HSI Pilot Project: College of Alameda Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Connect

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划），这个轨道1项目旨在增加拉丁裔学生在阿拉米达（CoA）STEM课程学院的入学率，并影响网关STEM课程的成功率和保留率。数学工程科学成就（梅萨）连接计划将激发学生对应用STEM学习的兴趣，并通过基于课程的本科研究经验（CURES）教授他们STEM调查和研究的基础知识，这些经验将被编织到他们的秋季学期课程中。该项目有四个目标：（1）通过试点和评估夏季STEM发现研究所和实习，扩大STEM学位课程的参与;（2）通过设计一个第一年的学习社区，将CURE纳入生物学，化学，CIS和数学入门课程，改善STEM教学和学习;（3）提供全面的学生支持服务，包括学术辅导，专业和近同行指导，教师咨询，转移支持服务，校园健康资源和经济援助;以及（4）与CSUEB合作，建设机构能力，以提供和分析文化上知情的STEM教学。对梅萨Connect的评估将有助于增加有关CURE及其对拉丁裔社区大学生的重要性的知识，特别是当CURE设计具有文化相关性和重要性时。形成性评价将考虑项目是否按计划进行，是否具有文化能力和忠于循证实践的既定意图。总结性评估将考察项目参与者是否实现了预期的试点成果，包括定性学术（课程完成）和定性STEM相关（职业兴趣，对核心概念的理解）成果，以及项目是否有助于实现其对学位获得和转移的预期长期影响。定量分析将比较参与Latinx学生的成果与整体大学成果，定性分析将以学生的文化背景为基础，衡量项目和学生体验背景下试点干预措施的有效性。对这一主题的文献的贡献将回答研究问题：什么是参与STEM学习社区丰富的文化知情的CURE对拉丁美洲社区大学学生的意识和决定追求STEM教育和职业的影响？加深对 在文化上适当的治愈环境中， 转学途径将使那些来自STEM领域代表性不足的学生受益，他们开始在社区学院接受中学后教育。传播计划将包括在社区学院本科生研究倡议等国家网络上的介绍。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立HSI的能力。实现这些目标，鉴于不同的性质和背景下的HSIs，需要创新的方法，激励机构和社区转型，促进基础研究（一）参与学生学习，（二）关于如何有效地多样化和增加STEM的参与，以及（三）提高我们对如何在HSIs建立机构能力的理解。HSI计划所支持的项目也将从这些方法中汲取经验，以产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。该奖项反映了NSF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。

With support from Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project aims to increase the enrollment of Latinx students in College of Alameda (CoA) STEM programs and impact rates of success and retention in gateway STEM courses. The Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Connect program will excite students about applied STEM learning and teach them the fundamentals of STEM inquiry and research through Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) that will be woven into their fall semester courses. The project has four objectives: (1) broaden participation in STEM degree programs by piloting and evaluating a summer STEM Discovery Institute and internships; (2) improve STEM teaching and learning by designing a first-year learning community that incorporates CUREs in introductory Biology, Chemistry, CIS and Math courses; (3) deliver comprehensive student support services, including academic tutoring, professional and near peer mentoring, faculty advising, transfer support services, campus health resources and financial aid; and (4) in collaboration with CSUEB, build institutional capacity to both deliver and analyze culturally informed STEM instruction.The evaluation of MESA Connect will contribute to a growing body of knowledge about CUREs and their importance to Latinx community college students, particularly when CURE design is culturally relevant and significant. The formative evaluation will consider whether the project is being conducted as planned and with the stated intentions of cultural competency and fidelity to evidence-based practices. The summative evaluation will look at whether project participants achieved the intended pilot outcomes, including qualitative academic (course completion) and qualitative STEM-related (career interest, understanding of core concepts) outcomes, and whether the project contributed toward its intended long- term impact on degree attainment and transfer. Quantitative analysis will compare participating Latinx student outcomes with overall college outcomes, and qualitative analysis will be grounded in students’ cultural backgrounds, measuring the effectiveness of the pilot interventions within the context of the project and the student experience. Contributions to the literature on this topic will answer the research question: What is the impact of participation in a STEM learning community enriched by culturally informed CUREs on Latinx community college students’ awareness of and decision to pursue STEM education and careers? Deepening understanding of culturally appropriate CUREs in the context of a transfer pathway will benefit students from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM who begin their post-secondary education in the community college. The dissemination plan will include presentations at national networks, such as the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.