HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: The Intersection of Art and Science: Nurturing Diversity, Research, and Creative Expression to Increase STEM Identity and Retention

在改进的本科生STEM教育：拉美裔服务机构(HSI计划)的支持下，该Track 2项目旨在培养STEM身份并增加留住，特别是在北亚利桑那大学(NAU)生物科学系代表性不足的学生。像许多机构一样，NAU的毕业率和生物科学专业中代表性不足的学生的保留率低于占主导地位的学生。STEM认同感包含了学生对STEM领域的归属感和对自己能力的信心，已被证明是本科STEM专业留住和成功的一个重要方面，而来自边缘人群的学生往往没有来自主要群体的学生那么强烈的STEM认同感。有证据表明，多样性和包容性教学、研究经验和艺术渠道都有助于培养更强的STEM认同感。这个项目将结合这三种方法来测试参与其中任何一个或所有这些项目是否有助于生物科学本科生更强的STEM认同感、保留率和毕业率。该项目的具体目标是制定一幅更稳健的图景，了解边缘人群的学生如何发展他们的STEM认同感，这将使NAU和其他机构能够更好地培养这些认同感，潜在地导致STEM领域保留率和毕业率的提高。该项目将通过三种方式培养学生对STEM的认同感：(1)二年级研讨会(SYS)课程，重点关注女性和有色人种的科学发现和成就，关于STEM中系统性歧视的批判性话语，以及学生可以采取的行动，以增强自己的学习能力；(2)夏季研究体验(SRE)，侧重于研究的早期阶段，包括基于地点的观察，发展研究问题和假设，以及数据收集和解释；以及(3)创造性的艺术课程，学生通过创造性的媒介反思他们的研究经验。在整个项目中，我们将使用调查和访谈来衡量学生的STEM身份，在他们完成项目后，我们将跟踪他们在完成学位过程中的进展。我们假设，所有学生都将看到他们的STEM身份认同有所提高，与那些只参加一两个阶段的学生相比，参加该计划所有三个阶段的学生将拥有更强的STEM身份认同，并更有可能获得STEM学位。这些结果将帮助HSI了解他们如何更好地支持学生在STEM专业取得进步时形成STEM身份。HSI计划旨在加强本科生STEM教育和HSI的能力建设。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to foster STEM identity and increase retention, particularly of students who are underrepresented in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University (NAU). Like many institutions, NAU’s graduation and retention rates of students who are underrepresented in the Biological Sciences are lower than those of students from the dominant population. STEM identity, which encompasses a student’s sense of belonging to STEM fields and their confidence in their own abilities, has been shown to be an important aspect of retention and success in undergraduate STEM majors, and students who are from marginalized populations tend to have less robust STEM identities than students from the dominant population. There is evidence that teaching for diversity and inclusion, research experience, and artistic outlets can all contribute to the development of stronger STEM identities. This project will combine these three approaches to test whether participation in any or all of these pieces contribute to a stronger STEM identity, retention, and graduation of undergraduate students in Biological Sciences.The specific aim of the project is to develop a more robust picture of how students from marginalized populations develop their STEM identities, which will allow NAU and other institutions to better foster those identities, potentially leading to increased retention and graduation rates in STEM fields. The project will foster STEM identity in students through three approaches: (1) a second-year seminar (SYS) course focused on scientific discoveries and achievements by women and people of color, critical discourse about systemic discrimination in STEM, and actions students can take to empower their own learning; (2) a summer research experience (SRE) focused on the early stages of research, including place-based observations, developing research questions and hypotheses, and data collection and interpretation; and (3) a creative arts course in which the students reflect upon their research experiences through a creative medium. Throughout the program, we will use surveys and interviews to measure students’ STEM identities, and after they complete the program, we will track their progress through their degree completion. We hypothesize that all students will see gains in their STEM identities, and that the students who participate in all three phases of the program will have stronger STEM identities and will be more likely to graduate with a STEM degree, than those who participate in only one or two phases. These results will help HSIs understand how they can better support the formation of students’ STEM identities as they progress through their STEM majors. 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.