Center of Excellence for Women in Science at Bay Path College: Improving Academic Success, Engagement and Retention in STEM Among Low-Income, Minority and First-Generation Women

海湾路径学院将提高攻读生物学、法医学和网络安全学士学位课程的本科生女性的学术成就、参与度和留存率。这一设计和开发研究项目的目的是改进、扩展和试点战略，以改善学习、参与度和留存结果，特别是在低收入、少数族裔和第一代大学生中。该项目旨在实施和推广通过《本科生物学教育愿景与变革倡议》颁布的生物科学有效教学建议。这将包括扩大课程重新设计和教师专业发展，以在高级科学课程中实施积极的、以学生为中心的教学和学习策略，并在整个课程中整合核心概念和能力。项目活动将通过新的海湾路径学院女性科学卓越中心进行协调，该中心旨在培养女性的科学职业抱负，并确保她们发展经验、技能和信心，以便在职业生涯中具有竞争力、取得成功和茁壮成长。该项目还将建立在之前的国家科学基金会通过奖学金在STEM(S-STEM)计划的成功结果的基础上。通过高影响力的实践，包括早期学生研究、教师和STEM专业人员的指导、通过实习和其他体验式学习机会进行的学术充实和职业探索，将扩大STEM中传统上代表性不足的群体的学生的参与。这些战略预计将提高所有参与学生的学业成绩、参与度和留存率。形成性和终结性评估将解决两个问题：(1)通过实施愿景和变革建议来重新设计课程是否会改善湾径学院这些课程的学生学习结果？以及(2)通过该项目扩大学生对高影响力学习体验的参与是否会导致学生在头两年增加对STEM的参与度和保留率，对于符合佩尔资格的低收入学生、少数族裔和第一代大学生来说，是否存在差异？描述性和推理性统计将被用来确定课程重新设计对学生学习的有效性。学生将在大学第一年和最后一年参加全国学生参与度调查。新材料和成果的传播将在高影响力技术交流和全国生物学教育工作者协会会议等国家会议上介绍。期刊文章将提交给美国生物学老师。

Bay Path College will increase the academic success, engagement and retention of undergraduate women enrolled in baccalaureate degree programs in Biology, Forensic Science and Cybersecurity. The purpose of this design and development research project is to refine, expand and pilot strategies that will lead to improved learning, engagement and retention outcomes, particularly among low-income, minority and first-generation college students. The project seeks to implement and extend recommendations for effective teaching in the biological sciences promulgated through the Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education Initiative. This will include an expansion of course redesign and faculty professional development to implement active, student-centered teaching and learning strategies in upper-level science courses, and integrate core concepts and competencies throughout the curriculum.Project activities will be coordinated through the new Bay Path College Center of Excellence for Women in Science, a facility designed to nurture women's scientific career aspirations and ensure they develop the experience, skills and confidence to be competitive, to succeed and to thrive in their professional lives. The project will also build upon successful results from a prior NSF grant through the Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) Program. Broadening participation of students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM will be achieved through high impact practices, including early student research, mentoring by faculty and STEM professionals, academic enrichment and career exploration through internships and other experiential learning opportunities. These strategies are expected to improve the academic achievement, engagement and retention of all participating students. Formative and summative evaluation will address two questions (1) Does course redesign through implementation of Vision and Change recommendations lead to improved student learning outcomes in these courses at Bay Path College? And (2) Does broadening student participation in high impact learning experiences through the project lead to increased student engagement and retention in STEM in the first two years, and are there differences for low-income Pell-eligible, minority and first-generation college students? Descriptive and inferential statistics will be used to determine the effectiveness of course redesign on student learning. Students will participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement during their first and final years of college. Dissemination of new materials and results will be presented at national meetings such as the High Impact Technology Exchange and the National Association of Biology Educators conferences. Journal articles will be submitted to The American Biology Teacher.