Increasing STEM Persistence by Supporting Apprentice Research Experiences (AREs) as a Model for Institutional Change in Community Colleges

该项目旨在通过反复评估和改进STEM学术研究和培训(START)计划来服务于国家利益，START计划是维克技术社区学院的一项学徒研究经验(ARE)。该项目将有助于理解ARES对社区大学生在大学和STEM职业生涯中的坚持性的影响--特别是在两年制大学中不常见和学习不足的影响。该项目将为联合课程学徒制的本科生指导研究项目开发一个可持续的模式，并帮助建立州和捐赠者资助本科生研究经验和在北卡罗来纳州社区大学实习的案例。该项目将加强目前的项目，从STEM中代表性不足的人群中招收学生，并进一步发展与众多研究伙伴的关系。通过为学生提供带薪实习支持，该项目将增加低收入学生获得STEM职业的机会。还将开发针对导师和学生的培训模块。该项目提供了一个独特的机会，可以招募代表性不足的少数族裔和第一代大学生进入STEM研究，并为他们在学术和职业生涯中取得成功做好准备。该项目的目标是为两年制和四年制大学开发一个可持续和可扩展的本科生研究和实习计划模式，以合作进行本科生研究。这样的伙伴关系有望培养学生在STEM学士学位课程中的成功转学和坚持不懈。基金将为每学期约50名学生实习生提供支持，从而在整个项目过程中产生400个带薪实习机会。该项目将开发一个基于调查社区(COI)框架的模式，以加强社区大学背景下的本科生研究经验。该项目将利用一项随机对照试验，满足“什么是有效的信息交换中心”的标准，并包括关于参与START本科研究对学生结果的影响的研究问题，例如，在大学和STEM领域的保持和坚持，学术信心，学生身份和意识，以及科学素养和研究技能。此外，研究问题考察了START对学院的影响，例如对STEM领域学生参与的多样性的影响，导师参与导师活动的技能和舒适度，以及机构对导师和研究的支持。外部评价员和项目教职员工将编写调查结果的手稿以供出版，并通过国家会议向从业人员和研究人员传播。学术合作伙伴包括北卡罗来纳农业技术州立大学、北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校和北卡罗来纳州立大学。通过为社区学院的学生创造本科生研究和实习机会，该项目是建立STEM管道的典范。该项目的资金来自高级技术教育计划，该计划通过两年制高等教育机构推进本科STEM教育创新和影响的项目描述(PD 21-7980)，促进社区大学部门本科STEM教育的创新和循证实践。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 iteratively assessing and improving the STEM Academic Research and Training (START) program, an Apprenticeship Research Experience (ARE) at Wake Technical Community College. The project will contribute to understanding the effects of AREs - especially uncommon and understudied at 2-year colleges - on community college students’ persistence in college and in STEM careers. This project will develop a sustainable model for co-curricular apprenticeship-style mentored undergraduate research programs and help build the case for state and donor funding for undergraduate research experiences and internships at community colleges across North Carolina. The project will enhance a current program, recruit students from populations underrepresented in STEM, and further develop relationships with numerous research partners. By supporting students with paid internships, the project will increase access to STEM careers for low-income students. Training modules for mentors and students will also be developed. The project offers a distinct opportunity to recruit underrepresented minorities and first-generation college students into STEM research and prepare them for successful academic and professional careers. The project goal is to develop a sustainable and scalable undergraduate research and internship program model for 2- and 4-year colleges to partner in undergraduate research. Such partnerships are expected to foster student success in transfer and persistence in bachelor’s degree programs in STEM. Funds will support approximately 50 student interns each semester resulting in 400 paid internships over the course of the project. This project will develop a Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework-based model for strengthening undergraduate research experiences in the community college context. The project will utilize a randomized controlled trial that meets the "What Works Clearinghouse" standards, and includes research questions on the impact of participation in START undergraduate research on student outcomes, e.g. retention and persistence in college and in STEM fields, academic confidence, student identity and awareness, and scientific literacy and research skills. Furthermore, the research questions examine the impact of START on the college, e.g. the impact on the diversity of student participation in STEM fields, the skills and comfort of mentors in engaging in mentoring activities, and the institution’s support for mentors and research. The external evaluator and project faculty will prepare manuscripts of findings for publication and disseminate them via national conferences, reaching audiences of both practitioners and researchers. Academic partners include North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. By creating undergraduate research and internship opportunities for community college students the project is a model to build the STEM pipeline. Funding for this project comes from the Advanced Technological Education program through the program description on Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education (PD 21-7980) which promotes innovative and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education in the community college sector.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.