HSI Pilot Project: Enhancing STEM Participation and Attainment at a Rural, Hispanic-Serving Institution

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，该项目旨在提高农村HSI社区学院学生的STEM参与和学士学位转学。尽管在过去的几十年里，西班牙裔学生的入学率和毕业率有所上升，但西班牙裔学生在STEM学位和STEM劳动力中的代表性仍然不足。在农村HSI社区学院，由于地理位置的限制，许多西班牙裔学生无法获得所需的科学实验室课程或从事STEM学科中非常有价值的本科研究经验。社区大学设置的在线课程通过消除地理位置限制，允许学生继续向学位迈进，有可能增加访问，坚持和完成学位。COVID-19大流行表明，许多资源不足的机构，如农村HSI社区学院，在寻求提供高质量的在线实验室科学课程时面临重大挑战。类似的能力限制限制了拉美裔学生在农村HSI社区学院的本科研究机会。这项研究将有助于越来越多的文献表明，在线教学和本科研究经历可以通过基于证据的最佳实践，在农村HSI社区学院的西班牙裔学生中建立更强大的STEM途径和身份，在促进STEM机会和结果的公平方面发挥作用。该项目的目的是：(1)增加农村学生在HSI和HSI获得STEM的机会；(2)提高HSI学生接受STEM教育的学位和转学机会。为了解决这两个需要改进的领域，SFSC将与佛罗里达大学高等教育学院（UF IHE）合作，实施以证据为基础的最佳实践，增加获得必修科学课程和本科生研究经验的机会。这些干预措施将包括高质量的在线课程、创新的虚拟科学实验室和扩大的本科生研究经验。预期的项目成果包括增加实验室科学课程的学生入学率，增加学生对STEM专业的坚持，以及增加学生对本科研究经历的参与。SFSC和UF IHE的合作研究团队将探讨该项目对学生STEM课程参与、成功和坚持所学专业的影响。项目团队还将检查教师参与本科生研究经历的记录，并进行半结构化访谈，以更好地了解学生对干预组件的参与和体验。在独立的外部评估之后，这项工作的结果将在州、地区和国家层面广泛传播，包括佛罗里达学院系统机构、专业协会、高等教育研究网络以及专注于高等教育和STEM教育的同行评审期刊。为了确保广泛传播，项目团队还将创建一个专门的项目网站，并通过UF IHE网站推广可交付的成果。HSI计划旨在加强HSI的本科STEM教育和能力建设。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。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 aims to improve STEM participation and baccalaureate transfer for students at a rural HSI community college. Despite a rise in Hispanic student enrollment and graduation rates over the past few decades, Hispanic students remain underrepresented in STEM degrees and the STEM workforce. At rural HSI community colleges, many Hispanic students are unable to access required science lab coursework or engage in highly valuable undergraduate research experiences in STEM disciplines due to location constraints. Online courses in community college settings have the potential to increase access, persistence, and degree completion by removing location constraints and allowing students to continue to make progress toward their degree. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that many under-resourced institutions, such as rural HSI community colleges, faced major challenges when seeking to deliver high-quality online laboratory science courses. Similar capacity constraints limit Hispanic students' undergraduate research opportunity at rural HSI community colleges. This research will contribute to the growing body of literature on the role that online instruction and undergraduate research experiences can play in advancing equity in STEM opportunities and outcomes via evidence-based best practices designed to build stronger STEM pathways and identities among Hispanic students at a rural HSI community college.The aims of this project are to (1) increase access to STEM for rural students at and HSI and (2) improve degree attainment and transfer opportunities for HSI students pursuing STEM education. To address these two areas for improvement, SFSC will partner with the University of Florida Institute of Higher Education (UF IHE) to implement evidence-based best practices that increase access to required science courses and to undergraduate research experiences. These interventions will include high-quality online courses, innovative virtual science labs, and expanded undergraduate research experiences. Expected project outcomes include increased student enrollment in laboratory science courses, increased persistence of students in STEM majors, and increased participation of students in undergraduate research experiences. The collaborative research team from SFSC and UF IHE will explore the project's influence on students' STEM course participation, success, and persistence in their major. The project team will also examine faculty records for participation in undergraduate research experiences and conduct semi-structured interviews to better understand students' engagement and experiences with intervention components. Following an independent external evaluation, results of this work will be broadly disseminated at the state, regional, and national levels, including Florida College System institutions, professional associations, higher education research networks, and peer-reviewed journals focused on higher education and STEM education. To ensure broad dissemination, the project team will also create a dedicated project website and promote deliverables through the UF IHE website. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.