Improving Undergraduates’ Motivation and Retention in STEM Through Classroom Interventions: A Meta-Analysis

通过课堂干预提高本科生学习 STEM 的积极性和保留率：荟萃分析

• 批准号: 2110368
• 负责人: David Miller
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2110368&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; Undergraduates; Motivation; Retention; STEM

This project aims to serve the national interest by synthesizing empirical evidence on how classroom interventions can increase motivational outcomes (e.g., interests) and retention for undergraduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The project focuses on approaches to foster success for undergraduates who have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM (e.g., women; Black, Hispanic, and American Indian students; students from low-income families; first generation students). Low rates of STEM degree completion for these groups continue to hinder institutional efforts for educational equity and national efforts to address STEM workforce needs. Encouragingly, growing research evidence suggests that malleable instructional practices and light-touch motivational interventions can increase the achievement, motivation, and retention for such students. This project aims to build on and extend related prior syntheses in several critical ways by (a) synthesizing a wider range of interventions that occur in undergraduate STEM classrooms; (b) focusing on effects for motivational factors related to retention and actual retention in STEM as primary outcomes (rather than academic performance in STEM courses); and (c) identifying specific intervention components that yield the strongest effects. The project’s focus on interventions tested in undergraduate classrooms will help provide STEM professors with actionable insights for designing their classes and changing their instruction to increase undergraduates’ motivation and retention in STEM. This project aims to contribute both theoretically and practically to the field by synthesizing two largely separate bodies of literature on undergraduate STEM classroom interventions: (a) motivational interventions (e.g., values affirmation) and (b) instructional interventions (e.g., active learning). The synthesis will include both experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of these interventions, focusing on effects for retention (e.g., taking the next STEM course, graduating with a STEM degree) and motivational factors related to retention (e.g., interests, self-efficacy, sense of belonging). The project team will use rigorous systematic review and meta-analytic methods to improve transparency of the review process, reduce reviewer bias, and ensure the project’s findings are robust and comprehensive of existing evidence. Statistical analyses will investigate how intervention design features, student demographics, and the implementation context may help explain why some studies show stronger effects than others. The project team will leverage university partnerships, peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and media outlets to broadly disseminate findings to researchers and practitioners, promoting evidence based classroom practices at scale. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program 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.

本项目旨在通过综合有关课堂干预如何提高科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域本科生的激励结果（如兴趣）和保留率的经验证据，为国家利益服务。该项目侧重于培养传统上在STEM中代表性不足的本科生（如女性、黑人、西班牙裔和美国印第安人学生、低收入家庭学生、第一代学生）的成功方法。这些群体的低STEM学位完成率继续阻碍着教育公平的机构努力和国家解决STEM劳动力需求的努力。令人鼓舞的是，越来越多的研究证据表明，可塑教学实践和轻触式动机干预可以提高这些学生的成绩、动机和记忆力。本项目旨在通过以下几个关键方式建立和扩展相关的先前综合：(a)综合本科STEM课堂中出现的更广泛的干预措施；(b)关注与STEM课程的保留率和实际保留率相关的激励因素的影响，作为主要结果（而不是STEM课程的学习成绩）；(c)确定产生最强效果的特定干预成分。该项目的重点是在本科课堂上测试干预措施，这将有助于为STEM教授提供可操作的见解，以设计他们的课程和改变他们的教学，以提高本科生对STEM的积极性和保留率。本项目旨在通过综合两个主要独立的本科STEM课堂干预文献(a)动机干预（例如，价值观肯定）和(b)教学干预（例如，主动学习），在理论和实践上为该领域做出贡献。综合将包括对这些干预措施的实验和准实验评估，重点关注保留效果（例如，参加下一个STEM课程，以STEM学位毕业）和与保留相关的动机因素（例如，兴趣，自我效能感，归属感）。项目团队将使用严格的系统审查和元分析方法来提高审查过程的透明度，减少审稿人的偏见，并确保项目的发现是可靠的，并且是现有证据的综合。统计分析将调查干预设计的特点、学生人口统计和实施背景如何有助于解释为什么一些研究显示出比其他研究更强的效果。项目团队将利用大学合作伙伴关系、同行评议期刊、会议和媒体渠道，向研究人员和从业者广泛传播研究结果，大规模推广基于证据的课堂实践。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。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。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。