Examining the Impact of a Learning Community Model and Critical Pedagogy on Minority Student Retention in STEM

本尼迪克特学院将研究连接学习社区模型对本科生保留，学术成功和自我效能的影响。该模型基于班杜拉的社会认知理论，以学生的研究经验为特色，再加上同行和教师的指导，并提供了一个吸引人和支持性的互动学习环境，以影响学生的成绩。 该模型包含几个因素：具有相似社会文化背景的同龄人的影响，学术导师在培养有效学习技能方面的影响，获得负责任的职业道德的影响，以及更好地理解STEM教育的好处的影响。该项目预计将产生积极的影响，通过产生一个基于证据的干预措施，可以适用于类似的机构，包括社区学院，少数民族在STEM劳动力的路径。研究人员将实施一个混合方法的设计，以调查是否连接学习社区影响的学术表现，保留，和自我效能感的少数民族STEM学生。 多元回归模型将用于解释学业成功，保留和自我效能的变化与协变量，如年龄，社会经济地位，性别，家庭教育史，婚姻状况使用的定量数据。将收集定性数据并分析原因，以支持研究期间观察到的定量效应。项目前和项目后的面试将用于评估学生对他们的学术经验的满意度，学习社区成员的感知利益，对STEM职业的兴趣以及坚持STEM的承诺。这项研究可能会为针对代表性不足的学生的本科STEM教育产生一种新的范式。 该项目得到了历史上黑人学院和大学本科生计划（HBCU-UP）的支持，扩大了教育轨道的参与研究。该计划轨道支持想法创建和研究新的模型和创新在干教学和学习，调查影响学生的差异参与和成功率的潜在问题，从代表性不足的群体，并产生知识，告知干教育实践和干预措施。

Benedict College will examine the impact of a Connected Learning Community Model on undergraduate student retention, academic success, and self-efficacy. The model, based on Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, features student research experiences coupled with peer-to-peer and faculty mentoring and provides an engaging and supportive interactive learning environment to influence student outcomes. The model incorporates several factors: the influence of peers with similar sociocultural backgrounds, the influence of an academic mentor in fostering effective study skills, the influence of acquiring a responsible work ethic, and the influence of a better understanding of the benefits of STEM education. The project is expected to positively impact the pathway of underrepresented minorities in the STEM workforce by producing an evidence-based intervention that could be adapted for similar institutions, including community colleges.The researchers will implement a mixed-methods design to investigate whether a connected learning community impacts the academic performance, retention, and self-efficacy of underrepresented minority STEM students. Multiple regression models will be used to explain the variation of academic success, retention, and self-efficacy with covariates such as age, socioeconomic status, gender, family education history, and marital status using the quantitative data. Qualitative data will be collected and analyzed for causative factors to support the quantitative effects observed during the study. Pre- and post-project interviews will be used to assess students' satisfaction with their academic experience, perceived benefit of membership in the learning community, interest in STEM careers, and commitment to persist in STEM. The study can potentially produce a novel paradigm for undergraduate STEM education targeting underrepresented students. This project is supported by the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) Broadening Participation Research in Education track. This program track supports ideas to create and study new models and innovations in STEM teaching and learning, investigate the underlying issues affecting the differential participation and success rates of students from underrepresented groups, and produce knowledge to inform STEM education practices and interventions.