Promoting Access and Equity in STEM Work-Based Learning

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划），该项目旨在为来自IT职业参与不足的本科生提供更多信息技术（IT）职业道路上基于工作的学习机会。拟议的项目活动建立在并扩展了先前的研究，以创建公平的方法和系统，让学生在STEM专业蓬勃发展并坚持下去。拟议的项目旨在通过协调的，以研究为基础的，跨部门的方法来扩大获得基于工作的学习机会，提高少数民族学生在STEM信息技术领域的参与，坚持和完成。本研究将从三个方面探讨工作本位学习的实施：1）“工作本位学习准备量表”的效度; 2）虚拟实习的有效性和公平性; 3）学生早期参与工作本位学习的结果。所有这三个都是新的或新兴的工作为基础的学习经验方面，有很少的研究与学生的成果。一个小时的访谈与40名学生参加项目工作为基础的学习经验将进行社会认知生涯理论，以引出有关学生的挑战，以参与工作为基础的学习的信息。评估战略的有效性，包括工作为基础的学习预取向，雇主和教师的合作，学习成果的持续改进，并通过虚拟和基于项目的工作为基础的学习提供灵活性，可以支持更有效和包容性的工作为基础的学习计划的开发和实施。通过了解和识别有效的工作学习的挑战和机遇，其他两年制学院可以利用关键的研究结果，整合工作学习，以改善STEM中代表性不足的群体的接触和参与，改善STEM教育和所有学生的职业成果，以及加强合作的大学-雇主伙伴关系。广泛传播学生和雇主基于工作的学习准备情况评估、基于工作的学习群组模型、虚拟基于工作的学习模块等产品以及该项目开发的其他材料，有可能在区域和国家范围内改善中学后教育机构的技术教育。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立HSI转型变革的能力。鉴于HSI企业的多样性和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法来激励机构和社区转型并促进基础研究：（一）关于学生参与学习，（二）关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与，以及（iii）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是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，

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this project aims to increase access to work-based learning opportunities in Information Technology (IT) career paths for undergraduate students who are from groups underrepresented in their participation in IT careers. The proposed project activities build on and extend prior research to create equitable approaches and systems for students to flourish and persist in STEM majors in general. The proposed project is designed to increase participation, persistence, and completion in the STEM field of Information Technology for minoritized students through a coordinated, research-based, cross-sector approach to expanding access to work-based learning opportunities. The research conducted in this project will investigate three aspects of the work-based learning implementation: 1) validity of the “Work-based Learning Readiness Scale”; 2) efficacy and equity in virtual internships; and 3) outcomes of early student participation in work-based learning. All three are new or emerging aspects of work-based-learning experiences for which there is little research related to student outcomes. One-hour interviews with 40 students participating in project work-based learning experiences will be conducted using social cognitive career theory to elicit information about student challenges to participating in work-based learning. Evaluation of the effectiveness of strategies including work-based learning pre-orientations, employer and faculty collaboration, continuous improvement in alignment of learning outcomes, and offering flexibility through virtual and project-based work-based learning, can support development and implementation of more effective and inclusive work-based learning programs. By understanding and identifying challenges and opportunities for effective work-based learning, other two-year colleges can draw on key findings to integrate work-based learning to improve access and engagement for underrepresented groups in STEM, improve STEM education and career outcomes for all students, as well as strengthen collaborative college-employer partnerships. Broad dissemination of products such as student and employer work-based learning readiness assessments, the work-based learning cohort model, virtual work-based learning modules, and other materials developed by the project have the potential to improve technical education at postsecondary institutions on a regional and national scale. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity for transformational change at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSI enterprise, 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 the field's understanding of how to build institutional capacity for sustainable change at HSIs writ large.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.