Improving STEM Student Success through the Integration of Learning Assistants and Co-requisite Models in First-year Courses

通过在一年级课程中整合学习助手和必备模型来提高 STEM 学生的成功

• 批准号: 2315453
• 负责人: Jennifer Whisner
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2315453&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; STEM; Student; Success; through

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving student success in first-year college courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A well-educated and diverse science and technology workforce is crucial for U.S. economic development. When students have trouble successfully completing required STEM courses in their first year, they may take longer to complete their degrees, leave STEM majors, or even leave college entirely; and these issues are more common among students from groups that have been underrepresented and underserved in their participation in STEM fields of study. This project aims to help students in first year STEM courses by implementing two approaches that have been shown to increase college success and persistence for disadvantaged students: the co-requisite and learning assistant (LA) models. In the co-requisite model, students with less math preparation get two additional hours of support each week, allowing them to gain needed skills without having to take an extra semester of remedial math. In the LA model, faculty redesign their courses to incorporate active learning, and are supported in the classroom by trained near-peer student facilitators (LAs). This project is significant because it will investigate the impact of combining the LA and co-requisite models in first-year math courses and of adding LAs to required first-year courses in STEM disciplines not yet well represented in the LA literature. The goals of this project are to improve completion of STEM courses; retain more, and more diverse, students at the university and in STEM majors; and reduce time-to-graduation. Faculty professional development in the LA and co-requisite models will catalyze improvements in STEM teaching, create more engaging learning environments, and improve students’ quantitative skills. Faculty engaged in these classroom transformations will both receive and provide additional support to one another in a Community of Practice. LAs will take a one-semester pedagogy course, meet weekly with faculty, facilitate active learning and critical thinking in class, and provide additional student support outside the classroom. This project will fill critical gaps in our understanding of the co-requisite and LA models by pursuing three objectives. First is to study how LAs impact the effectiveness of co-requisite support sections of foundational STEM math courses. Second is to explore why LAs improve student outcomes by investigating how LAs impact students’ sense of belonging in STEM and disciplinary identity. Third, and finally is to add key data on student success, content knowledge, and belonging and identity in LA-assisted courses in Biology, Chemistry, Geoscience, and Math to the Physics-focused LA literature. Project successes, challenges, best practices, and research results will be helpful to other institutions interested in advancing STEM teaching and reducing equity gaps in first-year gateway and foundational STEM courses. Project findings will be shared widely via conference presentations, journal articles, and a dedicated project webpage. The NSF:IUSE EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its 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.

该项目旨在通过提高学生在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）一年级大学课程中的成功来满足国家利益。受过良好教育的科学技术劳动力对美国的经济发展至关重要。当学生在第一年成功完成所需的STEM课程时遇到困难时，他们可能需要更长的时间来完成学位，离开STEM专业，甚至离开大学。这些问题在从参与STEM研究领域的学生中的学生中，这些问题更为普遍。该项目旨在通过实施两种方法来帮助学生参加第一年的STEM课程，这些方法已被证明可以提高大学的成功和持久灾难学生：共同条件和学习助理（LA）模型。在共同条件的模型中，数学准备较少的学生每周获得两个小时的支持，从而使他们能够获得需求技能，而不必花一个额外的补习数学学期。在洛杉矶模型中，教师重新设计了他们的课程以纳入积极的学习，并得到了训练有素的近per学生主持人（LAS）在教室中的支持。该项目之所以重要，是因为它将调查在第一年数学课程中结合LA和Ro-Recousite模型的影响，并将LAS添加到STEM学科中所需的第一年课程中，但洛杉矶文献中尚未得到很好的代表。该项目的目标是改善STEM课程的完成；保留更多的潜水员，大学的学生和STEM专业的学生；并减少毕业时间。洛杉矶的教师专业发展和共同条件模型将促进STEM教学的改进，创造更多引人入胜的学习环境并提高学生的定量技能。从事这些课堂转型的教师将在一个实践社区中获得并为彼此提供更多支持。 LAS将参加一个学期的教育学课程，每周与教师见面，促进课堂上的积极学习和批判性思维，并在课堂外提供更多的学生支持。该项目将通过追求三个目标来理解我们对共同条件和洛杉矶模型的关键空白。首先是研究LA如何影响基础STEM数学课程的共同条件支持部分的有效性。第二是探讨为什么LA通过研究LAS如何影响学生在STEM和纪律身份中的归属感来改善学生的成绩。第三，最后是将学生成功，内容知识以及归属和身份的关键数据添加到以物理学为重点的LA文学中的LA辅助课程中。项目的成功，挑战，最佳实践和研究结果将有助于其他有兴趣推动STEM教学和减少第一年门户和基础STEM课程的股权差距的机构。项目发现将通过会议演示，期刊文章和专门的项目网页广泛共享。 NSF：IUSE EDU计划支持研发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过其参与的学生学习轨道，该计划支持了承诺实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准，被视为通过评估而被视为珍贵的支持。