Institutionalizing Undergraduate Research to Advance Systemic Change and Equity at Washington Community Colleges

该项目旨在为整个华盛顿州的社区大学生提供一个民主化本科研究的模式，从而为国家利益服务。该项目的目标是扩大华盛顿社区和技术学院（CTC）的集体能力，提供本科生的研究经验，作为教育公平和扩大参与和保留STEM的高影响力的做法。该项目将寻求回答这个问题，“CTC如何创建集体结构，流程，能力和所需的资源，在整个华盛顿州CTC系统提供扩大和持续的本科生研究机会，以改善STEM教育和公平地为CTC学生服务？”该项目小组将形成一个全州范围的实践社区（COP）的华盛顿反恐中心的教师和管理人员。本次缔约方会议将调查，库存，并制定战略，如何形成一个全州范围的财团，公平获得本科研究（UGR），为学生和教师的所有34个华盛顿州的CTC。让CTC参与系统的STEM教育改革对于扩大STEM参与和改善不同STEM学生的教育成果至关重要。该项目的目标是1）开发一个分布式的领导结构，将作为一个领导缔约方会议，以管理和促进这一能力建设过程，2）调查系统性的障碍，挑战和机会，扩大UGR的经验，教育公平在机构层面和全州范围内，3）制定一个共同的愿景和战略计划，为本科研究联盟的未来状态，4）形成一个全州范围内的教学COP，以建立教师的教学能力，以开发和实施基于课程的本科生研究经验，和5）建立机构和全州范围内的行政领导支持本科生研究联盟的形成和制度化。本科生研究的公平影响只能在大规模部署（跨学科和机构）时才能得到利用，并且当服务于大多数本科生，特别是那些代表性不足的群体的社区学院发生系统性变化时。除非重新审视和改变限制部门、机构和跨机构规模创新的环境和结构，否则系统性变革是不可能的。华盛顿州，其现有的合作CTC结构和临界质量的CTC进行本科研究，准备研究和启动实施这一系统性的变化。这个能力建设项目有可能揭开系统变革过程中固有的挑战和机遇，以改善STEM教育和教育公平。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型的轨道，该计划支持的努力，以改变和改善高等教育机构和学科社区的STEM教育.这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估支持.

This project aims to serve the national interest by providing a model for democratizing access to undergraduate research for community college students across the state of Washington. The project goal is to expand the collective capacity of Washington Community and Technical Colleges (CTC)s to provide undergraduate research experiences as a high-impact practice for educational equity and broadening participation and retention in STEM. This project will seek to answer the question, “How can CTCs create the collective structures, processes, capacities, and resources needed to provide expanded and sustained undergraduate research opportunities across the Washington State CTC system to improve STEM education and equitably serve CTC students?” The project team will form a statewide community of practice (COP) of Washington CTC faculty and administrators. This COP will investigate, inventory, and strategize how to form a statewide consortium for equitable access to undergraduate research (UGR) that serves students and faculty of all 34 of Washington State’s CTCs. Engaging CTCs in systemic STEM education reform is vital to the success of broadening participation in STEM and improving educational outcomes for diverse STEM students. The goals of this project are to 1) develop a distributed leadership structure that will function as a Leadership COP to manage and facilitate this capacity building process, 2) investigate systemic barriers, challenges, and opportunities for expanding UGR experiences, and educational equity at the institutional level and state-wide, 3) develop a shared vision and strategic plan for the future state of the undergraduate research consortium, 4) form a statewide pedagogical COP to build instructional capacity for faculty to develop and implement course-based undergraduate research experiences, and 5) build institutional and statewide executive leadership support for the formation and institutionalization of an undergraduate research consortium. The equity impact of undergraduate research can only be harnessed when deployed at scale (across disciplines and institutions), and when systemic change occurs at community colleges that serve the majority of undergraduates, especially those from underrepresented groups. Systemic change is not possible unless the environments and structures that constrain innovation at departmental, institutional, and cross-institutional scales are re-examined and changed. The state of Washington, with its existing collaborative CTC structure and critical mass of CTCs conducting undergraduate research, is poised to study and initiate the implementation of this systemic change. This capacity building project has potential to demystify the challenges and opportunities inherent in systemic change processes to improve STEM education and educational equity. 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.