Capacity Building for Students and Faculty Through Partnerships, Research, Innovation, Mentoring, and Engagement

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）”的支持下，本项目旨在提高德克萨斯女子大学（TWU）本科STEM学生的保留率和毕业率。TWU是美国最大的公立女子大学，是一所为西班牙裔服务的机构，大约有10,300名本科生，其中88%是女性。该项目旨在建立twu伙伴关系、研究、创新、指导和参与（TWU-PRIME）计划，以提高教师的参与度和学生在STEM领域的学习和保留。该项目包括三个关键要素：1)重新设计生物、化学和数学的入门课程；2)支持教师在教学中采用创新、循证和文化相关的方法；3)为学生提供机会，让他们参与当地STEM行业的指导研究实习。这些因素共同旨在改善STEM教学和学习，以提高TWU STEM学生的保留率和毕业率。TWU-PRIME旨在通过以下三个策略来提高STEM的参与度，保留率和毕业率：1)通过重新设计课程来提高STEM基础课程的表现，2)发展教师实践社区，以及3)通过指导学生的研究和实习以及教师与外部合作伙伴之间的合作发展有意义的STEM学习体验。课程重新设计将包括个性化学习方法、翻转课堂、合作学习和/或案例研究教学。生物、化学和数学基础课程的教师将融入一个实践社区，这将支持课程重新设计工作和多元化能力发展的整合，以认识学生的社会身份和生活经验。将与当地社区合作伙伴（如HealthTrakRx、Mentor LLC和Noble Research Institute）建立研究实习机会，为学生提供有意义的研究经验，并促进教师与行业和研究合作伙伴的关系发展。预计这些外部合作伙伴关系将为依赖STEM毕业生的劳动力带来长期利益，并创造有关跨部门合作伙伴关系如何促进STEM教学和劳动力发展的新的有意义的知识。HSI计划旨在加强HSI的本科STEM教育和能力建设。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1: Building Capacity project aims to improve retention and graduation rates for undergraduate STEM students at Texas Woman’s University (TWU). TWU, the largest public university primarily for women in the United States, is a Hispanic-serving Institution with an enrollment of approximately 10,300 undergraduate students, 88% of whom are female. This project intends to establish the TWU-Partnerships, Research, Innovation, Mentoring, and Engagement (TWU-PRIME) Program to improve faculty engagement and student learning and retention in STEM. This project includes three key elements: 1) redesigning introductory courses in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, 2) supporting faculty to include innovative, evidence-based, and culturally relevant approaches in their teaching, and 3) providing opportunities for students to engage in mentored research internships with local STEM industries. These elements together are intended to improve STEM teaching and learning to foster increased retention and graduation rates for STEM students at TWU.TWU-PRIME seeks to build capacity by increasing STEM engagement, retention, and graduation through three strategies: 1) improving performance in STEM foundation courses through course redesign, 2) developing a Faculty Community of Practice, and 3) launching meaningful STEM learning experiences through mentored research and internships for students and the development of collaborations between faculty and external partners. Course redesign efforts will include personalized learning approaches, flipped or inverted classrooms, cooperative learning, and/or case study teaching. Faculty instructors in foundational courses in biology, chemistry, and mathematics will be integrated into a community of practice, which will support both course redesign efforts and integration of diversity competency development to recognize students’ social identities and lived experiences. Research internships with local community partners such as HealthTrakRx, Mentor LLC, and the Noble Research Institute will be established to provide meaningful research experiences for students and to facilitate the development of faculty relationships with industry and research partners. These external partnerships are anticipated to have long-term benefits for the workforce relying on STEM graduates and to create new and meaningful knowledge about how cross-sector partnerships contribute to STEM teaching and learning and to workforce development. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.