Supporting the Academic Journey of STEM Students through Research and Work Experiences in Puerto Rico

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）计划”的支持下，本项目侧重于加强本科STEM教育，目标是提高低收入家庭学生在STEM学位课程中的成功率。该项目建议通过为学生提供基于发现的研究经验和职业发展机会来实现这一目标。项目团队希望这些经历能够提高学生的自我效能感，从而提高他们的整体学习成绩。此外，项目团队希望学生们对研究生学习或STEM职业更感兴趣。该项目将与波多黎各的工业和机构建立合作伙伴关系和联盟，以发展实习机会。参与这些实习有望帮助学生培养在STEM职业中取得成功所需的技能，从而扩大STEM劳动力的参与度。到项目结束时，大学期望将生物学和生物技术理学学士学位课程的第一年保留率提高到80%。该项目的目标包括为STEM学生提供研究经验和职业实习，其预期结果是澄清、提炼和加强学生对STEM领域的坚持。该项目的具体目标包括在一年级和二年级的生物学课程中实施基于发现的研究体验，以激发学生的好奇心并培养他们的科学身份。在第三年之后，STEM专业的学生将参与专业发展活动并获得实习机会。项目活动的有效性将通过混合方法的研究设计进行评估，整合定量和定性数据，以评估和了解影响学生在STEM学术课程中表现的潜在因素。该项目的最终目标是提高低收入家庭学生，特别是西班牙裔学生的学习体验，从而提高STEM项目的保留率。该项目的目标、活动、成果和发现将通过面向学术界、科学界、行业利益相关者和广大社区的出版物和专题讨论会进行传播。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 Track 1 project focuses on enhancing undergraduate STEM education, with the goal of increasing the success of low-income students in STEM degree programs. The project proposes to do so by providing students with discovery-based research experiences and career development opportunities. The project team expects that these experiences will increase students’ self-efficacy and, thus, improve their overall academic performance. In addition, the project team expects that students will become more interested in pursuing graduate studies or STEM careers. The project will establish collaborative partnerships and alliances with industries and institutions in Puerto Rico to develop the internships. Participation in these internships is expected to help students develop the skills needed to succeed in STEM careers, thus broadening participation in the STEM workforce. By the end of the project, the University expects to increase the first-year retention rate to 80% in Biology and Biotechnology Bachelor of Science bachelor's degree programs. This project's objectives include providing research experiences and career internships to STEM students with the expected outcomes of clarifying, refining, and reinforcing students' persistence in STEM fields. The specific goals of the project include implementing discovery-based research experiences in first- and second-year biology courses to spark students’ curiosity and develop their scientific identities. After their third year, STEM majors will engage in professional development activities and have access to internships. The effectiveness of project activities will be evaluated through a mixed-methods research design, integrating quantitative and qualitative data to assess and understand the underlying factors affecting students' performance in STEM academic programs. The project ultimately aims to enhance the academic experience of low-income students, particularly Hispanic students, leading to an increase in retention rates in STEM programs. Dissemination of this project's objectives, activities, outcomes, and findings will occur through publications and symposia aimed the academic and scientific communities, industry stakeholders, and the community at large. 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.