HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: FUERTE: Fostering Undergraduate Education, Retention and Transfer Environments

HSI 实施和评估项目：FUERTE：促进本科教育、保留和转学环境

• 批准号: 2122658
• 负责人: Juan Ocampo
• 金额: $ 99.92万
• 依托单位: St Mary's University San Antonio
• 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=2122658&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: HSI; Implementation; Evaluation; Project; FUERTE

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2: Implementation and Evaluation Project will increase the number of Latinx students who obtain baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields, including both those who enter St. Mary’s University as first-time freshmen and those who transfer from their partner, Northwest Vista College. Research indicates that Latinx students are underrepresented in the STEM workforce. A major reason for this discrepancy is that too few are earning four-year degrees in STEM majors. Not only does this restrict the range of occupational opportunities available to them, but it also attenuates their social mobility. Rectifying this problem requires understanding the root causes of differential outcomes of schooling. At the system level, Latinx students confront barriers associated with the transfer process, misaligned curricula, pedagogies unsuitable for Latinx students’ needs and experiences, and advising processes that are difficult to negotiate. At the individual level, many have internalized stereotypes that deflate their self-confidence and undermine their image of themselves as future scientists. Effective responses, therefore, must start with acknowledging that any efforts to scaffold student development must be supplemented by institutional adaptation. This project fully embraces this reality, and the activities proposed reflect research advancements that call for culturally responsive pedagogy, streamlining of the transfer process, developmentally appropriate advising, student-faculty research, and peer mentoring. Through these efforts, the aim is to produce educational outcomes that are more equitable and just while also facilitating the upward social mobility of their Latinx students.The specific aims of the project are 1) to support the transfer of students from a two-year to a four-year institution by creating a seamless transfer pathway, 2) to create culturally responsive classroom environments and a system of student support services, 3) to facilitate student progression through STEM majors, and 4) to build competency in STEM. Social cognitive theory is applied toward adapting institutional processes to foster improved attributional tendencies, a heightened sense of competence in science, and stronger feelings of self-efficacy, which will lead Latinx students to persist to the point of earning a STEM degree. Because of their research design, straightforward connections can be made between changes in student-level characteristics, such as self-efficacy, and the probability of desirable academic outcomes. The findings from this project will make a significant contribution to the literature by extending what is known about social cognitive theory to a distinctly Latinx campus. Ultimately, 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. Supported by the HSI Program, we will 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，第2轨：实施和评估项目将增加获得STEM领域学士学位的拉丁裔学生数量，包括那些进入玛丽大学的学生作为第一次新生和从合作伙伴西北维斯塔学院转学的学生。 研究表明，拉丁裔学生在STEM劳动力中的代表性不足。造成这种差异的一个主要原因是，很少有人在STEM专业获得四年制学位。这不仅限制了她们可获得的职业机会的范围，而且也削弱了她们的社会流动性。纠正这一问题需要了解学校教育结果不同的根源。在系统层面上，拉丁裔学生面临的障碍与转移过程中，不一致的课程，不适合拉丁裔学生的需求和经验，并建议过程中，很难谈判。在个人层面上，许多人已经内化了刻板印象，这些刻板印象削弱了他们的自信，破坏了他们作为未来科学家的形象。因此，有效的应对措施必须首先承认，任何促进学生发展的努力都必须辅之以机构适应。该项目完全接受这一现实，提出的活动反映了研究的进步，要求文化上敏感的教学法，简化转让过程，发展适当的咨询，学生教师的研究，和同行指导。通过这些努力，目的是产生更公平和公正的教育成果，同时也促进拉丁裔学生的社会向上流动。该项目的具体目标是：1）通过创建无缝转移途径，支持学生从两年制院校转到四年制院校，2）创建文化适应的课堂环境和学生支持服务系统，3）通过STEM专业促进学生的进步，以及4）建立STEM能力。社会认知理论被应用于适应制度过程，以促进改善归因倾向，提高科学能力感，以及更强的自我效能感，这将导致拉丁裔学生坚持到获得STEM学位的地步。由于他们的研究设计，可以在学生水平特征（如自我效能）的变化与理想学术成果的可能性之间建立直接的联系。从这个项目的研究结果将作出重大贡献的文献，通过扩展什么是已知的社会认知理论，以一个明显的拉丁校园。最终，HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立HSI的能力。实现这些目标，鉴于不同的性质和背景下的HSIs，需要创新的方法，激励机构和社区转型，促进基础研究（一）参与学生学习，（二）关于如何有效地多样化和增加STEM的参与，以及（三）提高我们对如何在HSIs建立机构能力的理解。在HSI计划的支持下，我们将从这些方法中汲取新的知识，以实现这些目标。该奖项反映了NSF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。