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

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划），这个轨道1试点项目旨在增加选择STEM学位和职业道路的学生数量。圣地亚哥梅萨学院的这个项目将开发和探索协作学习机会，让学生接触到旨在加强学生STEM身份的真实研究体验。具体而言，该项目将修订现有的课程，并比较三种模式，以提供课堂和实地研究经验，在生物学，物理地质学和物理科学的三门课程。研究项目和活动将与社区合作伙伴一起开发，这将使学生能够利用他们对社区和周围世界的兴趣。此外，在现有的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观点和重要技能。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，普通物理科学课程的所有学生将完成直接嵌入四个主要课程单元的研究项目。根据地点和可用设施，学生研究项目将在现场或课堂上使用原始数据进行。第二种模式将提供一个可选的，为期多天的实地经验，重点是生物多样性的学生在第二生物学课程提供的专业。最后，该项目将开发和提供一个为期10天的学分夏季研究课程，强调地球科学和天文学。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。成果将传播到当地和国家感兴趣的社区，包括2年和4年的HSI希望为他们的学生提供类似的经验。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立HSI的能力。实现这些目标，鉴于HSIs的多样性和背景，需要创新的方法，激励机构和社区转型，促进基础研究（i）参与学生学习，（ii）关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与，以及（iii）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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.