Conference: The State of Equitable STEM Pedagogy at California Community Colleges

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，本次会议提案旨在由圣莫尼卡学院举办为期一天的区域会议，题为“加州社区学院公平STEM教学法的现状”，与会者将分享加州社区学院和HSI STEM课程公平教学实践的模式。虽然许多教育公平研究都集中在四年制大学学生的经历上，但需要对社区大学学生的经历进行更多的研究。这是一个相关的研究领域，因为更多的西班牙裔/拉丁裔和黑人/非裔美国学生在社区大学开始他们的学术生涯；在加州社区大学的人口统计数据中，46.04%的学生是西班牙裔/拉丁裔学生，而他们的成功率和完成率低于同龄人，特别是在STEM教育方面。本次会议将为社区大学和hsi的有效公平实践提供更丰富的知识体系，并将为加州社区大学STEM教师之间的更大合作建立一个平台。本次会议将重点介绍圣莫尼卡学院正在进行的各种计划的主要研究成果，包括美国国家科学基金会资助的“在STEM中培养公平思维的学生成功文化”、加州董事会的数学计划、SMC公平门户课程计划，以及围绕学生体验重新设计学生服务。它还将展示来自加州其他社区学院的以STEM权益为重点的举措，并将允许STEM权益从业者获得关于如何最好地为我们的黑人和拉丁裔学生提供STEM服务的知识和见解，以帮助缩小种族平等差距。这次会议将有助于在加州社区学院的STEM教师中建立一个更广泛的公平从业者网络。通过在线演讲和研讨会的结合，参与者将接触到高影响力的公平教学实践，旨在缩小黑人和拉丁裔学生在STEM课程中经常遇到的学业成绩差距，包括交叉身份如何放大现有的公平差距。会议的目标是强调社区大学生独特的目标、优势、挑战和经历如何需要有意识的方法来设计教学实践，以缩小教育公平差距。本次会议将包括同时进行的演讲和研讨会，以及一个主题演讲者，将允许演讲者和参与者分享他们在STEM公平教学实践中的知识和经验。研讨会将围绕以下主题组织：归属感、侵入性建议、早期预警系统、基于资产的方法和学生服务。专门针对会议的画布课程将用于分享资源和促进与会者之间的讨论。会议的发言和材料将在一个可公开查阅的档案中广泛提供。一名外部评价员将对会议参与者进行调查，以衡量他们对会议的理解，以及他们以公平的态度促进、发展和改进自己教学实践的可能性。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 conference proposal aims to host a one-day regional conference by Santa Monica College titled “The State of Equitable STEM Pedagogy at California Community Colleges” where participants will share models of equitable teaching practices within STEM courses at California community colleges and HSIs. While much educational equity research has focused on the experiences of students at four-year institutions, additional research is needed on the experiences of community college students. This is a relevant area for research given that proportionally more Hispanic/LatinX and Black/African American students begin their academic careers in higher education at community colleges; and within the California community college demographics 46.04% of the student population are Hispanic/Latinx students while their success and completion rates are lower than peers, specifically in STEM education. This conference will contribute to a richer body of knowledge around effective equity practices at community colleges and HSIs and will establish a platform for greater collaboration among STEM faculty at California community colleges. This conference will highlight key research findings from various initiatives already underway at Santa Monica College, including the NSF-funded grant Fostering an Equity Minded Student Success Culture in STEM, the California Board of Trustee’s math initiative, the SMC Equitizing Gateway Courses initiative, and the redesign of Student Services around the student experience. It will also showcase STEM equity-focused initiatives from other California community colleges and will allow STEM equity practitioners to gain knowledge and insight on how to best serve our Black and Latinx students in STEM to help close racial equity gaps. This conference will help build a broader network of equity practitioners among STEM faculty at California Community Colleges.Through a combination of online presentations and workshops, participants will be exposed to high-impact equitable teaching practices designed to close academic achievement gaps often experienced by Black and Latinx students in STEM courses, including how intersectional identities often amplify existing equity gaps. The goal of the conference will be to highlight how the unique goals, strengths, challenges, and experiences of community college students require intentional approaches to pedagogical practices designed around closing educational equity gaps. This conference will consist of concurrent presentations and workshops, along with a keynote speaker that will allow presenters and participants to share their knowledge and experiences with equitable pedagogical practices in STEM. Workshops will be organized around the following themes: sense of belonging, intrusive advising, early alert systems, asset-based approaches, and student services. A conference-specific Canvas course will be used to share resources and foster discussion among participants. Conference presentations and materials will be made widely available in a publicly accessible archive. An external evaluator will survey conference participants to measure their understanding of the conference sessions, as well as their likelihood to promote, develop and improve their own teaching practices with an equity-minded focus.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.