Humanistic STEM: Blending Humanities and STEM to Increase Undergraduate Student Engagement, Knowledge, and Skills

该项目旨在通过改善本科STEM教育来服务于国家利益。为此，它将开发、分发和研究一种融合人文和STEM的可转移人文STEM(H-STEM)本科课程模式。H-STEM被定义为“科学、技术、工程和数学研究与对人类事务、福利、价值或文化的兴趣和关注的结合”。H-STEM强调了人文学科和STEM之间的联系，同时加强了两者的相关性。该项目将支持不同水平的H-STEM课程开发，从课程中实施的个别模块到H-STEM的完整课程，以及H-STEM本科辅修课程。项目目标还包括发展人文STEM中心，以促进其他大学的人文学科和STEM学科的整合。STEM领域的雇主强调，学生需要发展创造性解决问题、批判性思维、伦理推理和沟通等技能。这些技能通常在人文课程中得到最好的发展。参与这一项目的机构将致力于在各种机构类型实施H-STEM，以创建一支准备更充分的STEM工作队伍。H-STEM是对两个主要问题的有针对性的回应：(1)错误地将认识和技能的方式一分为二，要么以人文为重点，要么以STEM为重点，这种情况因机构孤岛而加剧；以及(2)与人文相关的技能对STEM学生不那么重要，甚至是无关紧要。这个项目产生的最重要的成果将是一个融合人文和STEM内容的模式，使学生更深入地认识到这些元学科之间的联系。H-STEM还可以使学生更深刻地了解他们在课程中获得的技能和能力的广泛适用性。项目领导将制定一个评估框架，该框架将使用直接的经验数据来衡量项目影响，并为未来的行动提供信息。来自试点的证据表明，H-STEM学生可以应用在学术环境中获得的跨学科知识、概念、技能和探究方法，对复杂的问题和情况做出创造性的反应。这些技能使学生能够将他们的技术能力与创造性和批判性思维技能相结合，这些技能对于在美国任何STEM领域继续取得成功越来越重要。广泛实施H-STEM的预期结果将是以STEM为重点的毕业生，他们更接近行业领导者的期望，拥有必要的技术技能，具有更强的同理心能力，精湛的沟通技能，以及丰富的文化多样性接触。这些成果将在工作之外的学生生活领域发挥充分的作用，无论学科、学习者水平或劳动力部门如何。通过一个针对各种学术受众的传播计划，以及组成一个由多种机构类型组成的联盟，这一框架有可能对多个学生群体产生重大影响。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。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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 improving undergraduate STEM education. To do so, it will develop, distribute, and research a transferable Humanistic STEM (H-STEM) undergraduate curriculum model that blends humanities and STEM. H-STEM is defined as “a blending of the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with interest in, and concern for, human affairs, welfare, values, or culture.” H-STEM highlights connections between humanities and STEM, while reinforcing the relevance of each. The project will support different levels of H-STEM curriculum development, from individual modules for implementation within a course to full H-STEM courses, as well as an H-STEM undergraduate minor. Project goals also include the development of the Humanistic STEM Center to facilitate integration of the humanities and STEM disciplines at other universities. Employers in STEM fields have stressed the need for students to develop skills such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and communication. These are skills are often best developed in humanities courses. The institutions participating in this project will work to implement H-STEM at a variety of institutional types to create a better prepared STEM workforce.H-STEM is a targeted response to two main concerns: (1) a false dichotomization of ways of knowing and skills as either humanities- or STEM-focused, a situation exacerbated by institutional silos; and (2) the devaluing of skills associated with the humanities as less important, or even irrelevant, to STEM students. The most significant product resulting from this project will be a model for blending humanities and STEM content in ways that result in students achieving a deeper realization of the connections between these meta-disciplines. H-STEM can also lead to more profound student understanding of the wide applicability of the skills and competencies they acquire in their courses. Project leadership will develop an assessment framework that will use direct empirical data to measure project impact and inform future action. Evidence from a pilot shows that H-STEM students can apply interdisciplinary knowledge, concepts, skills, and methods of inquiry attained in academic settings to produce creative responses to complex problems and situations. These skills allow the students to blend their technical competence with the creative and critical thinking skills that are increasingly essential for continued success in any STEM field in the United States. The anticipated result of broad implementation of H-STEM will be STEM-focused graduates who are more closely aligned with the expectations of industry leaders, possess the requisite technical skills, and have increased capacity for empathy, refined communication skills, and rich exposure to cultural diversity. These outcomes will have full utility in areas of student lives beyond their jobs, regardless of discipline, learner level or workforce sector. Through a dissemination plan that targets a variety of academic audiences, and the formation of a consortium comprising multiple institutional types, this framework has the potential to significantly impact multiple student populations. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program 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.