LSAMP: North Star STEM Alliance

北极星STEM联盟将扩大明尼苏达州未被充分代表的少数民族对STEM学士学位教育的参与。联盟的18个合作伙伴包括公立和私立学院和大学、社区学院、明尼苏达科学博物馆和明尼苏达高科技协会。明尼苏达大学双子城分校将是牵头机构。16所教育机构、一个拥有300多名成员的高科技协会和一个领先的科学技术博物馆的配置为解决STEM中代表性不足的少数群体的参与、能力和连续性（ECC）提供了一个资源丰富的机会。利用初中到高中、高中到大学一年级、一年级到二年级、从两年制大学转到四年制大学、从低年级转到STEM专业，联盟设定了以下目标：提高目标人群中中学和高等教育非STEM学生对STEM职业的兴趣水平；增加目标人群中完成大学预科/STEM预科高中课程的学生数量；增加目标人群中参加联盟大学预科STEM和STEM学士学位课程的高中毕业生人数；增加目标人群中完成副学士学位并转学到四年制联盟学校的学生人数；增加目标人群中坚持学习STEM学士学位的学生人数。北极星STEM联盟将提供一套全面的纵向计划，以在关键的过渡点实现这些目标。这些举措将包括联盟范围内的社区建设会议、桥梁项目、点对点学习、本科生研究机会、行业实习和专业发展、情境STEM课程模块开发研讨会、大学预科STEM高中课程以及当前STEM研究的公共传播活动。该联盟项目的智力价值包括促进明尼苏达州全州范围内关于学生在高等教育中的成就的讨论，特别强调STEM和代表性不足的少数民族，以及什么有效，什么重要，以及为什么。由于攻读STEM的入学资格要求严格，联盟的成果将加强对高等院校学生表现预测指标的适当性和准确性的讨论，特别是在代表性不足的少数族裔方面。此外，由于联盟合作伙伴的教育使命各不相同，该项目将促进对高等教育机会和公平的学术文献的讨论，以及对不同教育机构干预的政策影响。将成绩优异但未被充分代表的少数族裔纳入院校，也为该联盟提供了一个机会，使其能够权衡具体的智力成就问题，如基于成绩优异的少数族裔人口的刻板印象威胁和过度预测。该联盟在克服双子城大都会地区以外校园中代表性不足的少数民族的相对孤立方面的经验，也将有助于理解学生群体建设的关键作用。联盟活动的更广泛影响将是，通过未被充分代表的少数民族参与当前STEM教师和科学家的研究，促进发现和理解，在课程中开发可在其他教育机构复制的背景STEM模块，以及当前对未被充分代表的STEM教师的严格研究的公众交流。该联盟将增加未被充分代表的少数群体的数量，使他们能够参与让他们对STEM职业做出明智选择的活动。跨联盟院校的本科生研究计划将加强研究和教育基础设施，允许来自不同学科和研究基础设施有限的不同机构的联盟学生和教师访问拥有这些设施的联盟成员校园的科学技术和工程研究中心。联盟的组成将通过在不同的专业组织和联盟成员的会议上合作展示联盟的教学和研究活动，促进更广泛的传播。该联盟将为下一代公民参与STEM学者的发展提供基础，从而造福社会。

The North Star STEM Alliance will broaden the participation of underrepresented minorities in Minnesota in STEM baccalaureate education. The 18 Alliance partners include public and private colleges and universities, community colleges, the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Minnesota High Tech Association. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities will be the lead institution. The configuration of 16 educational institutions, a high technology association with over 300 members, and a leading science and technology museum provides a resource-rich opportunity to address the engagement,capacity, and continuity (ECC) of underrepresented minorities in STEM. Using the critical transition points of middle school to high school, high school to first year of college, first year to sophomore year, transfer from 2-year to 4-year institution, and from lower division to STEM majors, the Alliance sets the following objectives: increase the level of interest in STEM careers by secondary and postsecondary non-STEM students in the targeted population; increase the number of students in the targeted populationcompleting a college preparatory/STEM preparatory high school program; increase the number of high school seniors of the targeted population enrolling in Alliance pre-college STEM and STEM baccalaureate degree programs; increase the number of students from the targeted population completing the associates degree and transferring to the 4-year Alliance schools: and increase the number of students from the targeted population persisting to the STEM baccalaureate. The North Star STEM Alliance will provide a comprehensive longitudinal set of initiatives to address these objectives at the critical transition points. The initiatives will include Alliance-wide community building conferences, bridge programs, peer-to-peer learning, undergraduate research opportunities, industry internships and professional development, contextual STEM course module development workshops, college prep STEM high school curriculum, and public communication campaigns of current STEM research. The intellectual merit of the Alliance project includes a contribution to the statewide discussion of student achievement in higher education in Minnesota, with a particular emphasis on STEM and underrepresented minorities, and on what works, what matters, and why. Due to the rigor of the entering qualifications for pursuing STEM, the Alliance outcomes will augment the discussions of the appropriateness and accuracy of predictors of student performance in institutions of higher learning, especially in regards to underrepresented minorities. In addition, because of the diversity of the educational missions of Alliance partners, the project will stimulate discussion on the scholarly literature on access and equity in highereducation and the policy implications for interventions at varying educational institutions. The inclusion of high-achieving underrepresented minorities amongst the institutions also presents an opportunity for the Alliance to weigh in on specific intellectual achievement issues such as stereotype threat and overprediction, which are based on high-achieving minority populations. The Alliance's experience with overcoming the relative isolation of underrepresented minorities on campuses outside of the Twin Cities Metro area will also contribute to understanding the critical role of student cohort building. The broader impacts of Alliance activities will be the advancement of discovery and understanding by the involvement of underrepresented minorities in the current research of STEM faculty and scientists, the development of contextual STEM modules in the curriculum that can be replicated at other educational institutions, and the public communication of the current rigorous research of underrepresented STEM faculty. The Alliance will increase the number of underrepresented minorities exposed to activities that allow them to make informed choices about STEM careers. Undergraduate research initiatives across Alliance institutions will enhance the research and education infrastructure by allowing Alliance students and faculty from different disciplines and different institutions with limited research infrastructures to access science and technology and engineering research centers on Alliance members' campuses possessing these facilities. The composition of the Alliance will promote broader dissemination through collaborative presentations of Alliance pedagogical and research activities at the distinct professional organizations and conferences of Alliance members. The Alliance will benefit society by providing the foundation for the development of the next generation of civically engaged STEM scholars.