Creating Pathways to Increase Retention and Transfer Rates of STEM Majors at Two Los Angeles-Based Hispanic Serving Institutions

创造途径提高洛杉矶两家拉美裔服务机构 STEM 专业的保留率和转学率

• 批准号: 2121999
• 负责人: Becky Green-Marroquin
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: Los Angeles Valley College
• 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: 2021-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2121999&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Creating; Pathways; Increase; Retention; Transfer

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to address the problem of low retention and transfer rates of underrepresented minorities in STEM at two sister Hispanic Serving Community Colleges in Los Angeles (Los Angeles Valley College-LAVC and Los Angeles Pierce College-LPC). Between LAVC and LAPC, Biology is the most selected STEM major (and third largest major overall), yet only 17-20% of students (a majority of whom are under-represented) complete the degree or transfer as a STEM major. Partnering with the University of Southern California (4-year university) and Bioscience LA (life science workforce development organization), this project will support 176 LAVC/LAPC students over three years using research-backed intervention methods designed to retain and attract students in STEM. Recruitment will target new students for early engagement in activities that will include academic resources and transfer support that scaffold onto new, modified, or existing courses at LAVC/LAPC. Activities will also include research experiences, internship opportunities, and introductions to a broad network of STEM academic and industry professionals. Anticipated outcomes include higher retention of LAVC/LAPC students in STEM, higher transfer rates to 4-year institutions as STEM majors, and insights into actual and perceived barriers for program administrators to inform ongoing intervention strategies.Two leading research questions guide the framework of this program: 1) Which factors most influence the decision of under-represented students to persist in STEM; and 2) How can the educational experience of STEM students at 2-yr institutions be improved to increase persistence? This program will apply interventions to improve student performance and motivation, with the goal of improving the retention and transfer rates of marginalized students. Strategies will include exposure to diverse career paths, academic coaching, developing a learning community, faculty and near-peer mentoring, early exposure to research experiences, and an immersive opportunity at a research field station. Quantitative data from program evaluations will document the impact of these early interventions on student retention and persistence. Qualitative data via focus groups will provide insight on additional impact factors and outcomes of the program. Results will be disseminated via NSF annual reports, presentations at regional and national conferences with sessions that focus on STEM education and partner institution’s websites. 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.

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，这个第二轨项目旨在解决洛杉矶两所姐妹西班牙裔服务社区学院（洛杉矶山谷学院和洛杉矶皮尔斯学院）STEM中代表性不足的少数族裔保留率和转学率低的问题。在LAVC和LAPC之间，生物学是最受欢迎的STEM专业（也是第三大专业），但只有17-20%的学生（其中大多数代表性不足）完成学位或转学为STEM专业。该项目与南加州大学（四年制大学）和生物科学LA（生命科学劳动力发展组织）合作，将在三年内为176名LAVC/LAPC学生提供支持，采用旨在留住和吸引STEM学生的研究支持干预方法。招生将针对新生进行早期活动，包括学术资源和转移支持，以支撑LAVC/LAPC的新课程、修改课程或现有课程。活动还将包括研究经验、实习机会，以及介绍STEM学术和行业专业人士的广泛网络。预期的结果包括，LAVC/LAPC学生在STEM专业的保留率更高，转到四年制大学STEM专业的转学率更高，以及项目管理者对实际和感知障碍的洞察，从而为持续的干预策略提供信息。两个主要的研究问题指导了该计划的框架：1)哪些因素对代表性不足的学生坚持STEM的决定影响最大；2)如何改善STEM学生在两年制教育机构的教育经历，以增加持久性？该计划将采用干预措施来提高学生的表现和积极性，目标是提高边缘化学生的留校率和转学率。策略将包括接触不同的职业道路、学术指导、发展学习社区、教师和同伴指导、早期接触研究经验，以及在研究现场站获得身临其境的机会。来自项目评估的定量数据将记录这些早期干预对学生保留和坚持的影响。通过焦点小组获得的定性数据将提供对项目的其他影响因素和结果的见解。研究结果将通过美国国家科学基金会的年度报告、以STEM教育为重点的地区和国家会议的演讲以及合作机构的网站进行传播。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM参与，并在HSI进行能力建设。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(1)关于参与式学生学习，(2)关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与，以及(3)提高我们对如何在hsi建立机构能力的理解。HSI计划支持的项目也将借鉴这些方法，为如何实现这些目标提供新的知识。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。