Assessing Sense of Belonging, Climate, and Culture at the Departmental Level from the Perspective of Undergraduate STEM Students

该项目旨在通过开发一种工具来衡量本科STEM学生对STEM部门的气候和文化的看法，从而为国家利益服务。学生的归属感是留住和毕业STEM本科生的关键，特别是来自STEM边缘化人群的STEM学生。该项目计划从现有工具中调整问题，并根据学生访谈和与STEM部门利益相关者的焦点小组，开发有关STEM部门气候和文化的新问题。在三个机构的初步开发之后，项目小组打算在全国多个机构的STEM部门实施该工具。此外，该项目计划编写一本手册，指导各部门使用这一工具。该项目旨在促进对STEM学生在STEM部门的体验的理解，并支持留住STEM学生的努力。佛罗里达国际大学（FIU）的该项目旨在开发一种基于研究的评估工具，以衡量本科STEM学生对所在部门的归属感，以及他们对部门气氛和文化的看法。FIU是一个西班牙裔服务机构（HSI），将与加州州立大学富勒顿分校和加州州立大学圣马科斯分校合作，这两所大学也是HSI。该项目计划调整现有的评估工具，检查归属感，并开发新的项目，通过从学生访谈和焦点小组与教师，工作人员，顾问和其他部门利益相关者的不同人群收集的输入来探索部门文化和气候。除了传统的封闭式Likert类型的问题和开放式的书面评估探头，该项目计划开发项目的基础上视觉叙事，以探讨学生的看法部门的气候和文化。新的评估工具将在三个合作机构的生物，化学和物理系的约1，400名本科生中进行试点，以收集有效性证据。一旦初步验证，评估工具将在至少14个额外的STEM部门实施，并将研究数据返回给部门进行反思和讨论。项目评估将由一个由来自不同机构和多个相关学科的学者组成的5人咨询委员会指导。传播工作包括会议介绍、同行评审的出版物以及编写部门手册以指导使用该工具。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。通过学生的学习轨道，该计划支持创建，探索和实施有前途的做法和工具。该项目还得到了NSF IUSE：HSI项目的支持，该项目的目标是提高本科STEM教育的质量，并提高攻读STEM副学士或学士学位学生的录取率、保留率和毕业率。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 developing a tool to measure undergraduate STEM students’ perceptions about the climate and culture of STEM departments. Students’ sense of belonging is key in retaining and graduating STEM undergraduates, especially STEM students from populations marginalized in STEM. The project plans to adapt questions from an existing tool, as well as develop new questions about STEM department climate and culture based on student interviews and focus groups with STEM department stakeholders. After initial development in three institutions, the project team intends to implement the tool in STEM departments in multiple institutions across the country. Additionally, the project plans to develop a handbook to guide departments in using this tool. This project should advance understanding of STEM student experiences in STEM departments and support efforts to retain students in STEM.This project at Florida International University (FIU) aims to develop a research-based assessment tool to measure undergraduate STEM students’ sense of belonging to their department, as well as their perceptions about departmental climate and culture. FIU is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and will collaborate with California State University, Fullerton and California State University, San Marcos, which are also HSIs. The project plans to adapt an existing assessment tool that examines sense of belonging and to develop new items to probe departmental culture and climate through input gathered from student interviews and focus groups with a diverse population of faculty, staff, advisors, and other departmental stakeholders. In addition to traditional closed-ended Likert-type questions and open-ended written assessment probes, the project plans to develop items based on visual narratives to probe students’ perceptions of departmental climate and culture. The new assessment tool will be piloted with a sample of ~1,400 undergraduate students in biology, chemistry, and physics departments across the three collaborating institutions to gather evidence of validity. Once initially validated, the assessment tool will then be implemented across at least 14 additional STEM departments, with data from the study returned to departments for reflection and discussion. Project evaluation will be guided by a 5-member advisory board composed of scholars from across different institutions and multiple relevant disciplines. Dissemination efforts include conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and development of a departmental handbook to guide use of the tool. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This project is also supported by the NSF IUSE:HSI program, which has the goals of enhancing the quality of undergraduate STEM education, and increasing the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of students pursuing associate’s or baccalaureate degrees in STEM.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.