Implementation Project: STEM Center for the Advancement of Learning, Achievement and Research (SCALAR III)

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Implementation Projects in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) provide support to design, implement, study, and assess comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the numbers of students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and research. This implementation project at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University seeks to strengthen the STEM Center for the Advancement of Learning, Achievement, and Research (SCALAR III), a STEM educational research center, by establishing a comprehensive, campus-wide approach to improving teaching and learning. The project is grounded in evidence-based practices. STEM students and faculty across the entire university will participate in the project, bolstering efforts to broaden participation of persons traditionally underrepresented in STEM disciplines. The goal of the SCALAR III project is to significantly increase student success rates in the core STEM programs and courses offered at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. The impact of the project among faculty and students will be measured by qualitative and quantitative analysis to include (1) pre-post diagnostic results; (2) level of participation in the project's activities, (3) retention, persistence, and graduation rates; (4) GPA; and (5) level of satisfaction on crucial aspects of the program via surveys. Successful completion of this project has the potential to result in improved student success outcomes for Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University STEM students and increased scholarly output for the university’s STEM faculty.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.