STEM Course Transformation: Cultivating a Culture of Entrepreneurial Mindset and Undergraduate Research

STEM 课程转型：培养创业心态和本科生研究文化

• 批准号: 1953751
• 负责人: David Alexander
• 金额: $ 220万
• 依托单位: Chico State Enterprises
• 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: 2020-05-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1953751&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STEM; Course; Transformation; Cultivating; Culture

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project aims to increase the number of STEM degrees and underrepresented minority (URM) student representation, while at the same time transforming the STEM undergraduate experience. At California State University, Chico, low pass rates in lower division courses impede student progression in STEM, and URMs experience higher repetition rates than their non-URM peers despite having met similar admission criteria. With the largest attrition of STEM students occurring in the first two years, the project targets large enrollment courses with low pass rates to implement high impact practices designed to increase student success. High impact practices include increasing student participation in research experiences and entrepreneurial activities, recognizing that such experiences may yield disproportionate benefits to URMs while supporting STEM identity formation, retention, and increasing professional preparation and social integration for all students. CSU, Chico will implement Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) including the integration of entrepreneurial skills development as the Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience and Entrepreneurship (CURE-E) model. Faculty training and development is a central feature of the project. A summer institute offers an interactive workshop to introduce faculty to inquiry-based learning, assessment strategies, rubrics, and educational technologies. Faculty members will participate in ongoing professional learning community sessions, and returning faculty trained in previous summer institutes will share their experiences and best practices. By increasing retention and graduation rates, this project has the potential to help fill critical gaps and broaden participation in the US STEM workforce by increasing the number of trained STEM professionals.Specific aims of this project are the implementation of the CURE-E model into 15 STEM barrier courses; STEM entrepreneurship toolkit; faculty and student research and innovation symposium; faculty training and development in the CURE-E summer institute; and educational research and project evaluation activities. To understand how the CURE-E model transforms classroom experiences for STEM undergraduate students, the research will focus on the faculty leading the re-design and implementation of the STEM barrier courses using the LifeGrid methodology. This research tool is used to collect and analyze qualitative data, specifically the instructors’ external and internal experiences as they implement the CURE-E model. Expected outcomes include enhanced quality of undergraduate STEM education showing a decreased achievement gap between URM students and non-URM students in STEM; increased undergraduate retention and graduation rates; and contributions to the research literature on professional development of instructors adopting the CURE-E model. 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.

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划），这个轨道1项目旨在增加STEM学位的数量和代表性不足的少数民族（URM）学生的代表性，同时改变STEM本科生的经验。在位于奇科的加州州立大学，低年级课程的低通过率阻碍了学生在STEM方面的进步，尽管符合类似的录取标准，但URM的复读率高于非URM的同龄人。由于STEM学生的最大流失发生在前两年，该项目的目标是通过率低的大型招生课程，以实施旨在提高学生成功率的高影响力实践。高影响力的做法包括增加学生参与研究经验和创业活动，认识到这些经验可能会产生不成比例的好处，以URMs，同时支持STEM身份的形成，保留，并增加所有学生的专业准备和社会融合。CSU，奇科将实施基于课程的本科生研究经验（CURES），包括创业技能发展的整合作为基于课程的本科生研究经验和创业（CURE-E）模型。教师培训和发展是该项目的核心特征。暑期学院提供了一个互动的研讨会，介绍教师以探究为基础的学习，评估策略，规则和教育技术。教师将参加正在进行的专业学习社区会议，并返回教师在以前的夏季学院培训将分享他们的经验和最佳实践。通过提高保留率和毕业率，该项目有可能通过增加训练有素的STEM专业人员的数量，帮助填补关键空白，扩大美国STEM劳动力的参与。该项目的具体目标是将CURE-E模型实施到15个STEM障碍课程中; STEM创业工具包;教师和学生研究和创新研讨会; CURE-E暑期学院的教师培训和发展;以及教育研究和项目评估活动。为了了解CURE-E模型如何改变STEM本科生的课堂体验，该研究将重点关注使用LifeGrid方法重新设计和实施STEM屏障课程的教师。该研究工具用于收集和分析定性数据，特别是教师在实施CURE-E模型时的外部和内部经验。预期成果包括提高本科STEM教育的质量，缩小URM学生和非URM学生在STEM方面的成绩差距;提高本科保留率和毕业率;以及为采用CURE-E模式的教师专业发展研究文献做出贡献。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，并建立HSI的能力。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NSF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。