供长达四年的奖学金支持。该项目的目的是增加完成生物或化学入门课程并随后获得这些领域专业的学生比例。学者将受益于元认知培训，早期研究经验，以及专注于发展STEM归属感的活动。这个项目将调查元认知训练在促进本科生研究经验中的作用。元认知训练使学生能够监控和反思他们的学习，计划未来的学术进步，并做出有目的的调整，以实现目标。通过元认知研讨会和定期的反思实践，学者们将建立对他们的STEM课程中个人最有效的学习策略的认识。在教师领导的团队和精选课程的早期研究经验，预计将激发学者的好奇心，培养社区意识。学者支持活动包括同行指导，与教师聚会，并与S-STEM校友网络。通过加强归属感，这些活动有可能支持生物和化学专业的成就和坚持。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入，高成就的本科生与证明财政需要完成STEM学位。元认知在课堂学习中的作用已经得到了很好的研究。关于元认知训练如何影响学生作为本科研究人员的经验或从研究经验中获得的学习成果，人们知之甚少。本研究的目标是了解如何在本科STEM专业培养这些技能。该项目将通过研讨会和关于使用研究策略的指导性反思，积极促进学者元认知技能的发展。练习常规的元认知预计会影响学生感知他们的研究经验的方式，并增加学生使用元认知策略报告的程度。本科生研究经验的调查将管理，沿着学习问卷的动机策略，修改用于指导实验室环境，以评估学生的经验。该项目还将评估学者们在学术上坚持和发展的程度，以及学者们的STEM归属感在他们成功中的作用。结果将为其他机构的STEM教育提供信息，并通过全国会议上的演讲和同行评审期刊上的出版来传播。该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入，有学术天赋的学生的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并提供有关低收入学生的学术成功、保留、转学、毕业和学术/职业途径的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并且通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。