Implementation of a Contextualized Computing Pedagogy in STEM Core Courses and Its Impact on Undergraduate Student Academic Success, Retention, and Graduation

在 STEM 核心课程中实施情境化计算教学法及其对本科生学业成功、保留和毕业的影响

• 批准号: 2030552
• 负责人: Yanlai Chen
• 金额: $ 65万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
• 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: 2020-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2030552&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Implementation; Contextualized; Computing; Pedagogy; STEM

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Over its five-year duration, it will fund scholarships to twenty-eight unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, or physics. Scholarships will be awarded to first-time students for up to four years and to transfer students for up to two years. In addition to providing scholarships, the project plans to improve computing education by teaching computing though real-world contexts that include either computational research or authentic consulting. This learning will be integrated into the core STEM courses. The project team also plans to provide Scholars with intensive mentoring, which will focus on career development. The project will assess how problem-based computational teaching in core STEM classes, coupled with scholarships, proactive mentoring, and sustained career advising, affect the success, retention, and graduation of low-income students. Furthermore, it may provide a reproducible model for integrating financial support, mentoring, and discovery-based education, while helping to prepare a STEM workforce capable of computation and data analytics.The overall goal of the project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Specific objectives include developing and implementing a problem-based computing and analysis module in at least one new course every year for every involved STEM major and engaging every Scholar in computation-themed research or consulting for at least one semester. Every Scholar will have a faculty and near-peer mentor and will be encouraged to participate in at least one career event per year. The project will seek to determine what roles proactive faculty and peer mentoring play in increasing students' sense of belonging and self-efficacy in STEM and whether integrating undergraduate research, problem-based computing modules, and authentic learning within core STEM curricula increases retention and career aspirations of academically talented low-income students. To answer these questions, surveys and student-tracking will be used to study the curricular and co-curricular activities' effectiveness. Project evaluation will explore a cross-section of activities and impacts, the insights from which will inform both formative and summative aspects of the work. These findings and modules will be disseminated through websites, national conferences, and annual workshops with three community colleges so they can be adapted and implemented by other institutions. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low- income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers and generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.

该项目将通过支持马萨诸塞州达特茅斯大学表现出经济需要的高成就、低收入学生的保留和毕业，为国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。在五年的时间里，它将为28名攻读生物学、化学、工程学、数学或物理学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。奖学金将颁发给第一次学生长达四年，并转移学生长达两年。除了提供奖学金外，该项目还计划通过在真实世界的环境中教授计算来改善计算教育，包括计算研究或真实咨询。 这种学习将被纳入核心STEM课程。 项目小组还计划为学者提供集中辅导，重点是职业发展。该项目将评估核心STEM课程中基于问题的计算教学，加上奖学金，积极的指导和持续的职业咨询，如何影响低收入学生的成功，保留和毕业。此外，它可以提供一个可复制的模型，用于整合财务支持，指导和基于发现的教育，同时帮助准备一个能够计算和数据分析的STEM劳动力。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入，高成就的本科生的STEM学位完成证明经济需要。具体目标包括每年为每个涉及的STEM专业开发和实施至少一门新课程中的基于问题的计算和分析模块，并让每个学者参与以计算为主题的研究或咨询至少一个学期。每个学者都将有一个教师和近同行的导师，并将被鼓励每年至少参加一次职业活动。该项目将寻求确定积极主动的教师和同伴指导在增加学生的归属感和STEM自我效能感方面发挥了什么作用，以及在核心STEM课程中整合本科研究，基于问题的计算模块和真实学习是否增加了学术天赋低收入学生的保留和职业抱负。为了回答这些问题，我们将通过调查和学生跟踪来研究课程和课外活动的有效性。项目评价将探讨各种活动和影响，从中得出的见解将为工作的形成和总结方面提供信息。这些研究结果和模块将通过网站、全国会议和与三个社区学院举办的年度讲习班进行传播，以便其他机构加以调整和实施。 该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学术成功，保留，转移，毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。