HSI Conference: Transforming STEM Education at Rural Hispanic-Serving Institutions Across the Nation

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）计划”的支持下，本次会议旨在确定农村HSI在开发有效的STEM项目方面面临的独特挑战，这些项目具有强大的学生入学率。它还将促进应对这些挑战的有效解决办法。农村地区和小城镇的高等教育机构面临着大城市同类机构不常见的挑战。这些挑战包括接入高速互联网，缺乏实际的劳动力培训或本科研究，招聘合格教师的挑战，难以达到新STEM项目的最低入学要求，以及获得联邦资金的问题。为拉美裔服务的机构正在寻求解决方案，以应对其作为拉美裔机构所特有的挑战。本次会议将记录现有和新兴农村hsi的交叉需求、障碍、成功、机会和优先事项。预期成果包括地理位置分散的合作伙伴之间的伙伴关系和合作模式、行业参与框架、更好地理解STEM教学和学习的有效实践、更好地理解农村社区学生的文化相关性，以及提高农村hsi成功获得外部资金的最佳实践和方法。会议旨在为理解农村hsi面临的挑战和潜在解决方案奠定基础，这些挑战和解决方案将提高这些社区人民的生活质量和经济成就。会议将建立在美国国家科学基金会资助的亚利桑那大学HSI会议：转变西班牙裔服务机构的STEM教育-来自西南地区的见解（NSF 1748526）。拟议的为期三天的农村STEM HSI会议将审查本科STEM教育的主题，包括：(1)K-12，两年制和四年制伙伴关系；(2)职业生涯和劳动力准备；(3)创新STEM教与学；(4)学生支持策略；(5)文化响应教育；(6)外部资金。结果将通过整合案例内和跨案例分析策略的定性研究与以前亚利桑那大学HSI会议的结果进行比较。这种比较将增加对农村hsi STEM本科教育具体挑战和机遇的认识和理解。会议将生成一份报告，就如何最好地满足农村hsi STEM学生的需求提供指导。会议结果将通过在区域和国家会议上的发言散发给政府机构和高等教育组织。这项工作的长期影响将是帮助农村hsi将自己定位为增加获得高质量教育机会的驱动因素，并发展将影响农村经济繁荣的STEM劳动力。HSI计划旨在加强HSI的本科STEM教育和能力建设。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。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this conference aims to identify the unique challenges that rural HSIs face in developing effective STEM programs that have robust student enrollment. It will also promote effective solutions that address these challenges. Institutions of higher education in rural areas and small towns face challenges that are uncommon to peer institutions in larger cities. These challenges include access to high speed Internet, lack of hands-on workforce training or undergraduate research, challenges in recruiting qualified faculty, difficulty in meeting enrollment minimums for new STEM programs, and problems accessing federal funding dollars. Hispanic-Serving Institutions are seeking solutions to challenges that are unique to their status as HSIs. This conference will document the intersecting needs, barriers, successes, opportunities, and priorities of existing and emerging rural HSIs. The expected outcomes include models for partnerships and collaborations among geographically dispersed partners, frameworks for industry engagement, improved understanding of effective practices in STEM teaching and learning, improved understanding of cultural relevance for students in rural communities, and best practices and approaches that improve the success of rural HSIs in obtaining external funding.The conference aims to lay a foundation for understanding challenges and potential solutions for rural HSIs that, when addressed, will increase quality of life and economic success for the people of these communities. The conference will build on the NSF-funded University of Arizona HSI Conference: Transforming STEM Education in Hispanic Serving Institutions - Regional Insights from the Southwest (NSF 1748526). The proposed three-day Rural STEM HSI Conference will examine themes in undergraduate STEM education including: (1) K-12, Two-Year, and Four-Year Partnerships; (2) Career and Workforce Preparation; (3) Innovative STEM Teaching and Learning; (4) Student Support Strategies; (5) Culturally Responsive Education; and (6) External funding. The results will be compared to those from the previous University of Arizona HSI Conference via a qualitative study that integrates within-case and across-case analytic strategies. This comparison will augment knowledge and understanding about the specific challenges and opportunities in STEM undergraduate education at rural HSIs. The conference will generate a report to provide guidance on how to best serve the needs of STEM students at rural HSIs. The conference results will be disseminated to governmental agencies and higher education organizations via presentations at regional and national conferences. The long-term impact of this work will be to help rural HSIs position themselves as drivers to increase access to high-quality educational opportunities and develop the STEM workforce that will impact rural economic prosperity. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.