Education Research Grant: The Use of Creative Problem Solving as Curriculum Enhancement to Improve Cognitive, Behavioral, and Social Transformation in STEM Retention

这项拟议的研究将调查如何将创造性问题解决(CPS)培训作为课程的增强，通过认知、行为和社会变革来提高维尔京群岛大学(UVI)的STEM参与度、融合度和留存率。理科100是所有一年级新生的必修课，代表了新生的所有成就水平，并将作为CPS研究的环境。这门课程被设计成一个跨学科的课程，涉及与文化相关的主题--飓风、火山、地震和加勒比海海啸。由于飓风频繁，火山众多，地震频繁，偶尔还会发生海啸，这一话题引起了加勒比地区公民的极大兴趣。创造性的解决问题的技能可能会创造一种STEM学习文化，培养出有动力在STEM追求职业生涯的学生。该项目具有开发尖端方法评估、语义知识表示和算法开发的潜力。该项目将遵循一个清晰的准实验设计，以检验与CPS在培养STEM和非STEM学生兴趣方面的效用相关的假设。

The proposed research will investigate how training students in Creative Problem Solving (CPS) can be used as curricular enhancement to improve STEM engagement, integration and retention at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) via cognitive, behavioral, and social transformations. Science 100 is a required course for all freshmen in their first year with all achievement levels in the entering freshman represented and will serve as the environment of the CPS study. The course is designed as an interdisciplinary class with culturally relevant topics--Hurricanes, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis in the Caribbean. With frequent hurricanes, an abundance of volcanoes, many earthquakes, and the occasional tsunami, this topic is of great interest to citizens of the Caribbean. Creative problem solving skills may have the potential of creating a STEM learning culture that produces students who are motivated to pursue careers in STEM. The project has potential for developing cutting-edge methodological assessments, semantic knowledge representations and algorithmic developments. The project will follow a well articulated quasi-experimental design for testing hypotheses relative to the utility of CPS for fostering interest among STEM and Non-STEM students.