HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Co-Curricular Strategies to Support Academically Challenged Diverse Undergraduate STEM Majors

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，这个轨道2：IEP项目旨在提供基于证据的战略性课外干预措施的协调组合，以支持在学术道路早期挣扎的不同STEM专业。由于许多不同的学生在学术和动机上都没有为学位的成功做好充分的准备，该项目将针对不同的计算机科学，工程，生物学和海洋生物学专业，这些专业被放置在（或通过早期识别被认为有被放置在）学术试用期的风险。 STEM教师，行业和近同行教练/导师/榜样的交叉团队将共同努力，提供及时和持续的基于资产的辅导/指导，专业的STEM辅导，以及研究和基于行业的体验式学习活动。教练/导师将接受培训，作为盟友，以促进积极的学术心态，提供指导（和转介需要），以高质量的环绕式资源，以满足学生的个人学术和个人需求。该项目将为STEM高等教育中的知识体系提供重要的发现，这些发现涉及学术成功成果（特别是在HSI代表性不足的学生中）与协调支持计划和服务之间的关系。该方法将通过增加代表性不足的学生毕业，从而增加高需求STEM职业领域的就业多样性，从而使社会受益。该项目的目标是更好地了解STEM本科生（特别是那些代表性不足的本科生）的保留和学位获得问题，以追求有前途的STEM领域的职业生涯，并为美国创新经济做出贡献。其结果将是一个良好的教育实践模式，在增加成功措施方面产生有希望的证据，表明在STEM中历史上代表性不足的学生的参与程度不断扩大。研究假设将是：一个密集的暑期课程，重点是提供有意义的，全面的支持和发展与学生和学生之间的个人关系，可以减少/最大限度地减少挫折感和缺乏自信的情绪在STEM学术环境中，学术上受到挑战的代表性不足的学生，并帮助这些学生实现他们的潜力，如保留率和毕业率所示。早期（探索性）研究计划将有助于教育的核心知识，检查项目干预措施与参与者保留率和毕业率之间的相关性;研究方法将涉及确定夏季计划活动的潜力的证据，以提高保留率和毕业率。该案例研究将有助于知识的进步，在高影响力的计划和服务，具体到代表性不足/交叉干学生，展示有效的，实用的方法，带来一个新的视角来解决文化的响应。将通过介绍、出版物和建立一个供其他教育工作者、研究人员和决策者使用的新网站来传播最佳做法和案例研究结果。共享的知识体系将促进机会公平，增加美国的智力资本，使代表性不足的学生能够在更多的人中取得成功。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，并建立HSI的能力。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。该奖项反映了NSF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 2: IEP project aims to offer a coordinated combination of evidence-based strategic co-curricular interventions to support diverse STEM majors who are struggling early in their academic pathways. Because many diverse students are underprepared both academically and motivationally for degree success, the project will target diverse Computer Science, Engineering, Biology, and Marine Biology majors who are placed on (or who through early identification are deemed to be at risk of being placed on) academic probation. An intersectional team of STEM faculty, industry, and near-peer coaches/mentors/role models will work collectively to provide timely and continuous asset-based coaching/mentoring, specialized STEM tutoring, and research and industry-based experiential learning activities. Coaches/mentors will be trained to serve as allies to facilitate a positive academic mindset, providing guidance (and referrals as needed) to high-quality wrap-around resources to address students’ individual academic and personal needs. The project will contribute important findings to the body of knowledge in STEM higher education regarding the relationship between academic success outcomes (especially among underrepresented students at HSIs) and coordinated support programs and services. The approach will benefit society by increasing underrepresented student graduation leading to increased employment diversity in high demand STEM occupational fields. The project goal will be to better understand issues in the retention and degree attainment of STEM undergraduates (especially those who are underrepresented) to pursue careers in promising STEM fields and contribute to the American innovation economy. The outcome will be a model of sound educational practices that generate promising evidence in increasing success measures that indicate the broadening participation of students who are historically underrepresented in STEM. The research hypothesis will be: An intensive summer program that focuses on providing meaningful, holistic support and developing individual relationships with and between students, can reduce/minimize feelings of frustration and a lack of self-confidence among academically challenged underrepresented students in the STEM academic environment, and help those students achieve their potential as demonstrated by retention and graduation rates. The Early-Stage (Exploratory) Research plan will contribute to core knowledge in education, examining correlations between project interventions and participant retention and graduation rates; the research methodology will involve identifying evidence of the potential of summer program activities to improve retention and graduation. The case study will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in high impact programs and services specific to underrepresented/ intersectional STEM students, demonstrating effective, practical ways to bring a new perspective to addressing cultural responsiveness. Dissemination of best practices and case study results will be achieved through presentations, publications, and establishment of a new website for use by other educators, researchers, and policymakers. The body of knowledge shared will advance opportunity equity, increasing US intellectual capital for underrepresented students to succeed in greater numbers. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.