RAPID: The Impacts of Graduate Education Policies and Practices on the Success and Career Goals of Graduate Students in Physics & Astronomy

RAPID：研究生教育政策和实践对物理学研究生的成功和职业目标的影响

• 批准号: 2000328
• 负责人: Ramon Barthelemy
• 金额: $ 19.81万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 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: 2020-01-15 至 2021-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2000328&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Impacts; Graduate; Education; Policies

Understanding and supporting graduate education policies and practices is crucial to maintaining a well-trained workforce in the US, particularly for careers that require a PhD in the critical areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Within this mandate it is essential that all persons, regardless of background, are included in STEM training at the PhD level. Among STEM disciplines, physics has shown persistent issues regarding representation of persons from diverse backgrounds. This project will assess current reforms in a US-based graduate physics and astronomy program to understand their impacts on students’ educational experiences and success. The results of this study will be used to refine the program at the University of Utah and to develop best practices that can be adopted nationwide.During the 2018-19 academic year, admissions into the Physics & Astronomy graduate program at the University of Utah was halted while a complete overhaul of all aspects of the program was initiated by the Department. The program reform included the recruitment and admissions process, orientation and teaching assistant training, advising practices and other student support, the curriculum, and the exam structure. The first incoming class of graduate students has now entered the new program and are navigating these new policies and practices. The investigators will conduct a qualitative semi-ethnographic study on the experiences and outcomes of graduate students under the newly revised graduate program. This will be done by conducting multiple interviews with the new cohort of students throughout their first year in the program. Additionally, open ended survey data will be collected from the legacy students in the program to understand their experiences under the previous policies. This will offer a pseudo-control group to further understand the changes created for students by the new policies. In addition, the results will be the basis for a longitudinal study of graduate student experiences at the University of Utah, and will be disseminated to the broader community through the literature, conference presentations, and visits to other departments.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.

了解和支持研究生教育政策和做法对于在美国保持一支训练有素的劳动力队伍至关重要，特别是对于需要科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)关键领域博士学位的职业。在这一任务范围内，至关重要的是，所有人，无论其背景如何，都应参加STEM博士级别的培训。在STEM学科中，物理学显示出关于来自不同背景的人的代表性的长期问题。该项目将评估美国物理和天文学研究生项目目前的改革，以了解它们对学生教育经历和成功的影响。这项研究的结果将被用来改进犹他大学的项目，并开发出可在全国范围内采用的最佳实践。在2018-19学年，犹他大学物理与天文学研究生项目的招生被暂停，同时该部门启动了对该项目所有方面的全面改革。计划改革包括招生和录取过程、定向和助教培训、建议实践和其他学生支持、课程和考试结构。第一批即将入学的研究生现在已经进入了新的课程，并正在驾驭这些新的政策和做法。研究人员将根据新修订的研究生计划，对研究生的经历和结果进行定性的半民族志研究。这将通过在该项目的第一年对新的一批学生进行多次采访来实现。此外，开放式调查数据将从项目中的传统学生那里收集，以了解他们在以前政策下的经历。这将提供一个伪对照小组，以进一步了解新政策给学生带来的变化。此外，研究结果将作为犹他大学研究生经历纵向研究的基础，并将通过文献、会议报告和对其他部门的访问向更广泛的社区传播。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。