Experiences in Metacognition and Early Research to Increase Degree Completion of STEM Undergraduate Students

该项目将通过支持圣奥拉夫学院有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生的留校和毕业，来促进国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求。在为期五年的时间里，该项目将为32名攻读生物和化学学士学位的学生提供长达四年的奖学金支持。该项目的目的是增加完成生物或化学入门课程并随后获得这些领域专业的学生的比例。学者将从元认知培训、早期研究经验和侧重于培养STEM归属感的活动中受益。这个项目将调查元认知培训在提高本科生研究经验方面的作用。元认知培训使学生能够监控和反思自己的学习，规划未来的学业进步，并做出有目的的调整以实现目标。通过元认知工作坊和定期的反思练习，学者们将建立对其STEM课程中个人最有效的学习策略的认识。在教员领导的团队和精选课程中的早期研究经验有望激发学者的好奇心，培养社区意识。学者支持活动包括同行指导、与教职员工聚会以及与S-STEM校友建立联系。通过加强归属感，这些活动有可能支持生物和化学专业的学生取得成就和坚持不懈。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。元认知在课堂学习中的作用得到了广泛的研究。关于元认知培训如何影响学生作为本科生研究人员的经历，以及从研究经验中获得的学习成果，人们知之甚少。这项研究的目的是了解如何在本科生STEM专业培养这些技能。该项目将通过研讨会和对研究策略使用的指导性反思，积极促进学者元认知技能的发展。有规律的元认知练习有望影响学生感知他们的研究经验的方式，并增加学生报告使用元认知策略的程度。本科生研究体验调查将与学习动机策略问卷一起进行管理，该问卷经修改后用于指导实验室环境，以评估学生的体验。该项目还将评估学者在学术上坚持和茁壮成长的程度，以及学者对STEM的归属感在他们成功中的作用。这些成果将为其他机构的STEM教育提供信息，并通过在国家会议上发表演讲和在同行评议的期刊上发表来传播。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加获得STEM领域学位的低收入、有学术天赋、有经济需求的学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学业成功、留住、转移、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at St. Olaf College. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide up to four years of scholarship support to 32 students pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry. The aim of the project is to increase the proportion of students who complete introductory biology or chemistry courses and subsequently earn majors in these fields. Scholars will benefit from metacognitive training, early research experiences, and activities focused on developing a sense of belonging in STEM. This project will investigate the role of metacognitive training in advancing undergraduate research experiences. Metacognitive training enables students to monitor and reflect on their learning, plan for future academic progress, and make purposeful adjustments to achieve goals. Through metacognitive workshops and regular reflective practice, the Scholars will build an awareness of the learning strategies that are personally most effective in their STEM courses. Early research experiences in faculty-led teams and in select courses are expected to stimulate Scholars' curiosity and cultivate a sense of community. Scholar support activities include peer mentoring, gatherings with faculty, and networking with S-STEM alumni. By reinforcing a sense of belonging, these activities have the potential to support achievement and persistence of biology and chemistry majors. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The role of metacognition in classroom learning is well researched. Less is known about how metacognitive training influences students' experiences as undergraduate researchers or the learning gains that result from the research experiences. The goal of this research is to understand how these skills can be cultivated in undergraduate STEM majors. This project will actively promote the development of Scholars' metacognitive skills through workshops and guided reflection about the use of research strategies. Practicing regular metacognition is expected to influence the way students perceive their research experiences and increase the degree to which students report using metacognitive strategies. The Survey for Undergraduate Research Experiences will be administered, along with the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, modified for use in a mentored laboratory environment, to assess student experiences. The project will also evaluate the extent to which Scholars persist and thrive academically, and the role of Scholars' sense of STEM belonging in their success. The results will inform STEM education at other institutions and be disseminated through presentations at national conferences and publication in peer-reviewed journals. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.