Identifying the Critical Factors and Mindset Characteristics in College STEM Student Development

国家的优先事项是在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域培养训练有素、受过良好教育的劳动力。为了支持这一国家需求，了解影响学生在STEM领域坚持学习的因素至关重要。本科学生在STEM学科的成功取决于许多因素，包括参与研究，得到有效的指导，与同学建立联系，以及发展自己作为科学家或STEM专业人士的观点。该项目将在俄克拉何马大学跟随学生完成一项名为FYRE的为期四年的研究参与计划。该项目将开发工具，包括调查和访谈问题，以跟踪学生对STEM的参与和参与。通过使用这些工具，项目负责人希望找出成功学生共有的特征。特别是，该项目将重点关注来自不同背景的学生，因为他们在STEM领域的代表性往往不足。该项目还将研究学生的学习心态，即学生对自己的学习和智力的信念。项目负责人将寻找具有成长型思维模式或理解努力可以带来成就与STEM成功之间的相关性。了解是什么造就了一个成功的STEM学生，可以帮助增加从美国高校毕业的STEM专业人员的数量，这解决了一个对国家至关重要的问题。本研究项目的目标是研究大量不同学科的STEM本科生，以确定STEM发展的普遍重要特征。为了实现这一目标，FYRE项目将考察一个高度积极、多样化和包容性的STEM学生群体。本提案的目的是全面和纵向地研究、评估和确定FYRE学生在整个大学生涯和毕业后的STEM发展的关键因素。本研究将探讨学习心态在培养成功的大学STEM毕业生中的作用和可塑性。该项目将具体评估学习心态（即成长学习心态与固定学习心态）、自我效能感和冒名顶替现象在大学STEM发展中的作用。这些心理结构将在四年本科课程的各个阶段进行评估和跟踪。本研究将：1)确定大学生学习心态的变化规律；2)研究经验在培养学生成长心态方面的效果如何；3)成长心态对学生成为STEM专业人士有多重要。预期的研究成果是确定在大学层面成功发展STEM的关键因素，说明STEM学生跨领域的经验，并开发一个内部一致的工具来调查STEM学生的经验，用于未来在其他高等教育机构实施FYRE。这些都是改善本科STEM教育的重要贡献，因为它们将允许开发更有效和成功的STEM课程和编程。STEM专业人员的缺乏已被确定为美国的一个主要问题，无论是现在还是未来。该提案的成果将有助于培养出更多高技能的STEM专业人员，这些专业人员能够通过科学进步和创新对国家和人民产生积极的社会影响。

A national priority is the production of a highly trained and educated workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To support this national need, it is critical to understand the elements that affect student persistence in STEM fields. The success of undergraduate students in STEM disciplines depends on many factors, including participating in research, being effectively mentored, networking with fellow students, and developing a view of themselves as a scientist or STEM professional. This project will follow students through a four-year research engagement program, termed FYRE, at the University of Oklahoma. The project will develop tools, including surveys and interview questions, that will track student participation and engagement in STEM. By using these tools, the project leaders hope to identify characteristics that are shared by successful students. In particular, the project will focus on students from diverse backgrounds, as they are often underrepresented in STEM fields. The project will also examine learning mindsets in students, which are beliefs that students have about their learning and intelligence. Project leaders will look for correlations between having a growth mindset, or an understanding that effort can lead to achievement, and success in STEM. Understanding what makes a successful STEM student can help increase the number of STEM professionals graduating from American colleges and universities, which addresses an issue of national importance.The goal of this research project is to study a large and diverse population of undergraduate STEM students across a variety of disciplines, to identify universally important characteristics in STEM development. The FYRE program will examine a highly motivated, diverse, and inclusive STEM student cohort to accomplish this goal. The objective of this proposal is to comprehensively and longitudinally study, assess, and identify the factors critical for the STEM development of FYRE students throughout their college careers and beyond their graduation. This study will address questions pertaining to the role and malleability of learning mindsets in cultivating successful college STEM graduates. The program will specifically assess the role of learning mindset (i.e. growth-learning mindset versus fixed-learning mindset), self-efficacy, and imposter phenomenon in college STEM development. These psychological constructs will be assessed and tracked at all stages of the four years of undergraduate program. The proposed research will: 1) establish how changeable learning mindsets are in college students; 2) how effective research experiences are in developing growth mindsets in students; and 3) how important growth mindsets are in students becoming STEM professionals. The expected research outcomes are to identify the factors critical for successful STEM development at the college level, illustrate the STEM student experience across domains, and develop an internally consistent instrument for investigating STEM student experiences to be used in future FYRE implementations at other institutions of higher education. These are important contributions in improving undergraduate STEM education as they would allow for the development of more effective and successful STEM curricula and programming. The lack of STEM professionals has been identified as a major concern for the United States, both now but especially in the future. The outcomes of this proposal will contribute to graduating more highly skilled STEM professionals capable of having a positive societal impact through scientific advancement and innovation for the nation and its people.