Targeted Infusion Project: Strengthening Undergraduate STEM Programs at Central State University through Computational Content and A Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach

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The Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) through Targeted Infusion Projects supports the development, implementation, and study of evidence-based innovative models and approaches for improving the preparation and success of HBCU undergraduate students so that they may pursue STEM graduate programs and/or careers. This project at Central State University (CSU) intends to develop new computational courses for STEM students at CSU. Students, faculty, and community K12 educators will have the potential to learn how to translate real world problems to mathematics and computer algorithms. It is expected that successful implementation of the proposed work will lead to the more CSU students entering the STEM workforce and graduate school. The goal of this multi-phase project is to bring computational thinking and computing skills to Central State University (CSU) by i.) developing new introductory and advanced computational courses with STEM-driven aspects and computational components, ii.) implementing the LON-CAPA e-learning management platform at CSU and develop computational modules in physics, chemistry, and biology courses to enhance teaching, learning, and assessment practices and improve student learning gains by embedding computational thinking into the curriculum. Successful implantation of the work will allow CSU students to gain practical and marketable computer programming skills while developing their confidence in computational modeling to study complex real-life problems in the natural sciences. In addition, the implementation of the LON-CAPA platform provides educational support not only for CSU faculty and students but also for local K-12 schools.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.