Building the Foundation for Institutionalizing Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences in Community Colleges to Improve STEM Equity

该项目旨在通过为更多地获得社区学院的研究经验奠定基础，从而服务于国家利益。以课程为基础的本科生研究体验(CURE)使学生能够将原创研究作为其常规课程的一部分。治疗方案有可能通过为所有学生提供研究经验来推进公平目标，而不仅仅是少数选定的学生。此外，由于两年制大学招收的学生来自代表不足的群体的比例很高，广泛提供治疗方法有可能增加STEM劳动力的多样性。Whatcom社区学院的一群教职员工一直在实施不同STEM学科的治疗方法，包括生物学、地质学和工程学。越来越多的其他教职员工对在他们的课堂上实施治疗感兴趣。拟议的项目将利用这一兴趣来审查该机构如何能够扩大治疗方法的使用，从而在STEM教学实践中产生体制变革。这个为期两年的项目还将通过在一所两年制大学完成一项关于制度变革的研究来促进国家利益，该研究可以为其他机构改善STEM教学和学习的努力提供信息。该项目旨在：(1)确定治疗扩展和制度化的机构能力(SWOT)的优势、劣势、机会和威胁(SWOT)；(2)通过社区建设和反馈支持现有的治疗采用者；(3)重新审视SWOT分析，以确定改革课程努力的机构能力；以及(4)传播关键发现。SWOT分析将是为期数天的战略规划务虚会的一部分，届时将有实施治愈方法的教职员工和管理人员参加。参与CURE的教职员工将建立一个学习社区来指导和支持开发CURES的过程。考虑到新冠肺炎的流行，该项目将专注于为在线学习设计治愈体验。该项目将包括一系列的教师访谈，以丰富地描述实施治疗的机制和原因。利用这些数据，再加上与一名制度变革专家的合作，这个项目有可能建立一个制度改进的模型，该模型以两年制学院教职员工的经验为基础，但对这些学院的研究有限。NSF IUSE：EHR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。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区转变和改进STEM教育的努力。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 aims to serve the national interest by laying the foundation for increased access to research experiences at community colleges. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) enable students to do original research as part of their regular coursework. CUREs have the potential to advance equity goals by providing research experiences for all students, not just a select few. In addition, because two-year colleges have high enrollments of students from underrepresented groups, making CURES widely available has the potential to increase diversity in the STEM workforce. A group of faculty members at Whatcom Community College have been implementing CUREs in different STEM disciplines, including biology, geology, and engineering. An increasing number of other faculty are interested in implementing CUREs in their classes. The proposed project would leverage this interest to examine how the institution can widen the use of CUREs and, thus, generate an institutional transformation in STEM instructional practices. The two-year project will also contribute to national interests by completing a study on institutional change at a two-year college, which can inform the efforts of other institutions to improve STEM teaching and learning.This project is designed to: (1) identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) for institutional capacity for CURE expansion and institutionalization; (2) support current CURE adopters through community building and feedback; (3) revisit the SWOT analysis to determine the institutional capacity to reform curricular efforts; and (4) disseminate key findings. The SWOT analysis will be part of a multi-day strategic planning retreat with CURE-implementing faculty and administrators. Participating CURE faculty members will develop a learning community to guide and support the process of developing CUREs. Considering the COVID-19 Pandemic, the project will have a focus on designing CURE experiences for online learning. The project will include a series of faculty interviews to provide rich descriptions of the mechanisms and reasons for implementing CUREs. Using these data, along with collaboration with an expert on institutional change, this project has the potential to produce a model of institutional improvement that is grounded in the experiences of faculty members at two-year colleges for which there is limited research. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.