Planning Grant for STEM Self-Analysis

Alamo Community College District - St. Philip'S College, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

St. Philips College (SPC) will implement a eighteen month planning grant for STEM Self-Analysis. SPC is a public, two-year college which serves a San Antonio and is the only two-year institution designated as both a Historically Black College and University and a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. The planning grant activities will include an extensive assessment of the STEM gatekeeper courses in order to improve the passing rates of the courses. The project objective is to conduct an analysis of three STEM gateway courses: Algebra, Biology, and Chemistry to increase student success and retention. Activities include: (1) faculty visits to exemplary colleges; (2) identification of barriers to student success and retention; (3) identification and prioritization of strategies to eliminate the barriers; and (4) developing a faculty development. Expected outcomes are: (1) a skilled core STEM faculty group capable of collaboratively identifying learning barriers, researching best practices, and implementing innovative curricula; (2) a detailed plan to modify curricula; and (3) the institutionalization of the modified STEM curriculum. The intellectual merit of this project is based on the strategies that will be employed to perform the curriculum assessment and the eventual improvements in the STEM programs at SPC. STEM faculty will review literature and data and visit exemplar institutions in order to develop the most appropriate project for improving the STEM programs at SPC. Through the planning activities, the STEM faculty will create a collaborative STEM education culture at SPC. The broader impact of this project includes the extensive professional development of the STEM faculty that will be accomplished and the long-term impact on SPC graduates who have taken the gatekeeper courses - both STEM majors and non-STEM majors. SPC will share what it has learned from the assessment process via conference participation, website posting, and publications.