Building Capacity to Develop Community-Engaged STEM Learning as an Institutional Transformative Mechanism

该项目旨在通过将STEM学习与以社区为导向的问题解决、循证决策、批判性思维和公民责任的发展相结合，服务于国家利益。该项目计划建设机构能力，以创造社区参与学习(CEL)的身临其境的环境，并改变STEM教育。通过与社区合作伙伴的合作，学生将利用他们在STEM领域的知识和技能来解决许多少数族裔社区面临的问题，特别是与新冠肺炎大流行相关的不平等问题和受影响社区在大流行后的复兴。该项目将直接解决少数族裔和其他未得到充分服务的学生面临的挑战，包括粮食不安全和心理健康问题，以增强他们在STEM领域取得成功的韧性、信心和毅力。该项目将在健康和医疗保健差距、环境和营养不平等、社会正义和平等权利等领域对少数民族和移民社区产生积极影响。该项目将聘请STEM教员、社会科学家和学生事务工作人员组成的跨学科团队，通过STEM和人文、艺术和社会科学(HASS)领域的CEL课程为学生提供身临其境的环境，这将导致STEM教育的持续变革和强有力的进步。跨学科性将是该项目的一个关键组成部分，因为HASS课程将使学生在应用STEM知识解决这些问题时能够理解复杂的社会和社区问题。STEM解决方案将放在社区的社会和文化背景下。该项目的目标包括1)在NJCU创造一个身临其境的CEL环境，在STEM和HASS中提供广泛的以CEL为重点的课程和课程，以改变学生在本科STEM教育中的体验；2)建立一个全面的支持系统，赋予教师、学生和社区接受CEL的能力，并促进学生在STEM中的成功；3)促进NJCU作为一个杰出的“地方管家”，以科学和基于证据的方法满足社区的需求，造福和贡献少数族裔社区；以及4)开展跨学科和社区-机构伙伴关系的研究，为CEL建立以证据为基础的最佳实践，并在大学和周围社区催化可持续变革。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区转变和改善STEM教育的努力。该项目也得到了NSF IUSE：HSI项目的支持，该项目旨在加强本科生STEM教育，扩大对STEM的参与，并建设HSIS的能力。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by integrating STEM learning with community-oriented problem solving, evidence-based decision making, critical thinking, and the development of civic duties. The project plans to build institutional capacity to create an immersive environment of community-engaged learning (CEL) and to transform STEM education. Working collaboratively with community partners, students will use their knowledge and skills in STEM fields to address issues facing many minority communities, particularly inequity issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic rejuvenation of affected communities. This project will directly tackle the challenges faced by minority and other underserved students, including food insecurity and mental health issues, to enhance their resilience, confidence, and persistence to succeed in STEM fields. The project will have a positive impact on minority and immigrant communities in areas of health and healthcare disparity, environmental and nutritional inequity, social justice, and equal rights. The project will engage an interdisciplinary team of STEM faculty, social scientists, and student affairs staff to provide students with an immersive environment through CEL courses in both STEM and humanities, arts, and social science (HASS) fields, which will lead to sustained change and a powerful advancement in STEM education. Interdisciplinarity will be a key component in this project, as the HASS courses will allow students to understand complex societal and community issues as they apply STEM knowledge to address those issues. The STEM solutions will be placed in the social and cultural contexts of the communities. The objectives of this project include 1) to create an immersive CEL environment at NJCU that offers broad CEL-focused courses and curricula in STEM and HASS to transform the student experience in undergraduate STEM education; 2) to build a holistic support system to empower faculty, students, and communities to embrace CEL and bolster students’ success in STEM; 3) to promote NJCU as a prominent “steward of place” that benefits and contributes to the minority communities with scientific and evidence-based approaches to meet the community needs; and 4) to conduct research on interdisciplinarity and community-institution partnership, establishing evidence-based best practices for CEL and catalyzing sustainable transformation across the university and surrounding communities. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities. This project is also supported by the NSF IUSE: HSI program, which seeks to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs.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.