Collaborative Research: The Role of Co-curricular Service and Outreach Activities on Persistence and Success for Undergraduate Physics Students

该项目旨在通过研究本科生参与K-12学生的非正式物理外展计划如何影响他们作为物理专业的成功来服务于国家利益。重要的研究工作集中在提高在正规教育环境中的STEM保留率，如教室或实验室，而学生参与非正式物理外展计划的影响仍不清楚。先前的工作表明，提高学生的归属感，即被重视和接受为他们所选择的科学学科的合法成员的感觉，可以降低自然减员率，提高弹性，特别是在代表性不足的人口中。参加外展活动可以培养正规教育以外的技能和能力，包括沟通、团队合作和创造力。美国物理学会和美国物理教师协会已经将这些技能确定为物理课程的高度优先事项，以帮助学生为21世纪的职业生涯做好准备。该项目旨在对物理专业的本科生进行一项全国性的调查，以评估学生对非正式物理课程的参与程度，并研究参与程度与学生成功因素的关系。调查结果的分析应该为物理系提供一套最佳实践建议，以改善外展计划和转变文化，帮助学生取得成功。本项目计划研究非正式的、课外的物理外展计划，通常由本科生设计和促进，对学生的物理身份，保留和坚持，归属感，以及21世纪世纪职业技能的发展。数据将通过分发给美国学院和大学物理课程的调查仪器收集。本项目旨在创建和验证一个新的调查工具，包括封闭式和开放式问题，以探讨学生对外展经验的感知价值及其对信心、社区意识、团队合作能力、科学传播能力、对创造性解决问题能力的感知以及对体验和协作学习对物理知识的感知影响。该调查将通过现有的物理学生协会分会网络向美国各地的本科生提供，创建一个大型数据集，以便客观检查外展计划如何支持本科生群体，包括那些传统上在STEM中代表性不足的学生。调查问卷的答复分析将探讨外展活动的关系，物理身份，包括内部和外部的承认，作为物理界的一员，在物理学的兴趣和动机，信念有关的性能和能力，在物理学，信心和物理自我效能，并希望坚持在该领域，以及收购和发展的职业技能，重要的是21世纪世纪的职业生涯。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“学生参与学习”轨道，该计划支持创建、探索和实施有前途的实践和工具。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 studying how undergraduate student participation in informal physics outreach programs for K-12 students affects their success as physics majors. Significant research efforts have focused on improving retention in STEM in formal educational settings, such as the classroom or laboratory, while the impact of student participation in informal physics outreach programs remains unclear. Prior work suggests that improving students' sense of belonging, defined by the feeling of being valued and accepted as a legitimate member of their chosen scientific discipline can reduce attrition rates and increase resilience, particularly among students from underrepresented populations. Participating in outreach experiences may develop skills and abilities beyond the focus of formal education, including communication, teamwork, and creativity. The American Physical Society and American Association of Physics Teachers have identified these skills as a high priority for physics programs to prepare students for 21st century careers. Thsi project intends to conduct a national survey of undergraduate physics majors to assess student engagement in informal physics programs and to study how the engagement is related to student success factors. The analysis of survey results should inform a set of best-practice recommendations for physics departments for improving outreach programs and transforming culture to help students succeed.This project plans to study the impact of informal, co-curricular physics outreach programs, which are often designed and facilitated by undergraduate students, on students’ physics identity, retention and persistence, sense of belonging, and the development of 21st century career skills. Data will be collected via a survey instrument distributed to physics programs at US colleges and universities. This project intends to create and validate a new survey instrument with closed and open-ended questions to probe students’ perceived value of the outreach experience and its impact on measures of confidence, sense of community, ability to work in teams, competence in communicating science, perceptions of ability to develop creative solutions to problems and perceived impact of experiential and collaborative learning on physics knowledge. The survey will be given to undergraduate students across the US through the existing network of active Society of Physics Students chapters, creating a large dataset that allows for an objective examination of how outreach programs support undergraduate student populations, including those traditionally underrepresented in STEM. Analysis of the survey responses will explore the relationship of outreach activities to physics identity including internal and external recognition as a member of the physics community, interest and motivation in physics, beliefs related to performance and competency within physics, confidence and physics self-efficacy, and desire to persist in the field, as well as acquisition and development of career skills important to 21st century careers. 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.