Creating Pathways to Increase Retention and Transfer Rates of STEM Majors at Two Los Angeles-Based Hispanic Serving Institutions

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，该轨道2项目旨在解决洛杉矶两所姐妹西班牙裔服务社区学院（洛杉矶山谷学院-LAVC和洛杉矶皮尔斯学院-LPC）STEM中代表性不足的少数民族的低保留率和转移率问题。在LAVC和LAPC之间，生物学是选择最多的STEM专业（也是第三大专业），但只有17-20%的学生（其中大多数代表性不足）完成学位或转学为STEM专业。该项目与南加州大学（四年制大学）和Bioscience LA（生命科学劳动力发展组织）合作，将在三年内使用旨在留住和吸引STEM学生的研究支持的干预方法支持176名LAVC/LAPC学生。招聘将针对新生早期参与活动，包括学术资源和转移支持，这些支持将在LAVC/LAPC的新，修改或现有课程上进行。活动还将包括研究经验，实习机会，并介绍了STEM学术和行业专业人士的广泛网络。预期的结果包括LAVC/LAPC学生在STEM中的保留率更高，作为STEM专业的4年制院校的转移率更高，以及对项目管理人员告知正在进行的干预策略的实际和感知障碍的见解。两个主要的研究问题指导了该计划的框架：1）哪些因素最影响代表性不足的学生坚持STEM的决定;以及2）如何改善两年制院校STEM学生的教育体验以提高持久性？该计划将采取干预措施，以提高学生的表现和积极性，目标是提高边缘化学生的保留率和转移率。战略将包括接触不同的职业道路，学术辅导，发展学习社区，教师和近同行指导，早期接触研究经验，以及在研究现场站身临其境的机会。来自项目评估的定量数据将记录这些早期干预对学生保留和坚持的影响。通过焦点小组获得的定性数据将提供有关该计划的其他影响因素和成果的见解。成果将通过NSF年度报告、在区域和国家会议上的演讲以及重点关注STEM教育和合作机构网站的会议进行传播。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM的参与，并建立HSI的能力。实现这些目标，鉴于不同的性质和背景下的HSIs，需要创新的方法，激励机构和社区转型，促进基础研究（一）参与学生学习，（二）关于如何有效地多样化和增加STEM的参与，以及（三）提高我们对如何在HSIs建立机构能力的理解。HSI计划所支持的项目也将从这些方法中汲取经验，以产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to address the problem of low retention and transfer rates of underrepresented minorities in STEM at two sister Hispanic Serving Community Colleges in Los Angeles (Los Angeles Valley College-LAVC and Los Angeles Pierce College-LPC). Between LAVC and LAPC, Biology is the most selected STEM major (and third largest major overall), yet only 17-20% of students (a majority of whom are under-represented) complete the degree or transfer as a STEM major. Partnering with the University of Southern California (4-year university) and Bioscience LA (life science workforce development organization), this project will support 176 LAVC/LAPC students over three years using research-backed intervention methods designed to retain and attract students in STEM. Recruitment will target new students for early engagement in activities that will include academic resources and transfer support that scaffold onto new, modified, or existing courses at LAVC/LAPC. Activities will also include research experiences, internship opportunities, and introductions to a broad network of STEM academic and industry professionals. Anticipated outcomes include higher retention of LAVC/LAPC students in STEM, higher transfer rates to 4-year institutions as STEM majors, and insights into actual and perceived barriers for program administrators to inform ongoing intervention strategies.Two leading research questions guide the framework of this program: 1) Which factors most influence the decision of under-represented students to persist in STEM; and 2) How can the educational experience of STEM students at 2-yr institutions be improved to increase persistence? This program will apply interventions to improve student performance and motivation, with the goal of improving the retention and transfer rates of marginalized students. Strategies will include exposure to diverse career paths, academic coaching, developing a learning community, faculty and near-peer mentoring, early exposure to research experiences, and an immersive opportunity at a research field station. Quantitative data from program evaluations will document the impact of these early interventions on student retention and persistence. Qualitative data via focus groups will provide insight on additional impact factors and outcomes of the program. Results will be disseminated via NSF annual reports, presentations at regional and national conferences with sessions that focus on STEM education and partner institution’s websites. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to 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.