HSI Pilot Project: Enhancing STEM Participation and Attainment at a Rural, Hispanic-Serving Institution

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项目旨在改善STEM参与和农村HSI社区学院学生的学士学位转移。尽管在过去的几十年中，西班牙裔学生的入学率和毕业率有所上升，但西班牙裔学生在STEM学位和STEM劳动力中的代表性仍然不足。在农村HSI社区学院，许多西班牙裔学生无法访问所需的科学实验室课程或从事非常有价值的本科研究经验，在干学科由于地理位置的限制。社区大学环境中的在线课程有可能通过消除位置限制并允许学生继续取得学位来增加访问，持久性和学位完成。COVID-19疫情显示，许多资源不足的机构（如HSI农村社区学院）在寻求提供高质量的在线实验室科学课程时面临重大挑战。类似的能力限制限制了西班牙裔学生在农村HSI社区学院的本科研究机会。这项研究将有助于越来越多的文献的作用，在线教学和本科生的研究经验，可以通过循证最佳实践，旨在建立更强大的STEM途径和身份西班牙裔学生在农村HSI社区学院在推进STEM机会和成果的公平发挥。本项目的目的是（1）增加农村学生在HSI和（2）改善攻读STEM教育的HSI学生的学位获得和转学机会。为了解决这两个需要改进的领域，SFSC将与高等教育（UF IHE）的佛罗里达大学研究所合作，实施以证据为基础的最佳实践，增加获得所需的科学课程和本科研究经验。这些干预措施将包括高质量的在线课程，创新的虚拟科学实验室和扩大的本科生研究经验。预期的项目成果包括增加实验室科学课程的学生入学率，增加STEM专业学生的持续性，以及增加学生在本科研究经历中的参与。SFSC和UF IHE的合作研究团队将探索该项目对学生STEM课程参与、成功和坚持其专业的影响。项目团队还将检查教师参与本科研究经验的记录，并进行半结构化访谈，以更好地了解学生的参与和干预组件的经验。在独立的外部评估之后，这项工作的结果将在州，地区和国家层面广泛传播，包括佛罗里达大学系统机构，专业协会，高等教育研究网络以及专注于高等教育和STEM教育的同行评审期刊。为了确保广泛传播，项目小组还将创建一个专门的项目网站，并通过UF IHE网站宣传可交付成果。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 1 project aims to improve STEM participation and baccalaureate transfer for students at a rural HSI community college. Despite a rise in Hispanic student enrollment and graduation rates over the past few decades, Hispanic students remain underrepresented in STEM degrees and the STEM workforce. At rural HSI community colleges, many Hispanic students are unable to access required science lab coursework or engage in highly valuable undergraduate research experiences in STEM disciplines due to location constraints. Online courses in community college settings have the potential to increase access, persistence, and degree completion by removing location constraints and allowing students to continue to make progress toward their degree. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that many under-resourced institutions, such as rural HSI community colleges, faced major challenges when seeking to deliver high-quality online laboratory science courses. Similar capacity constraints limit Hispanic students' undergraduate research opportunity at rural HSI community colleges. This research will contribute to the growing body of literature on the role that online instruction and undergraduate research experiences can play in advancing equity in STEM opportunities and outcomes via evidence-based best practices designed to build stronger STEM pathways and identities among Hispanic students at a rural HSI community college.The aims of this project are to (1) increase access to STEM for rural students at and HSI and (2) improve degree attainment and transfer opportunities for HSI students pursuing STEM education. To address these two areas for improvement, SFSC will partner with the University of Florida Institute of Higher Education (UF IHE) to implement evidence-based best practices that increase access to required science courses and to undergraduate research experiences. These interventions will include high-quality online courses, innovative virtual science labs, and expanded undergraduate research experiences. Expected project outcomes include increased student enrollment in laboratory science courses, increased persistence of students in STEM majors, and increased participation of students in undergraduate research experiences. The collaborative research team from SFSC and UF IHE will explore the project's influence on students' STEM course participation, success, and persistence in their major. The project team will also examine faculty records for participation in undergraduate research experiences and conduct semi-structured interviews to better understand students' engagement and experiences with intervention components. Following an independent external evaluation, results of this work will be broadly disseminated at the state, regional, and national levels, including Florida College System institutions, professional associations, higher education research networks, and peer-reviewed journals focused on higher education and STEM education. To ensure broad dissemination, the project team will also create a dedicated project website and promote deliverables through the UF IHE website. 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.