Supporting STEM Student Retention through Development of a Sense of Belonging and Self-Regulated Learning Strategies

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This project aims to serve the national interest by creating educational materials designed to support students in completing degrees in Engineering. A cross-disciplinary team of practitioners and researchers seek to accomplish this by addressing students’ sense of belonging and self-regulation of learning both of which are known to have a key impact on keeping students enrolled in STEM programs. These two strategies address individuals' behavior around their perception of themselves as members of a community who are valued, accepted, included, and involved. These strategies also impact students’ perception of themselves as independent and effective learners. Eight modules will be developed, implemented, and refined for second- and third-year college students that engage students in activities centered on building sense of belonging and self-regulated learning strategies. These modules can either be embedded in engineering courses or used informally as optional activities. The eight new modules will be piloted in two required civil engineering courses and the impact of the activities on student development will be evaluated. This project has the potential to advance knowledge of how STEM post-secondary educators can take steps to increase completion of STEM degrees. This project aims to improve the student experience and performance in STEM courses, and ultimately have an impact on the retention of STEM majors. To accomplish this, the project will draw upon published research and the findings of a pilot study to develop and refine a set of on-line learning modules that synergistically interweave the learning of STEM topics with the building of sense of belonging and the development of effective self-regulation of learning skills. The objectives of the project are to: 1) design eight on-line modules, 2) implement modules for two cohorts of students in the second and third year of college, 3) monitor student learning and development during implementation of modules, 4) refine the modules with student-partners using monitoring data and evaluator feedback, 5) evaluate the efficacy of the modules in other STEM courses and on reducing attrition, and 6) develop instructor and student guidance. The project will take place within the Civil Engineering program of a large minority-serving public university system. Project activities will be accomplished collaboratively by a team of civil engineering and educational psychology academics, and numerous student researchers. An external evaluator will collect data from multiple sources and use qualitative and quantitative methods to discover patterns to inform the formative and summative evaluations and ensure that revisions to the work are data-driven and comprehensive. The work will be disseminated using multiple platforms across academic, research, and university communities. The project has the potential to provide the STEM education community with strategies that can be embedded directly in courses that increase retention and completion of STEM degrees across diverse student populations. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.