Improving Outcomes for At-Risk STEM First-Year Students through Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

该项目旨在通过实施基于课程的本科研究经历(CURE)来服务于国家利益，该项目针对那些面临四年以上才能毕业并获得学位的一年级学生。自1970年以来，STEM的本科学位完成率一直在下降，威胁到美国过去60年来在科学技术方面的历史领先地位。为了提高STEM的兴趣、动力和毅力，该项目为高危学生提供了两种根治措施。第一个治疗干预使用基于证据的教学元素。第二个治疗干预既使用了教学因素，也使用了STEM因素。这两种治疗干预措施的目的都是提高GPA，对STEM专业的忠诚度，并在毕业后留住大学。在每个学期的治疗干预之后，该项目将收集关于学生成功的数据和对STEM归属感的看法，以独立评估每个教学和社会元素的重要性。该项目将在两种类型的治疗中确定成功的策略，以帮助教师和院系建立适当的课程，并将其扩展到支持全美大学的高危STEM学生。本科生研究经历(URE)积极影响学生在STEM的留存和坚持，越来越多的受控、大规模和纵向研究表明，URE可以吸引、留住并最终提高本科生在STEM的成功。然而，传统上，学徒计划是以研究学徒的形式出现的，学生作为教员研究小组的一部分工作，学徒计划不容易扩大到为整个STEM感兴趣的学生群体服务。治疗为学生提供真实和早期的研究体验，与传统的学徒研究体验相比，吸引了更多的学生。该项目的目标是找出在理解哪些教学和社会因素将有助于提高可伸缩性和可转移性方面的重大差距。这个项目将提供一个非常具体的问题的高级理解：治疗如何成功地支持有可能在四年内无法毕业的STEM一年级学生？到这个项目结束时，将有500多名本科生从这一经历中受益。该项目将实施一套被文献确定为具有教学影响力的元素，包括体验式主动学习、真实评估、支架式指导和公民参与，所有这些元素都旨在增加STEM学生的归属感。该项目的发现将有助于不断增长的关于治疗方法的知识，以及如何实施这些治疗方法，以造福于学生和他们的机构。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过其参与的学生学习跟踪，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 implementing Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) for first-year students who run the risk of taking more than four years to graduate with a degree. Undergraduate degree completion in STEM has been decreasing since 1970, threatening the historical preeminence in science and technology that the United States has enjoyed for the last 60 years. To promote STEM interest, motivation, and persistence, this project provides two CURE interventions for at-risk students. The first CURE intervention uses evidence-based pedagogical elements. The second CURE intervention uses both pedagogical and STEM-belonging elements. Both CURE interventions aim to improve GPA, fidelity to a STEM major, and retention in college through graduation. After each semester-long CURE intervention, the project will gather data on student success and perceptions of STEM belongingness to assess the importance of each pedagogical and social element independently. This project will identify successful strategies within the two types of CUREs to assist instructors and departments as they build appropriate courses and scale them to support at-risk STEM students across US universities.Undergraduate research experiences (URE) positively impact student retention and persistence in STEM, and an increasing number of well-controlled, large-scale, and longitudinal studies indicate that UREs can attract, retain, and ultimately improve the success of undergraduates in STEM. However, UREs traditionally occur as research apprenticeships where students work as part of a faculty member’s research group, and apprenticeships do not easily scale to serve entire cohorts of STEM-interested students. CUREs provide authentic and early research experiences to students at scale, engaging more students relative to traditional apprenticed research experiences. The goal of this project is to identify a critical gap in understanding what pedagogical and social elements would allow improved scalability and transferability. This project will provide an advanced understanding of a very specific question: How do CURES successfully support first-year STEM students who are at risk of failing to graduate in four years? By the end of this project, over 500 undergraduate students will benefit from this experience. This project will implement a suite of elements identified in the literature as pedagogically impactful including experiential active learning, authentic assessment, scaffolded mentorship, and civic engagement, all of which are designed to increase a sense of STEM belongingness in students. The project’s findings will contribute to the growing body of knowledge around CUREs and the ways they may be implemented to the benefit of students and their institutions. 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.