The Diversity Project-A Transformative Field Research Experience That Engages Students by Empowering Them to Conduct Original Marine Research.

研究表明，更多样化的劳动力表现更好，提高了整体生产力。然而，科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的多样性远低于美国的人口结构，这对美国科学和技术部门的竞争力构成了越来越大的威胁。这个项目的重点是提高代表性不足的少数群体在科学领域，特别是海洋科学领域的成功和持久性。这项工作的创新之处在于，教师将指导学生在开发、设计和开展自己的研究的整个过程中，而不是让学生从事由研究教师开发和分配的项目。初步结果表明，这种以学生为中心的模式不仅使学生更有可能自我认同为科学家，而且还产生了可发表的研究成果。因此，学生们留在科学领域，继续进入研究生院和STEM领域的职业生涯，帮助我们的STEM劳动力多样化，并改变下一代海洋科学家。与其他种族相比，代表性不足的少数族裔（urm）参与STEM职业的可能性要低得多，尤其是在地球科学领域。这种模式的部分原因是实地经验是一项促进地球科学留用和培养职业的基础活动，但往往排斥妇女和自然科学研究人员。多样性项目（TDP）成立于2005年，旨在通过为urm提供变革性的国际本科生研究经验来增加海洋科学的多样性。直到2012年，TDP采用传统的自上而下的本科生研究经验（REU）模式，学生在PI的研究子集上工作。然而，从2013年开始，TDP实施了一种新颖的自下而上，以学生为中心的方法，专注于最大限度地提高学生的参与度，探索和兴奋。学生不是被分配项目，而是在科学探究的过程中受到指导，从观察开始，形成假设，到设计和实施自己的研究来检验这些假设。初步研究表明，与传统的自上而下的REU模式相比，这种自下而上的模式导致更多的学生发表他们的研究，更高地参与国内和国际科学会议，并增加了对研究生院的兴趣。该提案有两个主要目标：1)通过比较学生成功的长期指标，比较自下而上和自上而下的REU实地项目在促进未被充分代表的少数民族学生在地球科学领域取得成功方面的效果；2)定量和定性地评估自下而上和自上而下的夏季实地研究项目对URM学生地球科学成功的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Studies show that more diverse workforces perform better and enhance overall productivity. However, diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is much lower than U.S. demographics, representing a growing threat to the competitiveness of the U.S. science and technology sector. This project focuses on improving the success and persistence of underrepresented minorities (URMs) in science, specifically marine science. The innovation of this work is that, rather than students working on projects developed and assigned by research faculty, faculty will mentor students through the entire process of developing, designing and conducting their own research. Preliminary results indicate that not only does this student-centered model result in students being more likely to self-identify as scientists, they also produce research of publishable caliber. As a result, students stay in science and continue into graduate school and careers in STEM, helping diversify our STEM workforce and transforming the next generation of marine scientists. Underrepresented minorities (URMs) are significantly less likely to participate in STEM careers than other ethnicities, particularly within the geosciences. This pattern is partially a result of the fact that field experiences, a foundational activity that promotes retention and fosters careers in geosciences, can often be exclusionary towards women and URMs. The Diversity Project (TDP), founded in 2005, was designed to increase diversity in marine science by providing a transformative international undergraduate research experience for URMs. Until 2012, TDP employed a traditional top-down research experience for undergraduates (REU) model where students work on a subset of the PI's research. However, beginning in 2013, TDP implemented a novel bottom-up, student-centered approach that focused on maximizing student engagement, exploration, and excitement. Rather than being assigned projects, students are mentored through the process of scientific inquiry, starting with observations, formulating hypotheses, and ending with designing and conducting their own research to test those hypotheses. Preliminary research suggests that this bottom-up model results in more students publishing their research, higher participation in national and international scientific conferences, and increased interest in graduate school compared to the traditional top-down REU model. This proposal has two primary goals: 1) To compare the efficacy of bottom-up and top-down REU field programs in advancing the success of underrepresented minority students in the geosciences through comparison of long-term metrics of student success; 2) To assess the impacts (both quantitatively and qualitatively) of bottom-up and top-down summer field research programs on the success of URM students in the geosciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.