Critical-Juncture, STEM Educational Innovations Driven by Holistic, Integrative Evaluation Systems

路易斯安那州泽维尔大学I-CUBED计划将重点关注I-CUBED计划的两个综合主题，即关键的教育结合点和扩大STEM学科的参与。该计划将整合和加强大学的核心STEM桥梁课程套件，这些课程旨在吸引代表性不足的少数民族学生进入STEM领域，并帮助他们从高中学习过渡到大学第一年。该项目建议提供一个新的模式，以整合和评估该机构的“桥梁”计划，特别是在获得STEM学位的非洲裔美国学生中取得成功。该项目的总体目标是有效地连接，整合和评估一套核心的STEM桥梁计划在泽维尔和夏季/大一的学习环境在STEM的机构。 这将通过增加教师之间的合作和沟通，增加教师获得和接触STEM教育发展的资源和研究，为STEM教育发展提供评估和评价系统，并刺激研究和信息传播来实现。创新的，可转移的教学策略和评估模型将被开发和充分测试。该计划将开始改变大学的制度文化，打破部门障碍，并根据最先进的规划和评估系统的状态，发展合作与协作的环境。Xavier的I-CUBED计划将利用其在全国范围内成功传播STEM计划的机制，在整个高等教育界分享计划成果。

The Xavier University of Louisiana I-CUBED program will focus on two of the I-CUBED program's integrative themes, namely, the critical educational junctures and broadening participation in STEM disciplines. The program will integrate and enhance the University's suite of core STEM bridge programs, which serve to attract underrepresented minority students into STEM fields and assist them in the transition from their high school studies through their first year of college. The project proposes to provide a new model for integrating and assessing "bridge" programs at the institution that have been successful especially in graduating African American students with STEM degrees. Overall goal of the project is to effectively connect, integrate and evaluate a core set of STEM bridge programs at Xavier and the summer/freshman year learning environment in STEM at the institution. This would be achieved by increasing collaboration and communication among faculty, increasing faculty access and exposure to resources and research in STEM education development, providing assessment and evaluation systems for STEM education development, and stimulating research on and information dissemination of same. Innovative, transferable instructional strategies and assessment models will be developed and fully tested. The program will begin to change the institutional culture of the university, breaking down departmental barriers and developing an environment of cooperation and collaboration based on state of the art planning and assessment systems. Xavier's I-CUBED program will use its nationally successful mechanisms for dissemination of STEM programs, to share program results throughout the higher education community.