Developing and Investigating an Asset-Based Supplemental Course to Increase Student Success in Undergraduate General Chemistry

该项目旨在通过提供一个模型来提高普通化学课程学生的公平性，从而为优秀本科STEM教育的国家利益服务。以前的研究表明，补救和赤字为基础的方法，以补充一般化学教学不提供显着的长期利益的学生。 这种影响的缺乏对于STEM中代表性不足的群体的学生来说尤其明显。该项目将开发和研究一种新的基于资产的补充课程，利用学生的许多优势，帮助他们在普通化学方面取得成功。这一学分的补充化学课程将与普通化学I课程一起运行。 谁是在普通化学课程失败的风险的学生将被邀请参加。新的补充课程将寻求通过提供机会来实践在普通化学中取得成功所需的关键技能，如数学和学习技能，以支持学生的成功。 它将同时认识到并依靠学生在生活的其他领域发展的优势，将这些优势引导到他们自己和彼此在化学方面的学术成功。预期的项目成果包括降低普通化学I的失败率，表征基于资产的补充化学课程，并开发资源以支持其他机构复制该课程。本研究的目标是帮助理解在一个多元化的大学中处于风险中的学生如何以及为什么能够在普通化学中取得成功，以及机构在支持这种成功中的作用。本项目将开发和研究一个基于资产的补充化学课程，用于马萨诸塞州波士顿大学普通化学的学生，这是一个公立的，城市的，主要是通勤校园，本科生人口是全国最多样化的。补充课程的设计将遵循基于活动理论的资产模型，具有四个设计原则：（a）采用学生的观点;（B）提供降低学生激活障碍的结构，以增加他们的代理;（c）鼓励在文化和个人相关活动中的协作和社会参与;以及（d）支持对话，化学素养和足智多谋。本课程的影响将使用基于反赤字成就框架的混合方法进行研究，并将解决以下研究问题：（1）补充课程设计的哪些要素在支持学生在普通化学方面取得成功方面是富有成效的，以及如何做到这一点？(2)除了普通化学之外，干预对学生两个学期学业成功的持久影响是什么？(3)大学的支持系统如何对参与者的挑战和有意义的关系，支持他们的学术成功的培养谈判功能？以及（4）补充化学学生的经验现实如何使他们能够成功，因为他们与他们在课程中，在大学和他们的生活中围绕着他们的支持过程相交？学生访谈和反例将是了解学生成功和经验的主要数据来源。这些数据将通过教师日记以及与参与机构支持的教师和工作人员的访谈进行补充，包括教师，咨询人员和护理顾问。该项目的成功将通过外部咨询委员会的质疑和审查周期进行评估。通过两个周期的实施改进和一年的保真度测试，研究将确定与其在高度多样化的大学背景下成功实施的课程的关键组成部分。该项目开发的产品将包括可供其他高等教育机构改编的模块、教师便利指南和本科生学习助理资源。 该项目由NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。 该奖项反映了NSF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。

This project seeks to serve the national interest in excellent undergraduate STEM education by providing a model to enhance equity for students in general chemistry courses. Previous studies have shown that remediation and deficit-based approaches to supplemental general chemistry instruction do not provide significant long-term benefits to students. This lack of impact is particularly noticeable for students in groups underrepresented in STEM. This project will develop and study a novel asset-based supplemental course that leverages the students’ many strengths to help them succeed in general chemistry. This one-credit supplemental chemistry course will run alongside the General Chemistry I course. Students who are at risk of failing the general chemistry course will be invited to participate. The new supplemental course will seek to support student success by providing opportunities to practice key skills needed for success in general chemistry, such as mathematical and study skills. It will simultaneously recognize and rely on strengths that students have developed in other areas of their lives, to channel these strengths toward their own and each other's academic success in chemistry. The intended project outcomes include reducing failure rates in General Chemistry I, characterizing the asset-based supplemental chemistry course, and developing resources to support replication of the course by other institutions. The research goal is to contribute to understanding how and why at-risk students at a diverse university can succeed in general chemistry, and the role of the institution in supporting this success.This project will develop and study an asset-based supplemental chemistry course for students at risk of attrition from General Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Boston, a public, urban, primarily commuter campus with an undergraduate population that is among the country’s most diverse. Design of the supplemental course will follow an asset model based on activity theory, with four design principles: (a) adopt the perspective of the student; (b) provide structure that lowers the activation barrier for students to increase their agency; (c) encourage collaborative and social engagement in culturally and personally relevant activity; and (d) support dialogue, chemical literacy, and resourcefulness. The impact of the course will be studied using a mixed methods approach based on the Anti-Deficit Achievement Framework for Research on Students of Color in STEM, and will address the following research questions: (1) Which elements of the supplemental course design are productive in supporting student success in general chemistry, and how so? (2) What are the lasting impacts of the intervention on student success in academic work for two semesters beyond general chemistry? (3) How does the University's system of supports function toward participants' negotiation of challenges and cultivation of meaningful relationships that support their academic success? and (4) How do the experiential realities of the supplemental chemistry students empower them to succeed as they intersect with the processes of support that surround them in the course, at the university, and in their lives? Student interviews and counter narratives will be the primary data sources to understand student success and experiences. These data will be supplemented by instructor diaries as well as interviews with faculty and staff involved in institutional support, including instructors, advising staff, and care counselors. The project’s success will be assessed through cycles of questioning and review by an external advisory board. Through two cycles of implementation improvements and one year of fidelity testing, the research will define the critical components of the course that relate to its successful implementation in the context of a highly diverse university. Products developed by the project will include modules that may be adapted by other higher education institutions, a facilitation guide for instructors, and resources for undergraduate learning assistants. This project is supported by the NSF IUSE: EHR Program, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.