Developing and Investigating an Asset-Based Supplemental Course to Increase Student Success in Undergraduate General Chemistry

开发和研究基于资产的补充课程，以提高学生在本科普通化学方面的成功

• 批准号: 2021074
• 负责人: Hannah Sevian
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Boston
• 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: 2020-10-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2021074&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Developing; Investigating; Asset; Based; Supplemental

This project seeks to serve the national interest in excellent undergraduate STEM education by providing a model to enhance equity for students in general chemistry courses. Previous studies have shown that remediation and deficit-based approaches to supplemental general chemistry instruction do not provide significant long-term benefits to students. This lack of impact is particularly noticeable for students in groups underrepresented in STEM. This project will develop and study a novel asset-based supplemental course that leverages the students’ many strengths to help them succeed in general chemistry. This one-credit supplemental chemistry course will run alongside the General Chemistry I course. Students who are at risk of failing the general chemistry course will be invited to participate. The new supplemental course will seek to support student success by providing opportunities to practice key skills needed for success in general chemistry, such as mathematical and study skills. It will simultaneously recognize and rely on strengths that students have developed in other areas of their lives, to channel these strengths toward their own and each other's academic success in chemistry. The intended project outcomes include reducing failure rates in General Chemistry I, characterizing the asset-based supplemental chemistry course, and developing resources to support replication of the course by other institutions. The research goal is to contribute to understanding how and why at-risk students at a diverse university can succeed in general chemistry, and the role of the institution in supporting this success.This project will develop and study an asset-based supplemental chemistry course for students at risk of attrition from General Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Boston, a public, urban, primarily commuter campus with an undergraduate population that is among the country’s most diverse. Design of the supplemental course will follow an asset model based on activity theory, with four design principles: (a) adopt the perspective of the student; (b) provide structure that lowers the activation barrier for students to increase their agency; (c) encourage collaborative and social engagement in culturally and personally relevant activity; and (d) support dialogue, chemical literacy, and resourcefulness. The impact of the course will be studied using a mixed methods approach based on the Anti-Deficit Achievement Framework for Research on Students of Color in STEM, and will address the following research questions: (1) Which elements of the supplemental course design are productive in supporting student success in general chemistry, and how so? (2) What are the lasting impacts of the intervention on student success in academic work for two semesters beyond general chemistry? (3) How does the University's system of supports function toward participants' negotiation of challenges and cultivation of meaningful relationships that support their academic success? and (4) How do the experiential realities of the supplemental chemistry students empower them to succeed as they intersect with the processes of support that surround them in the course, at the university, and in their lives? Student interviews and counter narratives will be the primary data sources to understand student success and experiences. These data will be supplemented by instructor diaries as well as interviews with faculty and staff involved in institutional support, including instructors, advising staff, and care counselors. The project’s success will be assessed through cycles of questioning and review by an external advisory board. Through two cycles of implementation improvements and one year of fidelity testing, the research will define the critical components of the course that relate to its successful implementation in the context of a highly diverse university. Products developed by the project will include modules that may be adapted by other higher education institutions, a facilitation guide for instructors, and resources for undergraduate learning assistants. This project is supported by the NSF IUSE: EHR Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.

该项目旨在通过提供一个提高学生在普通化学课程中的公平性的模式，服务于优秀本科STEM教育的国家利益。以前的研究表明，补习和基于缺陷的普通化学教学方法不会给学生带来显著的长期好处。对于STEM中代表性不足的群体的学生来说，这种影响的缺乏尤为明显。这个项目将开发和研究一门新颖的基于资产的补充课程，利用学生的许多优势来帮助他们在普通化学中取得成功。这门一学分的化学补充课程将与普通化学I课程并列。有可能不能通过普通化学课程的学生将被邀请参加。新的补充课程将通过提供机会练习在普通化学中取得成功所需的关键技能，如数学和学习技能，来支持学生的成功。它将同时认识到并依赖学生在生活的其他领域发展起来的优势，将这些优势引导到他们自己和对方在化学方面的学术成功。预期的项目成果包括降低普通化学I的不及格率，确定以资产为基础的补充化学课程的特点，以及开发资源以支持其他机构复制该课程。这项研究的目标是帮助了解不同大学的高危学生如何以及为什么能够在普通化学方面取得成功，以及该机构在支持这一成功方面所扮演的角色。该项目将为马萨诸塞大学波士顿大学普通化学的高风险学生开发和研究一门基于资产的补充化学课程，这是一个公共的、城市的、主要是通勤的校园，本科生人口是全国最多元化的之一。补充课程的设计将遵循以活动理论为基础的资产模式，有四个设计原则：(A)采用学生的观点；(B)提供结构，降低学生的激活障碍，以提高他们的代理能力；(C)鼓励协作和社会参与与文化和个人相关的活动；以及(D)支持对话、化学素养和机智。这门课程的影响将以STEM有色人种学生研究反赤字成就框架为基础，采用混合方法进行研究，并将解决以下研究问题：(1)补充课程设计的哪些要素在支持学生在普通化学方面取得成功方面是有成效的，以及如何做到这一点？(2)在普通化学之外的两个学期中，干预对学生学业成功的持久影响是什么？(3)大学的支持系统如何作用于参与者谈判挑战和培养支持他们学业成功的有意义的关系？以及(4)当他们在课程、大学和生活中与周围的支持过程相交时，补充化学学生的经验现实如何使他们能够成功？学生访谈和反叙事将是了解学生成功和经历的主要数据来源。这些数据将通过讲师日记以及对参与机构支持的教职员工的采访来补充，这些教职员工包括讲师、顾问和护理顾问。该项目的成功将通过一个外部咨询委员会的提问和审查周期进行评估。通过两个周期的实施改进和一年的保真度测试，研究将确定与在高度多样化的大学背景下成功实施课程有关的关键组成部分。该项目开发的产品将包括可能被其他高等教育机构改编的模块、教师促进指南和本科生学习助理资源。该项目由NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了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。