Supporting Student Science Identity and Success through Field Experiences and Course Exploration

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，这个第一阶段试点项目旨在增加选择STEM学位和职业道路的学生人数。圣地亚哥梅萨学院的这个项目将开发和探索合作学习的机会，让学生接触到真实的研究经验，旨在加强学生的STEM身份。具体而言，该项目将修订现有课程，并比较三种模式，以便在生物学、物理地质学和物理科学三门课程中提供课堂和实地研究经验。研究项目和活动将与社区合作伙伴一起开发，这将使学生能够挖掘他们对社区和周围世界的兴趣。此外，在现有学术和科学技能课程的基础上，该项目将开发、测试和完善一个在线科学身份模块，使学生能够获得新的视角和重要的技能。项目研究经验将与三门目标课程所涵盖的主题保持一致。在第一种模式中，所有普通物理科学课程的学生将完成直接嵌入四个主要课程单元的研究项目。根据地点和可用的设施，学生的研究项目将在实地或在教室使用原始数据进行。第二种模式将为主修第二门生物学课程的学生提供可选的、专注于生物多样性的多日实地体验。最后，该项目将开发并提供为期10天的暑期学分研究课程，重点是地球科学和天文学。项目评估计划将使用调查、焦点小组和学生成果数据来探索在线模块和各种研究经验对学生参与者的影响。结果将传播给当地和全国感兴趣的社区，包括希望为其学生提供类似经验的2年制和4年制hsi。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的多样化性质和背景，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(i)关于参与式学生学习，（ii）关于如何有效地多样化和增加STEM参与，以及（iii）提高我们对如何在hsi建立机构能力的理解，这些都是由该计划支持的。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 1 Pilot project aims to increase the number of students choosing STEM degree and career paths. This project from San Diego Mesa College will develop and explore collaborative learning opportunities that expose students to authentic research experiences that are designed to strengthen students’ STEM identity. Specifically, the project will revise existing curricula and compare three models for providing classroom- and field-based research experiences across three courses in biology, physical geology, and the physical sciences. The research projects and activities will be developed with community partners, which will allow students to tap into their interest in their community and the world around them. Also, building from existing academic and science skills courses, the project will develop, test, and refine an online science identity module that will allow students to acquire new perspectives and important skills.The project research experiences will be developed to align with topics covered in the three targeted courses. In the first model, all students in the general physical science course will complete research projects embedded directly into the four main course units. Depending on the location and available facilities, student research projects will be conducted either in the field or in the classroom using original data. The second model will provide an optional, multi-day field experience focused on biodiversity for students in the second biology course offered for majors. Finally, the project will develop and offer a 10-day, for-credit summer research course emphasizing geoscience and astronomy. The project evaluation plan will use surveys, focus groups, and student outcome data to explore the impacts of the online module and the various research experiences on student participants. Outcomes will be disseminated to local and national communities of interest, including 2- and 4-year HSIs looking to provide similar experiences for their students. 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 are supported by this program.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.