Building the Foundation for Institutionalizing Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences in Community Colleges to Improve STEM Equity

该项目旨在通过为社区大学提供更多的研究经验奠定基础，为国家利益服务。基于课程的本科生研究体验（CUREs）使学生能够将原创性研究作为其常规课程的一部分。CUREs通过为所有学生（而不仅仅是少数学生）提供研究经验，有可能推进公平目标。此外，由于两年制大学中来自代表性不足群体的学生入学率很高，因此广泛使用CURES有可能增加STEM劳动力的多样性。Whatcom社区学院的一组教师一直在不同的STEM学科中实施CUREs，包括生物学，地质学和工程学。越来越多的其他教师对在他们的课堂上实施CUREs感兴趣。拟议的项目将利用这一兴趣来研究该机构如何扩大cure的使用，从而在STEM教学实践中产生制度转型。这个为期两年的项目还将通过在一所两年制大学完成一项关于制度变革的研究，为国家利益做出贡献，这可以为其他机构改善STEM教与学的努力提供信息。本项目旨在：(1)确定CURE扩展和制度化的机构能力的优势、劣势、机会和威胁（SWOT）；(2)通过社区建设和反馈来支持当前的CURE采用者；(3)重新运用SWOT分析来确定学校改革课程的能力；(4)传播关键发现。SWOT分析将是与实施cure的教师和管理人员进行的为期数日的战略规划静修的一部分。参与CURE的教师将建立一个学习社区，以指导和支持开发CURE的过程。考虑到2019冠状病毒病大流行，该项目将侧重于为在线学习设计CURE体验。该项目将包括一系列教师访谈，以提供实施CUREs的机制和原因的丰富描述。利用这些数据，再加上与一位制度变革专家的合作，该项目有可能产生一种制度改进模型，该模型以两年制学院教员的经验为基础，而这方面的研究有限。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区的STEM教育转型和改善。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by laying the foundation for increased access to research experiences at community colleges. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) enable students to do original research as part of their regular coursework. CUREs have the potential to advance equity goals by providing research experiences for all students, not just a select few. In addition, because two-year colleges have high enrollments of students from underrepresented groups, making CURES widely available has the potential to increase diversity in the STEM workforce. A group of faculty members at Whatcom Community College have been implementing CUREs in different STEM disciplines, including biology, geology, and engineering. An increasing number of other faculty are interested in implementing CUREs in their classes. The proposed project would leverage this interest to examine how the institution can widen the use of CUREs and, thus, generate an institutional transformation in STEM instructional practices. The two-year project will also contribute to national interests by completing a study on institutional change at a two-year college, which can inform the efforts of other institutions to improve STEM teaching and learning.This project is designed to: (1) identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) for institutional capacity for CURE expansion and institutionalization; (2) support current CURE adopters through community building and feedback; (3) revisit the SWOT analysis to determine the institutional capacity to reform curricular efforts; and (4) disseminate key findings. The SWOT analysis will be part of a multi-day strategic planning retreat with CURE-implementing faculty and administrators. Participating CURE faculty members will develop a learning community to guide and support the process of developing CUREs. Considering the COVID-19 Pandemic, the project will have a focus on designing CURE experiences for online learning. The project will include a series of faculty interviews to provide rich descriptions of the mechanisms and reasons for implementing CUREs. Using these data, along with collaboration with an expert on institutional change, this project has the potential to produce a model of institutional improvement that is grounded in the experiences of faculty members at two-year colleges for which there is limited research. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.