HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Strengthening Teaching and Advancing Research Partnerships to Reinforce the STEM Workforce

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，波多黎各大学阿瓜迪拉分校的这个项目旨在了解改善STEM本科教育的因素，并帮助波多黎各的西班牙裔学生在他们的STEM课程中取得成功。它将通过帮助教师开发和实施基于证据的教学实践来改善学生的学习，并为学生提供参与本科研究经验和实习的高影响力实践的机会来实现这一目标。该项目的创新之处在于与其他联邦机构（如美国农业部和食品和药物管理局）以及宾夕法尼亚州立大学（一所主要的研究型大学）的合作。该项目将回答以下研究问题：(i)哪些基于证据的主动学习策略和干预措施在hsi中是成功的？（ii）哪些机构项目可以提高STEM专业学生的保留率和毕业率？两个目标指导加强教学和推进研究伙伴关系（STARp）项目。首先是在守门员STEM课程中实施新的主动学习教学法，以提高STEM专业学生的保留率。二是让学生参与本科研究和公民科学项目，以增强他们对STEM教育的坚持和对STEM职业道路的追求。STARp项目将使用基于证据的方法，这些方法已被证明可以提高STEM中传统上代表性不足群体的学生成功率。这个项目将通过使用翻转课堂的方法来改善本科教育，教授在课堂外讲授课程内容，然后在课堂上让学生参与解决问题。此外，STARp项目将为研究和实习提供体验机会，以改善学生向研究生课程和STEM劳动力的过渡。它还将通过公民科学项目瞄准关键的二年级到三年级的过渡，在这些项目中，本科生训练并领导高中生创建一个以社区为基础的研究项目。这个为期五年的项目将确定培养学生继续研究生学习和/或融入STEM劳动力的兴趣的因素。将采用混合方法研究方法来评估每种干预措施的影响。STARp项目采用的策略旨在扩大STEM领域的代表性。研究结果有望作为其他西班牙裔服务机构（hsi）的榜样，以克服本科生在STEM领域取得成功的障碍。项目的最佳策略、活动和成功将在出版物、网页和社交媒体上分享。STARp项目产生的知识有可能为多样化的STEM劳动力做出贡献。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的研究，(2)关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与的研究，以及(3)提高我们对如何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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this project from the University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla aims to understand factors that improve STEM undergraduate education and help Hispanic students of Puerto Rico succeed in their STEM courses of study. It will do so by helping faculty members develop and implement evidence-based teaching practices to improve student learning and by providing opportunities for students to engage in the high impact practices of undergraduate research experiences and internships. Innovative aspects of this project are the collaborations with other federal agencies (e.g. the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration) and Pennsylvania State University, a major research-intensive university. The project will answer the research questions: (i) What evidence-based active learning strategies and interventions are successful at HSIs? (ii) What institutional programs lead to increased retention and graduation rates for students majoring in STEM fields?Two goals guide the Strengthening Teaching and Advancing Research Partnerships(STARp) project. First is to implement new active learning pedagogies in gatekeeper STEM courses to increase the retention of students in STEM majors. Second is to involve students in undergraduate research and citizen science projects to increase their persistence in STEM education and pursuit of STEM career paths. The STARp project will use evidence-based approaches that have been shown to improve student success of traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. This project will improve undergraduate education by using the flipped classroom approach where the professor delivers course content outside the classroom and then engages students in live problem-solving during class time. In addition, the STARp project will provide experiential opportunities for research and internships to improve students’ transition to graduate programs and the STEM workforce. It will also target the critical second-to-third year transition through citizen science projects in which undergraduate students train and lead high school students in their creation of a community-based research project. The five-year project will identify factors that develop student interest to continue postgraduate studies and/or integration into the STEM workforce. A mixed methods research approach will be used to assess the impact of each intervention. The strategies employed by the STARp project are aimed to broaden representation in the STEM fields. The results are expected to be used as models for other Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) seeking to overcome obstacles to undergraduate student success in STEM. The project’s best strategies, activities, and success will be shared in publications, web pages, and social media. The knowledge generated by the STARp project has the potential to contribute to a diversified STEM Workforce. 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 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. 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.