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

在“改善本科 STEM 教育：西班牙裔服务机构”（HSI 计划）的支持下，该轨道 1 项目旨在增加阿拉米达学院 (CoA) STEM 项目中拉丁裔学生的入学率，并影响入门 STEM 课程的成功率和保留率。数学工程科学成就 (MESA) 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生研究经验 (CURE) 教授他们 STEM 探究和研究的基础知识，这些经验将融入他们的秋季学期课程。该项目有四个目标：(1) 通过试点和评估夏季 STEM 探索学院和实习，扩大对 STEM 学位课程的参与； (2) 通过设计一年级学习社区，将 CURE 纳入生物学入门课程、化学、CIS 和数学课程中，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、专业和近同伴指导、教师咨询、转学支持服务、校园卫生资源和经济援助； (4) 与 CSUEB 合作，建设机构能力，以提供和分析文化背景下的 STEM 教学。MESA Connect 的评估将有助于增加有关 CURE 的知识体系及其对拉丁裔社区学院学生的重要性，特别是当 CURE 设计具有文化相关性和重要性时。形成性评估将考虑项目是否按计划进行，是否具有文化能力和对循证实践的忠诚度的既定意图。总结性评估将着眼于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，以及项目是否对其对学位获得和转学的预期长期影响做出了贡献。定量分析将比较参与的拉丁裔学生的成绩与整体大学成绩，定性分析将基于学生的文化背景，衡量项目背景下试点干预措施和学生体验的有效性。对此主题的文献贡献将回答以下研究问题：参与由文化丰富的 CURE 丰富的 STEM 学习社区对拉丁裔社区学院学生追求 STEM 教育和职业的意识和决定有何影响？在转学途径的背景下加深对文化上适当的 CURE 的理解将使来自 STEM 背景的学生受益，这些学生在社区学院开始接受高等教育。传播计划将包括在国家网络上的演示，例如社区学院本科生研究计划。 HSI 计划旨在加强本科 STEM 教育、扩大 STEM 参与并建设 HSI 的能力。考虑到 HSI 的多样性和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法来激励机构和社区转型，并促进基础研究 (i) 关于学生的积极学习，(ii) 如何有效地实现 STEM 多样化和增加参与，以及 (iii) 提高我们对如何建设 HSI 机构能力的理解。 HSI 计划支持的项目也将从这些方法中汲取灵感，以产生有关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。

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.