Creating HSI Opportunities for Research and Undergraduate Support

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构”（HSI计划）的支持下，这个第二轨道项目旨在增加STEM专业首次招收的有色人种学生，增加STEM专业学生的持久性，并提高学生在西山学院Coalinga（加州中央山谷的一所两年制农村社区学院）中将自己想象成STEM专业人士的能力。与stem学科相关的学术严谨性可能令人生畏，并影响有色人种学生申报stem专业的可能性，并影响他们的保留率。为了给对STEM感兴趣的学生创造一个平稳的上坡，为保留STEM专业的学生提供支持系统，并培养学生作为STEM专业人士的认同感，为研究和本科生支持创造HSI机会（CHORUS）项目整合了一些机制，如为首次学习STEM专业的学生提供点对点指导，有色人种的STEM专业演讲者，以及stem教师指导的研究活动，最终形成年度虚拟研讨会，重点介绍全年进行的学生研究。CHORUS项目将通过举办焦点小组来确定整合到CHORUS项目中对个人有意义和影响的实践，从而尊重学生的声音。就其更广泛的影响而言，CHORUS项目将展示农村社区学院在培养STEM专业学生、提高转学准备以及为学生在STEM职业生涯中取得成功做好准备方面所发挥的作用。为研究和本科生支持创造HSI机会（CHORUS）项目将研究该项目对加州中央山谷一所两年制社区学院STEM学生入学、保留和完成的影响，以及对学生STEM身份的影响。研究的核心问题是：参与早期STEM活动在多大程度上导致拉丁裔学生对STEM的兴趣、招募、坚持和认同发生变化？该项目旨在调查文化响应实践对STEM身份的影响，包括点对点基于力量的指导，与有色人种STEM专业人士的联系，以及参与教师指导的本科生研究。采用准实验设计，调查将比较合唱和非合唱学生的STEM认同和STEM动机。调查结果将揭示本科生研究和同伴指导对stem专业的入学、保留和完成的影响，并打算在期刊出版物和会议演讲中分享结果。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to increase recruitment of first-time students of color in STEM-majors, increase fall-to-fall persistence of STEM-majors, and elevate student’s ability to envision themselves as STEM professionals at West Hills College Coalinga, a 2-year rural community college in California’s Central Valley. The academic rigor associated with STEM-disciplines can be intimidating and impacts the likelihood of a student of color declaring a STEM-major and affects their retention. To create smooth onramps for students interested in STEM, support systems for retaining STEM-majors, and cultivate students sense of identity as a STEM professional, the Creating HSI Opportunities for Research and Undergraduate Support (CHORUS) project integrates mechanisms such as peer-to-peer mentoring for first-time STEM-majors, professional STEM speakers of color, and STEM-faculty guided research activities that culminate in an annual Virtual Symposium spotlighting students research conducted throughout the year. The CHORUS project will honor the student voice by holding focus groups to identify practices integrated into the CHORUS project that are personally meaningful and impactful. In terms of its broader impact, the CHORUS project will demonstrate the role rural community colleges play in nurturing STEM-majors, improving transfer readiness, and preparing students for success in STEM careers.The Creating HSI Opportunities for Research and Undergraduate Support (CHORUS) project will examine the impacts of the project on STEM student enrollment, retention, and completion and the effect on students’ STEM identity at a 2-year community college in California’s Central Valley. The central research question is: To what degree does participation in early STEM activities lead to changes in STEM interest, recruitment, persistence, and identity in Latinx students? The project seeks to investigate the efficacy of culturally responsive practices on STEM identity including, peer-to-peer strength-based mentoring, connections with STEM professionals of color, and engagement in faculty-guided undergraduate research. Using a quasi-experimental design, the investigation will compare CHORUS and non-CHORUS students on STEM Identity and STEM motivation. The findings from the investigation will reveal the impact of undergraduate research and peer mentoring on enrollment, retention, and completion of STEM-majors with the intention to share the outcomes in journal publications and conference presentations. 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.