Transitions and Research Across Interfaces (TRAINS)

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，这条轨道2：IEP旨在将HSI社区学院的学生过渡到学士学位授予机构，并宣布在科学，技术，工程或数学（STEM）学科中主修。尽管STEM领域的多元化劳动力带来了社会、经济和创新方面的好处，但这些领域的毕业生并没有反映出美国在全球竞争所必需的包容性社区。尽管18%的美国人口认为自己是非白人西班牙裔，但学士学位授予机构向西班牙裔学生授予STEM领域学士学位的比例要低得多。社区学院能够解决这一差距，27%的社区学院学生被认定为西班牙裔，200多所社区学院被联邦政府承认为HSI。这个项目，跨接口的过渡和研究（TRAINS），将促进学生在里约洪多学院，HSI社区学院的过渡，通过在里约洪多学院和南加州大学的密集，15个月的课堂/研究实验室的经验，在干领域的未来领导者。通过提供职业咨询，实验室培训和直接指导，TRAINS将寻求扭转社区大学生对STEM领域失去兴趣的局面，并为学生提供转移到授予学士学位的机构的机会，在那里他们可以毕业并在STEM领域从事职业生涯。通过该项目获得的数据，TRAINS最终将提出一个模块化战略，可以在其他人口中心（包括社区学院和研究型大学）复制，并从根本上重新定义社区学院作为美国科学和工程劳动力战略资源的作用。除了成功地提高Rio Hondo学生转入学士学位授予机构并最终在STEM领域从事职业的比率这一主要目标之外，TRAINS还将培养一批研究生/博士后研究员，他们可以指导非传统学生，并在支持学生克服导致STEM领域兴趣流失的文化障碍方面提供知识。这些目标将由加州大学圣巴巴拉分校科学与工程合作中心（CSEP）的项目评估专家和高点大学的教育研究团队提供帮助。 CSEP将通过焦点小组和跟踪调查及时反馈，确保实现计划目标的进展。教育研究团队将专注于测试新策略和改进最佳实践，以提高非传统学生的持久性，以保持他们对STEM领域的兴趣。这一方案的成果将通过教育研究期刊和在区域/国家会议上宣传加以传播。此外，超过200，000名学生在南加州大学大学公园校园15英里内参加HSI社区学院，该计划包含扩展的机会，可以作为其他地区将社区学院学生融入研究丰富计划的典范。 HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，并建立HSI的能力。HSI计划支持的项目也将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: IEP aims to transition students at HSI community colleges to baccalaureate-granting institutions with a declared major in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) discipline. Despite the social, economic, and innovation benefits of a diverse workforce in STEM fields, graduates in these fields do not reflect the inclusive community necessary for America to compete globally. Although 18% of the American population identifies as being non-white Hispanic, Bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields at baccalaureate-granting institutions are awarded at a dramatically lower rate to Hispanic students. Community colleges are in a position to address this disparity with 27% of all community college students identifying as Hispanic and over 200 community colleges that have been federally recognized as HSIs. This project, Transitions and Research Across Interfaces (TRAINS), will facilitate the transition of students at Rio Hondo College, an HSI community college, into future leaders in STEM fields through an intensive, 15-month classroom/research laboratory experience at Rio Hondo College and the University of Southern California. By providing career counseling, laboratory training, and direct mentoring, TRAINS will seek to reverse the loss of interest in STEM Fields amongst community college students and provide the opportunity for students to transfer to baccalaureate-granting institutions where they may graduate and pursue a career in a STEM field. Through data acquired through this program, TRAINS will eventually present a modular strategy that can be replicated at other population centers (that contain community colleges and research universities) and fundamentally redefine the role of community colleges as a strategic resource for America’s scientific and engineering workforce. Beyond the primary aim of successfully increasing the rate at which Rio Hondo students transfer to baccalaureate-granting institution and eventually pursue a career in a STEM field, TRAINS will also develop a cohort of graduate students/postdoctoral fellows that can mentor non-traditional students and advance knowledge on supporting students to overcoming cultural barriers that lead to attrition in interest in STEM fields. These aims will be facilitated by program evaluation specialists at the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (CSEP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara and education research team at High Point University. CSEP will ensure progress towards program objectives through timely feedback via focus groups and tracking surveys. The education research team will focus on testing novel strategies and refining best practices to increase the persistence for non-traditional students to maintain their interest in STEM fields. The results of this program will be disseminated through education research journals and promotion at regional/national conferences. Furthermore, with over 200,000 students that attend HSI community colleges within 15 miles of the University Park Campus at the University of Southern California, this program contains opportunities for expansion and can serve as a model by which other regions integrate community college students into research enriched programs. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also 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.