Collaborative Undergraduate Research Experiences in the Mathematical Sciences for Community College Students

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，这个第一轨道试点项目旨在让社区大学生和教师参与数学、统计学和数据科学方面有意义的研究经验。该项目的一个中心目标是提高代表性不足的少数民族社区大学生在本科生研究经验（REU）项目中的参与率。许多社区大学的学生都有全职工作或有家庭责任，这对参与传统的研究经历提出了挑战。此外，社区大学教师的职责通常集中在提供高质量的课堂教学，留下有限的时间来指导学生的研究项目。此外，与其他学科相比，数学科学的早期研究经验并不常见，这可能会使学生在开始他们的学术生涯时无法发现对该学科的热情。该项目通过将社区学院研究经验（RE-C^2）模型应用于在线实践社区来解决这些挑战。该项目将通过促进学生研究人员和教师之间的合作，探索RE-C^2格式在全国多个站点的有效性。具体来说，每年，由两名社区大学学生、一名社区大学教师和一名来自四年制大学的教师组成的五个团队将共同探索数学科学领域的开放性问题。这个项目将给社区大学的学生提供机会，让他们体验合作研究的乐趣，从而在数学上成长，并获得技术和沟通技能。该项目由洛杉矶皮尔斯学院牵头，合作者包括乔治梅森大学、波多黎各美洲大学、加州大学洛杉矶分校和德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校。在为期一年的研究项目中，学生将学习线性代数和微分方程的课程。同时，参加这些课程并在一个原创研究项目上进行合作，将提供一个丰富而引人入胜的智力环境，参与其中的学生将在STEM学习者和专业人士那里获得关于数学和他们未来的新视角。项目评估将使用调查和焦点小组来评估学生的技术，沟通，解决问题和协作技能，数学意识，以及该计划对追求额外数学课程并最终从事STEM职业的愿望的影响。项目成果，包括学生的研究成果，将通过演讲、出版物和与寻求建立类似项目的同行机构的直接联系来传播。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 engage community college students and faculty in meaningful research experiences in mathematics, statistics, and data science. A central goal of the project is to increase the participation rate of underrepresented minority community college students in research experiences for undergraduates (REU) programs. Many community college students work full-time jobs or have family duties, presenting a challenge to participate in a traditional research experience. Additionally, community college faculty responsibilities are often centered on providing top quality classroom instruction, leaving limited time to guide student research projects. Additionally, early research experiences in the mathematical sciences are less common than in some other disciplines, which may keep students from discovering a passion for the discipline as they begin their academic careers. This project addresses these challenges by adapting the proven Research Experiences in Community Colleges (RE-C^2) model to an online community of practice. The project will explore the effectiveness of the RE-C^2 format at multiple sites nationwide by fostering collaboration between student researchers and faculty. Specifically, each year, five teams consisting of two community college students, one community college faculty, and one faculty member from a 4-year institution will work together to explore open problems from across the mathematical sciences. The project will give community college students the opportunity to grow mathematically and gain technical and communication skills by introducing them to the excitement of collaborative research. Led by Los Angeles Pierce College, this effort includes collaborators from George Mason University, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, UCLA, and the University of Texas at Arlington. During their year-long research project, students will enroll in coursework in linear algebra and differential equations. Concurrently taking these courses and collaborating on an original research project will provide a rich and engaging intellectual environment where participating students will gain new perspectives on mathematics and their future at STEM learners and professionals. Project evaluation will use surveys and focus groups to assess students’ technical, communication, problem solving and collaborative skills, awareness of mathematics, and impact of the program on the desire to pursue additional mathematical coursework and, ultimately, a STEM career. Project outcomes, including student research findings, will be disseminated through presentations, publications, and direct contact with peer institutions looking to build similar programs. 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.