Improving STEM Student Fundamental Math Skills with Tailored Activity-Based Instruction

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With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Implementation and Evaluation (Track 2) project aims to increase mathematics preparation for STEM undergraduate students. The need for a stronger foundation of mathematical skills is a major contributing factor to STEM attrition. Therefore, interventions that bridge the math gap between high school preparation and STEM degrees within the first years of college are critical. Faculty of mathematics, engineering, education, and computer science from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) seek to develop motivating and conceptually rich mathematics exercises for students enrolled in pre-STEM and engineering. The exercises will target mathematical concepts that have been shown to be persistently misunderstood by students. The anticipated outcomes of this project are: decreased time to graduation, higher achievement, less STEM attrition, lower degree cost to students, and expanded opportunities for students who are underrepresented in STEM fields of study to pursue advanced degrees in STEM.This project aims to develop math exercises and associated Canvas applications through: (a) building on co-requisite models which compress enrollment time; (b) reinforcing math concepts as modularized exercises specialized with engineering content; and (c) enhancing student motivation using culturally-relevant pedagogy. The project's STEM education research component will provide formative evaluation for activity improvement and demonstrate how the exercises work to improve STEM outcomes. The initial evaluation of the exercises will use a cluster randomized trial design featuring hierarchical linear modeling to examine learning motivation and mathematical knowledge of students who use them. It is hypothesized that this will lead to improved STEM outcomes especially for students whose participation in STEM is underrepresented. The exercises will be made available online for general public use. The UNLV Center for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education will disseminate them among secondary school math teachers in Nevada. The exercise-enhanced remediation strategy will be shared campus-wide at UNLV and CSN through the Faculty Development centers and nation-wide through research- and practitioner-focused conferences and journals. 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.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.