Building Capacity: Undergraduate STEM Transitions, Experiences, and Mobility

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。圣地亚哥州立大学的这个项目将通过改变STEM本科生的学习途径来推进HSI项目的目标。该项目在转变STEM学位路径的工作中考虑了学生的流动性和多所院校之间的过渡。具体来说，该项目将确定支持学生在两年制和四年制大学之间过渡的机制，以及在这一关键过渡之前可能发生的多种运动。这项研究将提供有关策略的信息，以帮助学生，包括代表性不足的少数民族，发挥他们的STEM潜力。考虑到大量来自弱势群体的学生就读于社区学院和hsi，这方面的知识至关重要。拟议项目的总体目标是为在社区学院开始高等教育的学生研究STEM途径，特别强调学生在多个机构之间的流动性。该项目还将研究hsi在这些途径中的具体作用。研究方法将是一种综合的混合方法和多层方法，使用多成员随机效应建模、社会网络分析和定性叙述，并使用区域和国家数据。这种研究方法可以对STEM中的障碍和机会进行细致入微的检查，为那些可能在多个机构中导航STEM路径的学生提供帮助。该项目旨在：1)确定STEM学生流动模式和院校之间的联系，这些模式和联系如何影响学生，以及不同群体之间的差异；2)使用先进的统计技术来解释学生在大学之间的流动性，以检查有助于STEM成果的学生特征、大学经历和制度背景；3)定性地深化和澄清来自大规模数据分析的结果，并对全系统结构和伙伴关系的机遇和挑战产生见解。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 San Diego State University will advance the aims of the HSI Program by transforming the pathways taken by STEM undergraduate students. The project considers student mobility and transitions between multiple institutions in its work to transform STEM degree pathways. Specifically, this project will identify mechanisms of support for students' transitions between two- and four-year colleges, in addition to the multiple movements that might occur prior to this critical transition. This study will provide information about strategies to help students, including underrepresented minorities, to reach their STEM potential. This knowledge is critical, given the large numbers of students from underrepresented groups who are enrolled in community colleges and HSIs.The overall aim of the proposed project is to examine STEM pathways for students who began their postsecondary education at community colleges, with a specific emphasis on student mobility across multiple institutions. The project will also investigate the specific role of HSIs in these pathways. The research approach will be an integrated mixed methods and multilayered approach using multiple membership random effect modeling, social network analysis, and qualitative narratives, with both regional and national data. This research approach enables a fine-grained and nuanced examination of the barriers and opportunities in STEM for students who may navigate STEM pathways across multiple institutions. This project aims to: 1) identify STEM student mobility patterns and the links between institutions, how these patterns and links affect students, and how they differ across groups; 2) use advanced statistical techniques that account for student mobility across colleges to examine the student characteristics, college experiences, and institutional contexts that contribute to STEM outcomes; and 3) qualitatively deepen and clarify results from this large scale data analysis, and generate insights on the opportunities and challenges for system-wide structures and partnerships.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.