Building Capacity: Addressing Critical Transitions of First-Year STEM Students

改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构计划（HSI计划）旨在加强本科STEM教育并建立HSI的能力。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。东北伊利诺伊大学（HSI）的这个项目旨在通过让学生参与到一个支持性的、以研究为基础的学习社区中来提高学生的保留率。这个学习社区将被称为Agua en Comunidades Experimentales (ACE)，意思是研究社区的水。ACE学习社区将包括社会支持、科学培训和与水科学相关的研究经验。该项目将评估ACE学习社区对学生在STEM入门课程中取得成功以及在STEM学位课程中保留学生的影响。通过加强学生的准备，该项目旨在增加对STEM感兴趣的学生，他们选择STEM专业并获得STEM学士学位。ACE学习社区将为处于发展阶段进入大学的学生创建一个纵向的、为期四年的“家庭基地”。这种方法不同于典型的学习社区模式，后者将学生群体放在大学第一学期或第一年提供的同一组课程中。ACE学习社区的其他重要方面包括其对具有社会和社区效益的研究的关注，以及在课程中嵌入学术支持。东北伊利诺伊大学将与其他机构合作，为ACE学生提供实习岗位，并举办教师发展研讨会，为指导ACE学生做好准备。该项目旨在开发一种模式，可以在东北伊利诺伊大学的多个部门以及其他机构中传播和采用。ACE学习社区模式的结果将为支持学生成功的策略和干预措施提供证据基础，包括低收入、第一代和代表性不足的少数民族学生。将进行定量和定性评估，以确定建立学生科学家身份的最佳实践，以及他们在STEM研究中的自我效能感或信心与STEM课程成功率之间的关系。这些信息对于培养一支高素质、多样化的国家STEM劳动力队伍非常重要。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。

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge about how to achieve these aims. This project at Northeastern Illinois University, an HSI, aims to increase retention of students by engaging them in a supportive, research-based learning community. This learning community will be called Agua en Comunidades Experimentales (ACE), which means Water in Research Communities. The ACE learning community will include social supports, scientific training, and research experiences related to water science. The project will evaluate the impact of the ACE learning community on student success in introductory STEM courses as well as student retention in STEM degree programs. By enhancing the preparation of students, the project seeks to increase the number of STEM-interested students who declare a STEM major and earn a baccalaureate degree in STEM.The ACE learning community will create a longitudinal, four-year "home base" for students who enter college at the developmental level. This approach differs from the typical learning community model, which places student cohorts in the same set of courses offered during the first semester or first year of college. Other important aspects of the ACE learning community include its focus on research that has a societal and community benefit, and its embedding of academic supports within the curriculum. Northeastern Illinois University will work with other institutions to develop internship positions for ACE students and to create faculty development workshops to prepare faculty to mentor ACE students. The project seeks to develop a model that can be disseminated and adopted by multiple departments at Northeastern Illinois University, as well as by other institutions. The outcomes of the ACE learning community model will add to the evidence base about strategies and interventions to support the success of students, including low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented minority students. Quantitative and qualitative assessments will be conducted to identify best practices in building students' identities as scientists, and how their self-efficacy or confidence in STEM studies correlate with success rates in STEM courses. This information is important for producing a national STEM workforce that is highly capable and diverse.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.