CheM Scholars: A team based approach to educating mathematics and chemistry majors

通过化学学者项目，罗氏学院的团队旨在通过支持14个化学和数学学士学位，增加经济困难学生完成化学和数学学位的人数。该项目的一个独特之处在于S-STEM学者参与Chemsolve 2.0项目，让高中生接触光谱学。通过Chemsolve，跨学科的学者团队为他们的年轻同龄人设计和开发实践活动并分析产品。Chemsolve的经验为S-STEM学生提供了一个在四年的课程中从初级实验室助理到质量控制总监的机会。此外，参与者有机会接受由教师、校友和企业指导组成的团队的指导，并参加专业协会和实习。为了扩大参与范围，该项目从STEM中代表性不足的群体（女性和非裔美国人）中招募学生。这个项目的技术优点在于建立了一种创新的、跨学科的、基于团队的方法来提供学术、社会和财政支持。化学学者项目的目标是：(a)到2016年将本科化学和数学学士学位课程的入学人数增加一倍，(b)到2020年保留并毕业100%的化学学者，以及(c)增加STEM劳动力或研究生学习的入学率。通过评估和评价产生的数据预计将支持这样一种基本原理，即对学生的学术和社会发展采取多学科、以团队为基础的方法将导致高留校率和毕业率。形成性和总结性评估将侧重于评估基于团队的举措对学生学习、保留和工作/研究生项目安置的影响。项目的各个方面，包括招聘和招生基准、课程表现和学生开发的推广材料都要进行评估。这些学生毕业后会被跟踪，并就项目的影响接受采访。项目成果的传播为利用团队合作作为留住STEM学生的手段提供了一个模式。该项目团队计划通过网站和美国化学学会和美国数学学会的会议向当地、拉罗彻学院的其他STEM部门以及全国展示他们的工作。项目可交付成果包括总结性评估结果和学生开发的Chemsolve 2.0学习材料。

Through the CheM Scholars project the team at La Roche College seeks to increase the number of economically disadvantaged students who complete chemistry and mathematics degrees by supporting for 14 chemistry and mathematics B.S. majors. A unique feature of the project is the S-STEM scholar participation in the Chemsolve 2.0 program which exposes high school students to spectroscopy. Through Chemsolve, interdisciplinary teams of scholars design and develop hands-on activities and analyze products for their younger peers. The Chemsolve experience provides the S-STEM student with an opportunity to graduate from novice lab assistance to quality control directors over the course of four years. Moreover, participants are provided with opportunities to be mentored by a team of faculty, alumni, and corporate guides and to participate in professional societies and internships. In order to broaden participation the project recruits students from groups that are under-represented in STEM (women and African American).The technical merit of this project lies in the establishment of an innovative, interdisciplinary team-based methodology for delivering academic, social, and financial supports. The objectives of the CheM scholars project are to: (a) double the enrollment in undergraduate chemistry and mathematics B.S. programs by 2016, (b) retain and graduate 100% of CheM scholars by 2020, and (c) increase entry to STEM workforce or graduate study. Data generated through assessment and evaluation is expected to support the rationale that a multi-disciplinary, team-based approach to the student's academic and social development will lead to the high retention and graduation rates. Formative and summative evaluation will focus on assessment of the effect of the team-based initiatives on student learning, retention and job/graduate program placement. Every aspect of the project including recruitment and enrollment benchmarks, course performance, and student-developed outreach materials is evaluated. The students are tracked after graduation and interviewed about the project's impact. Dissemination of the project results provides a model for using teamwork as a means of retaining STEM students. The project team plans to present their work locally, to other STEM departments at LaRoche College and nationally through websites and meetings of the American Chemical Society and the American Mathematical Society. Project deliverables include results of summative evaluation and the student-developed Chemsolve 2.0 learning materials.