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

在“改善本科STEM教育：为西班牙裔服务的机构”（HSI计划）的支持下，这个第一阶段项目应对了普遍缺乏可靠的家庭互联网接入的问题，这一问题在2019冠状病毒病大流行高峰期被强调为影响学生成绩的一个障碍。一个由数学教师、教学设计师、公平的实践者和可访问性专家组成的协作团队将共同努力，设计适合移动设备的课程外壳，或用于课程内容、评分和集中的学生与教师交流的数字容器。此外，他们还将为教师提供相关的专业发展机会。大多数在线课程的学生使用移动设备访问课程内容。然而，研究表明，女性、有色人种学生、残疾学生、第一代学生、独立学生以及来自弱势社会经济背景的学生认为，与这些群体之外的同龄人相比，他们的电子设备对自己的成功更为重要。虽然这建立了对移动友好课程的明确需求，但缺乏关于如何设计可移动访问的在线课程的研究和指导方针。此外，缺乏关于移动友好课程如何影响学生在STEM中的成功的研究。该项目将制定基于经验的移动友好型课程设计指南，并了解移动友好型课程如何影响学生在STEM课程中的成功。预计会有三个主要结果。首先是设计三个适合移动设备的课程外壳，采用综合评分公平方法，旨在缩小解剖学和生理学、物理学入门和统计学课程的公平差距。其次是完成一项研究：(i)探索移动友好型课程设计对学生成功的影响，（ii）了解学生对移动友好型课程设计的看法，（iii）记录学生在移动友好型课程中的体验。第三个成果是提高知名度和意识，鼓励更广泛的教师采用可移动访问的课程。通过设计适合移动设备的STEM课程，该项目在设计公平方面迈出了重要的一步。课程将在Canvas Commons上免费和广泛地提供。为提高学生对流动设计重要性的兴趣和认识，该计划将传播流动设计的主要组成部分的成果，以及适合流动设备的课程对学生体验和成果的影响。出版物、演讲和项目网站将指导对创建移动友好课程或从事进一步研究感兴趣的研究人员、教师和教学设计师。混合方法的项目评估将为项目在HSI项目的目标方面的进展提供信息，该项目旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM参与，并建立改善HSI STEM学习的能力。考虑到hsi的多样化性质和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法来激励机构和社区转型，并促进以下方面的基础研究：(i)参与式学生学习；（ii）深入了解如何有效地实现STEM的多样化和增加参与；以及（iii）提高对如何在hsi建立机构转型能力的理解。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 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.