Humanistic STEM: Blending Humanities and STEM to Increase Undergraduate Student Engagement, Knowledge, and Skills

本项目旨在通过改善本科STEM教育服务于国家利益。为此，它将开发、分发和研究一种可转移的人文STEM （H-STEM）本科课程模式，将人文科学与STEM相结合。H-STEM被定义为“对科学、技术、工程和数学的研究，以及对人类事务、福利、价值观或文化的兴趣和关注的融合。”H-STEM突出了人文学科与STEM之间的联系，同时强化了两者的相关性。该项目将支持不同层次的H-STEM课程开发，从课程中实施的单个模块到完整的H-STEM课程，以及H-STEM本科辅修课程。项目目标还包括发展人文STEM中心，以促进其他大学人文学科和STEM学科的整合。STEM领域的雇主强调学生需要培养创造性解决问题、批判性思维、道德推理和沟通等技能。这些技能通常在人文课程中得到最好的发展。参与该项目的院校将努力在各种院校类型中实施H-STEM，以培养准备更充分的STEM劳动力。H-STEM是对两个主要问题的有针对性的回应：(1)将知识和技能的方式错误地分为以人文学科为中心或以STEM为中心，这种情况因院校的竖井而加剧；(2)贬低与人文学科相关的技能，认为它们对STEM学生不那么重要，甚至不相关。这个项目产生的最重要的成果将是一个混合人文学科和STEM内容的模型，使学生更深入地认识到这些元学科之间的联系。H-STEM还可以让学生更深刻地理解他们在课程中获得的技能和能力的广泛适用性。项目领导将制定一个评估框架，该框架将使用直接的经验数据来衡量项目影响并为未来的行动提供信息。来自试点的证据表明，H-STEM学生可以应用在学术环境中获得的跨学科知识、概念、技能和探究方法，对复杂的问题和情况做出创造性的反应。这些技能使学生能够将他们的技术能力与创造性和批判性思维技能相结合，这些技能对于在美国任何STEM领域取得持续成功都越来越重要。广泛实施H-STEM的预期结果将是培养出更符合行业领导者期望的以stem为重点的毕业生，他们拥有必要的技术技能，并具有更强的同理心、更精细的沟通技巧和更丰富的文化多样性。这些成果将在学生工作以外的生活领域发挥充分作用，无论学科、学习者水平或劳动力部门如何。通过针对各种学术受众的传播计划，以及由多种机构类型组成的财团的形成，该框架有可能对多种学生群体产生重大影响。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate STEM education. To do so, it will develop, distribute, and research a transferable Humanistic STEM (H-STEM) undergraduate curriculum model that blends humanities and STEM. H-STEM is defined as “a blending of the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with interest in, and concern for, human affairs, welfare, values, or culture.” H-STEM highlights connections between humanities and STEM, while reinforcing the relevance of each. The project will support different levels of H-STEM curriculum development, from individual modules for implementation within a course to full H-STEM courses, as well as an H-STEM undergraduate minor. Project goals also include the development of the Humanistic STEM Center to facilitate integration of the humanities and STEM disciplines at other universities. Employers in STEM fields have stressed the need for students to develop skills such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and communication. These are skills are often best developed in humanities courses. The institutions participating in this project will work to implement H-STEM at a variety of institutional types to create a better prepared STEM workforce.H-STEM is a targeted response to two main concerns: (1) a false dichotomization of ways of knowing and skills as either humanities- or STEM-focused, a situation exacerbated by institutional silos; and (2) the devaluing of skills associated with the humanities as less important, or even irrelevant, to STEM students. The most significant product resulting from this project will be a model for blending humanities and STEM content in ways that result in students achieving a deeper realization of the connections between these meta-disciplines. H-STEM can also lead to more profound student understanding of the wide applicability of the skills and competencies they acquire in their courses. Project leadership will develop an assessment framework that will use direct empirical data to measure project impact and inform future action. Evidence from a pilot shows that H-STEM students can apply interdisciplinary knowledge, concepts, skills, and methods of inquiry attained in academic settings to produce creative responses to complex problems and situations. These skills allow the students to blend their technical competence with the creative and critical thinking skills that are increasingly essential for continued success in any STEM field in the United States. The anticipated result of broad implementation of H-STEM will be STEM-focused graduates who are more closely aligned with the expectations of industry leaders, possess the requisite technical skills, and have increased capacity for empathy, refined communication skills, and rich exposure to cultural diversity. These outcomes will have full utility in areas of student lives beyond their jobs, regardless of discipline, learner level or workforce sector. Through a dissemination plan that targets a variety of academic audiences, and the formation of a consortium comprising multiple institutional types, this framework has the potential to significantly impact multiple student populations. 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.