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

该项目旨在通过将STEM学习与面向社区的问题解决，基于证据的决策，批判性思维和公民义务的发展相结合，为国家利益服务。该项目计划建设机构能力，以创造一个沉浸式的社区参与学习环境（CEL），并改变STEM教育。学生将与社区合作伙伴合作，利用他们在STEM领域的知识和技能解决许多少数民族社区面临的问题，特别是与COVID-19大流行和受影响社区的流行后复兴有关的不平等问题。该项目将直接解决少数民族和其他服务不足的学生所面临的挑战，包括粮食不安全和心理健康问题，以提高他们的韧性，信心和毅力，在STEM领域取得成功。该项目将在健康和保健差异、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教师，社会科学家和学生事务人员的跨学科团队，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教育的持续变化和强大的进步。跨学科将是这个项目的一个关键组成部分，因为HASS课程将让学生了解复杂的社会和社区问题，因为他们应用STEM知识来解决这些问题。STEM解决方案将置于社区的社会和文化背景中。该项目的目标包括：1）在NJCU创建一个沉浸式的CEL环境，提供广泛的以CEL为重点的STEM和HASS课程，以改变本科STEM教育的学生体验; 2）建立一个全面的支持系统，使教师，学生和社区能够接受CEL，并支持学生在STEM中取得成功; 3）促进NJCU成为一个突出的“地方管家”，以科学和基于证据的方法为少数民族社区提供利益和贡献，以满足社区需求;（四）进行跨学科研究及社区与院校的伙伴关系研究，为CEL建立基于证据的最佳实践，并促进整个大学和周边社区的可持续转型。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持努力改造和改善高等教育机构和学科社区的STEM教育。该项目还得到了NSF IUSE：HSI计划的支持，该计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立HSI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价值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.