Collaborative Undergraduate Research Experiences in the Mathematical Sciences for Community College Students

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划），这个轨道1试点项目旨在让社区大学的学生和教师参与数学，统计和数据科学方面有意义的研究经验。该项目的一个中心目标是提高代表性不足的少数民族社区大学生在本科生（REU）计划的研究经验的参与率。许多社区学院的学生从事全职工作或有家庭责任，这对参与传统的研究经验提出了挑战。此外，社区大学教师的职责往往集中在提供高质量的课堂教学，留下有限的时间来指导学生的研究项目。此外，数学科学的早期研究经验比其他一些学科更不常见，这可能会使学生在开始学术生涯时无法发现对该学科的热情。本项目通过将社区学院中经过验证的研究经验（RE-C^2）模型应用于在线实践社区来应对这些挑战。该项目将通过促进学生研究人员和教师之间的合作，在全国多个地点探索RE-C^2格式的有效性。具体来说，每年，由两名社区大学生，一名社区大学教师和一名来自四年制机构的教师组成的五个团队将共同努力，探索来自整个数学科学的开放问题。该项目将为社区大学的学生提供数学成长的机会，并通过向他们介绍合作研究的兴奋来获得技术和沟通技能。由洛杉矶皮尔斯学院领导，这项工作包括来自乔治梅森大学，波多黎各，加州大学洛杉矶分校美洲大学和德克萨斯大学阿灵顿的合作者。在为期一年的研究项目中，学生将参加线性代数和微分方程的课程。同时参加这些课程并在原创研究项目上进行合作将提供一个丰富而引人入胜的智力环境，参与学生将获得对数学及其在STEM学习者和专业人士中的未来的新观点。项目评估将使用调查和焦点小组来评估学生的技术，沟通，解决问题和协作技能，数学意识，以及该计划对追求额外数学课程的愿望的影响，并最终成为STEM职业。项目成果，包括学生的研究成果，将通过演示文稿，出版物，并与同行机构寻求建立类似的程序直接接触传播。 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HSIs的多样性和背景，需要创新的方法，激励机构和社区转型，促进基础研究（i）参与学生学习，（ii）关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与，以及（iii）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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 1 pilot project aims to engage community college students and faculty in meaningful research experiences in mathematics, statistics, and data science. A central goal of the project is to increase the participation rate of underrepresented minority community college students in research experiences for undergraduates (REU) programs. Many community college students work full-time jobs or have family duties, presenting a challenge to participate in a traditional research experience. Additionally, community college faculty responsibilities are often centered on providing top quality classroom instruction, leaving limited time to guide student research projects. Additionally, early research experiences in the mathematical sciences are less common than in some other disciplines, which may keep students from discovering a passion for the discipline as they begin their academic careers. This project addresses these challenges by adapting the proven Research Experiences in Community Colleges (RE-C^2) model to an online community of practice. The project will explore the effectiveness of the RE-C^2 format at multiple sites nationwide by fostering collaboration between student researchers and faculty. Specifically, each year, five teams consisting of two community college students, one community college faculty, and one faculty member from a 4-year institution will work together to explore open problems from across the mathematical sciences. The project will give community college students the opportunity to grow mathematically and gain technical and communication skills by introducing them to the excitement of collaborative research. Led by Los Angeles Pierce College, this effort includes collaborators from George Mason University, Inter American University of Puerto Rico, UCLA, and the University of Texas at Arlington. During their year-long research project, students will enroll in coursework in linear algebra and differential equations. Concurrently taking these courses and collaborating on an original research project will provide a rich and engaging intellectual environment where participating students will gain new perspectives on mathematics and their future at STEM learners and professionals. Project evaluation will use surveys and focus groups to assess students’ technical, communication, problem solving and collaborative skills, awareness of mathematics, and impact of the program on the desire to pursue additional mathematical coursework and, ultimately, a STEM career. Project outcomes, including student research findings, will be disseminated through presentations, publications, and direct contact with peer institutions looking to build similar programs. 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 are supported by this program.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.