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

在改进的本科STEM教育：拉美裔服务机构(HSI计划)的支持下，波多黎各大学阿瓜迪利亚分校的这个项目旨在了解改善STEM本科教育的因素，并帮助波多黎各的拉美裔学生在STEM课程中取得成功。它将通过帮助教职员工开发和实施循证教学实践来改善学生的学习，并通过为学生提供机会参与本科生研究经历和实习的高影响力实践来做到这一点。该项目的创新方面是与其他联邦机构(如美国农业部和食品和药物管理局)和宾夕法尼亚州立大学的合作，宾夕法尼亚州立大学是一所主要的研究密集型大学。该项目将回答以下研究问题：(I)哪些循证的积极学习策略和干预措施在HSIS是成功的？(2)哪些机构方案能够提高STEM专业学生的留校率和毕业率？加强教学和推进研究伙伴关系(STARP)项目有两个目标。首先是在把关STEM课程中实施新的主动学习教学法，以增加STEM专业学生的留存率。第二，让学生参与本科生研究和公民科学项目，增加他们对STEM教育的坚持不懈和对STEM职业道路的追求。STARP项目将使用基于证据的方法，这种方法已被证明可以提高STEM中传统上代表性不足的群体的学生成功。这个项目将通过使用翻转课堂的方法来改善本科教育，在这种方法中，教授在课堂外讲授课程内容，然后在课堂时间让学生参与现场问题解决。此外，STARP项目将为研究和实习提供经验机会，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第二到第三年的过渡，在公民科学项目中，本科生培训和领导高中生创建基于社区的研究项目。这项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。将使用混合方法研究方法来评估每项干预措施的影响。STARP项目所采用的战略旨在扩大STEM领域的代表性。这一结果有望为其他拉美裔服务机构(HSI)提供借鉴，以期克服本科生在STEM取得成功的障碍。该项目的最佳战略、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计划旨在加强本科生STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建设HSIS的能力。鉴于高等教育机构的不同性质和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法，以激励机构和社区变革，并促进基础研究(I)关于学生参与式学习，(Ii)关于如何有效地多样化和增加对STEM的参与，以及(Iii)提高我们对如何建设机构能力的理解。HSI计划支持的项目也将从这些方法中获得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优势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.