Maximizing the Sustained Effects of Utility-Value Interventions in Community College Math

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This study addresses gaps in the STEM utility-value interventions literature by studying the interventions in gateway community college math courses, which serve as a critical barrier or opportunity to postsecondary success. Researchers at the University of Virginia and the Tennessee Board of Regents will investigate three research questions: (1) Do customized utility-value interventions lead to improved academic outcomes compared to standard utility-value interventions or a control condition? (2) Do utility-value interventions benefit the same students in community college settings, and through the same underlying mechanisms, as in four-year institutions? (3) Are the effects of utility-value interventions sustained in future STEM courses? The project involves 16,000 students at 13 Tennessee community colleges. The researchers use a double-blind design with students randomly assigned to a customized utility-value, standard utility-value or control condition. Measures include: students’ reactions to the intervention materials, psychological processes (i.e., participant success expectancies, intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and perceived cost), moderator variables (i.e., student academic preparedness, demographics, cultural mismatch, identity threat and perceived instructor value-supportive practice; and instructor characteristics), and outcomes (i.e., course completion or withdrawal, course grades, STEM grade point average and number of STEM courses). This project is supported by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. The ECR program supports the accumulation of robust evidence to inform efforts to understand, build theory to explain, and suggest intervention and innovations to address persistent challenges in STEM interest, education, learning and participation.Advancing a diverse and technically competent STEM workforce is critical for contributing to the progress of science and to the health, prosperity and welfare of our nation. The students who participant in this research project are likely to benefit from the interventions under investigation. By studying utility-value intervention in math gateway courses there is potential to inform post-secondary administrators, faculty and instructors about more effective instructional practices for student success in STEM education. Additionally, advancing knowledge about some of the very specific underlying mechanisms that benefit student STEM learning and persistence in community college settings, and whether these mechanisms are similar to those already known about students in four-year college STEM settings, could benefit implementation research about those uniquely different post-secondary settings and may significantly contribute to improved instruction to benefit all undergraduate students who are learning STEM.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.