Beyond Access: Leveraging Mobile-Friendly Design of Online Course Content to Support STEM Student Success

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，这个轨道1项目应对普遍缺乏可靠的家庭互联网接入的问题，这在COVID-19流行高峰期间被强调为学生成绩的障碍。一个由数学教师、教学设计师、具有平等意识的从业者和无障碍专家组成的协作团队将共同设计移动友好的课程外壳，或用于课程内容、评分和集中式学生与教师沟通的数字容器。此外，他们还将为教师提供相关的专业发展机会。在线课程中的大多数学生使用移动的设备访问课程内容。然而，研究表明，女性，有色人种学生，残疾学生，第一代学生，独立学生和来自弱势社会经济背景的学生认为他们的设备对他们的成功比这些群体之外的同龄人更重要。虽然这明确表明需要移动友好型课程，但在如何设计可移动的访问的在线课程方面缺乏研究和指导方针。此外，缺乏关于移动友好型课程如何影响学生在STEM中取得成功的研究。该项目将为设计移动友好型课程制定基于实践的指导方针，并了解移动友好型课程如何影响学生在STEM课程中的成功。预计会有三个主要成果。首先是三个移动友好的课程外壳的设计与综合评分公平的方法，旨在缩小在解剖学和生理学，物理学入门和统计学课程的公平差距。第二是完成一项研究：（一）探讨移动友好的课程设计对学生成功的影响，（二）发展对移动友好的课程设计的学生观点的理解，以及（三）记录学生在移动友好的课程经验。第三个成果是提高了知名度和意识，以鼓励更广泛的教师采用移动访问的课程。通过设计移动友好的STEM课程，该项目正在朝着公平设计迈出重要步伐。课程将在Canvas Commons上免费提供。为了激发人们对移动的设计重要性的兴趣和认识，该项目将传播关于移动的设计关键组成部分的成果，以及移动友好型课程对学生体验和成果的影响。出版物，演示文稿和项目网站将指导研究人员，教师和教学设计师谁有兴趣创建移动友好的课程或从事进一步的研究。混合方法的项目评估将告知该项目的进展，以实现HSI计划的目标，以加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立在HSI改善STEM学习的能力。实现这些目标，鉴于不同的性质和背景下的HSIs，需要创新的方法，激励机构和社区的转型和促进基础研究：（一）参与学生学习;（二）深入了解需要什么来多样化，并有效地增加参与STEM;以及（iii）该计划支持提高对如何建立HSIs转型的机构能力的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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，认为值得支持。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project responds to the pervasive lack of access to reliable home Internet that was highlighted as a barrier to student outcomes during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. A collaborative team of mathematics faculty, instructional designers, equity-minded practitioners, and accessibility experts will work together to design mobile-friendly course shells, or digital containers for course content, grading, and centralized student-instructor communication. In addition, they will also provide linked professional development opportunities to faculty. The majority of students in online courses use mobile devices to access course content. However, research has shown that women, students of color, students with disabilities, first-generation students, students who are independent, and students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds see their devices as significantly more important to their success than do their peers outside these groups. While this establishes a clear need for mobile-friendly courses, there is a lack of research and guidelines on how to design online courses that are mobile accessible. In addition, there is a lack of research on how mobile-friendly courses affect student success in STEM. This project will develop empirically-based guidelines for designing mobile-friendly courses, as well as an understanding of how mobile-friendly courses can impact student success in STEM courses. Three principal outcomes are expected. First is the design of three mobile-friendly course shells with integrated grading for equity approaches intended to close equity gaps in anatomy and physiology, introductory physics, and statistics courses. Second is the completion of a research study that: (i) explores the impact of mobile-friendly course design on student success, (ii) develop understanding of student perspectives of mobile-friendly course design, and (iii) documents the student experiences in mobile-friendly courses. The third outcome is increased visibility and awareness to encourage broader faculty adoption of mobile-accessible courses. By designing mobile-friendly STEM courses, this project is taking important strides toward designing for equity. Courses will be made freely and widely available on Canvas Commons. To generate interest and awareness of the importance of mobile design, the project will disseminate outcomes on both key components of mobile design and the impact of mobile-friendly courses on student experiences and outcomes. Publication, presentations, and a project website will guide researchers, faculty and instructional designers who are interested in creating mobile-friendly courses or engaging in further study. A mixed-method project evaluation will inform the project's progress towards the HSI Program's aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity for improved STEM learning 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 on: (i) engaged student learning; (ii) insights into what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively; and (iii) improved understanding of how to build institutional capacity for transformation at HSIs are supported by this program.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.