Pilot Study: Intentionally Delivered Effective Accommodation (IDEA) at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) - IDEA@ECSU

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The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) at the National Science Foundation supports faculty supports at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that aspire to build research capacity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate education and research. It is expected that the pilot awards will further the faculty member's research capability, improve research and teaching at the institution. and involve undergraduate students in research experiences. The project at Elizabeth City State University will study the impact of extenuating circumstances on the performance of students who major in STEM fields and/or who take STEM courses, develop appropriate interventions to support those students in those targeted courses, and determine how those interventions reduce attrition rates in the stated circumstances. This project seeks to understand the feasibility and effectiveness of Intentionally Delivered Effective Accommodation (IDEA) at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU). IDEA @ ECSU is a novel instructional paradigm intended to promote student persistence and reduce attrition from STEM programs by addressing individual student-level extenuating education burdens that are not formally recognized and traditionally unaccommodated within the conventional academic STEM instruction as a means of improving educational outcomes. This is a pilot project with a goal of building upon preliminary findings of a recent small-scale study suggesting that inadequate accommodations of students bearing extenuating education burdens - such as student athletes - is a possible contributor to attrition from STEM programs. The IDEA instructional approach proactively solicits student input regarding their educational needs and relies on course syllabi intentionally designed to maximize reasonable accommodation for all students in the course without compromising learning goals. The project will evaluate the impact of utilizing IDEA-infused course syllabi in two introductory level STEM courses notable for high rates of failing grades and withdrawals at the Elizabeth City State University for two academic years. The project will also explore issues around HBCU student educational needs, burdens, and accommodations from the perspectives of both students and HBCU STEM faculty. Information generated from this study will advance goal-oriented STEM pedagogy by providing a novel guide and perspective to STEM instruction.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.