Improving student success in completing science degrees and entry into the science workforce through collaborative student peer-teaching and improving science identity

通过学生同伴教学和提高科学认同，提高学生完成科学学位和进入科学劳动力的成功率

• 批准号: 2130006
• 负责人: Scott Kreher
• 金额: $ 74.65万
• 依托单位: Dominican University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2028-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2130006&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; student; success; completing; science

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. Dominican University is a liberal arts and sciences university which is also a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 16 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Biology-Chemistry, and Chemistry. First-year students will receive four-year scholarships. The project will include academic support with collaborative faculty-student teaching, known as Peer-led team learning support, a cohort experience through common courses, a four-year learning community-style course, faculty mentoring, and supported research experiences. A unique feature of this project will be a combination of academic and sociocultural supports, such as activities designed to improve science identity and feelings of connection and inclusion in the field of science. Dominican University has a large population of students who are female, Hispanic/Latinx, and are from low-income families, and supporting these students will diversify the science workforce. The findings of this project will be of interest to universities with similarly diverse student populations.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. In addition to supporting a cohort of students in successfully earning STEM degrees, a second project goal is to support entry of graduating students into the STEM workforce or graduate/professional programs. Other project goals include increasing knowledge of how interventions can increase student persistence through academic support, improved science identity, and improved science efficacy as well as increased institutional capacity in supporting students with financial need. While there is growing evidence that certain forms of academic support can improve persistence and student success, less is known about how academic support combined with psychosocial interventions can improve science identity, science efficacy, which in turn can improve degree completion and entry into scientific careers. The research design and implementation of this project is grounded in constructivist and sociocultural theories of learning. The expected outcomes, based on theory and previous empirical results, are that course-based interventions, trained faculty mentoring, and academic support through Peer-led Team Learning will improve student persistence by improving those students’ science identity. The project will be evaluated through several forms of evidence, including analysis of student transcripts, student career choices, faculty data, and student interview data. The project results will be disseminated by presentation at regional and national academic conferences such as the Chicago Math and Science Symposium series and the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research Annual Conference. Additionally, project results will be published in science discipline-based education research journals, such as the journal CBE – Life Sciences Education and The Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.

该项目将有助于对受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员的国家需求，通过支持高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业，证明经济需要在多米尼加大学在河森林，IL。多米尼加大学是一所文科和理科大学，也是西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）。在6年的时间里，该项目将为16名正在攻读生物学，生物化学和化学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。一年级学生将获得四年奖学金。该项目将包括学术支持与师生合作教学，被称为同行领导的团队学习支持，通过共同课程，为期四年的学习社区式课程，教师指导，并支持研究经验的队列经验。该项目的一个独特之处是将学术和社会文化支持相结合，例如旨在提高科学认同感和科学领域的联系和包容感的活动。多米尼加大学拥有大量的女性，西班牙裔/拉丁裔学生，来自低收入家庭，支持这些学生将使科学劳动力多样化。该项目的研究结果将对拥有类似多样化学生群体的大学感兴趣。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生完成STEM学位的人数。除了支持一批学生成功获得STEM学位外，第二个项目目标是支持即将毕业的学生进入STEM劳动力或研究生/专业课程。其他项目目标包括增加干预措施如何通过学术支持，提高科学身份，提高科学效率以及提高机构能力，以支持有经济需要的学生提高学生的持久性的知识。虽然有越来越多的证据表明，某些形式的学术支持可以提高持久性和学生的成功，但很少有人知道学术支持与心理社会干预相结合如何提高科学身份，科学效能，这反过来又可以提高学位完成率和进入科学生涯。本计画的研究设计与实施是以建构主义与社会文化为基础 学习理论。根据理论和以往的实证结果，预期的结果是，基于课程的干预措施，训练有素的教师指导，并通过同行领导的团队学习学术支持，将提高学生的科学身份，提高学生的持久性。该项目将通过几种形式的证据进行评估，包括对学生成绩单，学生职业选择，教师数据和学生访谈数据的分析。项目成果将通过在区域和国家学术会议上介绍加以传播，如芝加哥数学和科学研讨会系列和生物教育研究促进学会年会。此外，项目成果将发表在以科学学科为基础的教育研究期刊上，如CBE -生命科学教育杂志和微生物学和生物学教育杂志。该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并提供有关低收入学生的学术成功、保留、转学、毕业和学术/职业途径的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并且通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。