A Power of Place Learning Experience & Research Network to Support Community College Student Success and Civic Engagement

摘要：一个支持社区大学生成功和公民参与的地方学习经验研究网络的力量该项目旨在通过促进本科生物学学生的能力和动机来服务于国家利益，利用他们的科学技能服务于他们的社区，最终目标是增加公众对科学的信任，以及来自历史上服务不足和在科学事业中代表性不足的人群的学生的持久性。国家优先事项强调需要更多的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）毕业生，特别是那些来自STEM领域历史上服务不足和代表性不足的群体（URM学生）。同时，迫切需要大学毕业生，特别是STEM毕业生，有能力和愿望利用他们的技能为社区服务，并增加国家对科学的信任。以课程为基础的本科研究经验（CURES）增加了学生在STEM领域的坚持，并提高了他们的研究自我效能和技能，特别是对于那些来自URM团体的学生。同样，通过参与强调当地历史、文化和服务的实践经验，努力将基于地方的学习纳入其中，有可能激发广大学生的兴趣，并往往导致持久的公民参与。该项目利用CURE和基于地方的学习的最佳实践，以满足更多URM学生坚持STEM和更多STEM毕业生服务社区的需求。具体来说，该项目将支持在科罗拉多和新墨西哥州的社区学院和四年制机构开发和实施基于地点的CURE模块。这些基于地方的CURE将让学生参与为他们所在机构所在的当地社区服务的研究。该项目的教育研究将试图了解基于地点的CURE是否以及如何增加学生的信心和动机，利用他们的科学技能与社区互动，以及他们是否增加了STEM的持久性，特别是对于那些开始在社区大学接受中学后教育的人。 该项目将调查一个新的CURE模式的有效性，该模式将以地方为基础的研究服务于当地社区作为中心设计特征。项目人员将设计基于位置的CURE模块，可以很容易地纳入生物学入门课程。这些单元将在专业发展务虚会期间与社区学院和四年制院校教员合作加以完善和修订，然后由他们在项目人员的支助下加以实施。与本项目相关的基于知识的教育研究将为学生和教师调查这一过程。对于学生来说，研究将调查CURE模块是否影响研究自我效能感，归属于当地和科学社区的感觉，科学公民参与以及坚持STEM的意图。参加CURE模块课程的学生将与参加没有CURE模块或高度相似课程的相同课程的学生进行比较。值得注意的是，这是第一次努力系统地设计和测试CURE，旨在让学生参与社区服务的研究。科学的公民参与量表，一个新的心理测量，将被用来测试学生谁参加基于地方的CURE增加他们的自我效能，知识和意图方面的科学公民参与。此外，该量表还将评估他们对使用科学技能与社区接触的重要程度。将对数据进行分类，以审查持有城市学生运动身份的各类学生的成果。对于教师来说，研究将调查他们发展自我效能和与基于实地研究的教学相关的技术教学内容知识的程度。总之，这些结果将有助于阐明的价值a）实施基于地点的研究模块CURE，和B）提供教学专业发展的教师学习实施模块CURE。课程和研究成果将公开提供给希望将社区参与的科学纳入其课程的本科生物学教师。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。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。

ABSTRACT: A Power of Place Learning Experience & Research Network to Support Community College Student Success and Civic EngagementThe project aims to serve the national interest by facilitating undergraduate biology students’ ability and motivation to use their science skills in service of their communities with the ultimate goals of increasing public trust in science and persistence of students from populations historically underserved and underrepresented in science careers. National priorities emphasize the need for more science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates, especially those from groups historically underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields (URM students). Concurrently, there is a pressing need for college graduates, particularly STEM graduates, to have the ability and desire to use their skills in service of their communities and to increase national trust in science. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) increase students’ persistence in STEM fields and increase their research self-efficacy and skill, especially for those from URM groups. Likewise, efforts to incorporate place-based learning through engagement in hands-on experiences that emphasize local history, culture, and service have potential to spark interest for a vast number of students and often lead to lasting civic engagement. This project leverages best practices from both CUREs and place-based learning to address the need for more URM students to persist in STEM and for more STEM graduates to serve their communities. Specifically, the project will support development and implementation of place-based CURE modules at both community colleges and four-year institutions across Colorado and New Mexico. These place-based CUREs will involve students in research that serves the local community where their institution is based. Education research for this project will seek to understand if and how place-based CUREs can increase students’ confidence and motivation to engage with their communities using their science skills and whether they increase persistence in STEM, especially for those who begin their postsecondary education at a community college. This project will investigate the efficacy of a new CURE model that incorporates place-based research serving a local community as a central design feature. Project personnel will design place-based CURE modules that can be easily incorporated into introductory biology courses. These modules will be refined and revised during professional development retreats in collaboration with community college and four-year institution instructors who will then implement them with support from project personnel. The disciple-based education research associated with this project will investigate this process for students and instructors. For students, studies will investigate if CURE modules influence research self-efficacy, sense of belonging to local and scientific communities, scientific civic engagement, and intent to persist in STEM. Students who participate in courses with CURE modules will be compared to those who participate in the same courses without CURE modules or highly similar courses. Notably, this is one of the first efforts to systematically design and test CUREs that aim to involve students in community-serving research. The scientific civic engagement scale, a new psychometric measure, will be used to test whether students who participate in place-based CUREs increase their self-efficacy, knowledge, and intentions with regard to scientific civic engagement. In addition the scale will assess the level of importance they assign to engaging with a community using science skills. Data will be disaggregated to examine outcomes for various groups of students who hold URM identities. For instructors, studies will investigate the degree to which they develop self-efficacy and technical pedagogical content knowledge related to field-research based instruction. Together these results will help to elucidate the value of a) implementing place-based research in modular CUREs, and b) providing pedagogical professional development for instructors learning to implement modular CUREs. Both curricula and research results will be made publicly available for undergraduate biology instructors wishing to incorporate community-engaged science into their courses. 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.