A multimethod approach to understanding dropout from STEM gateway courses

Temple University, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

The main purpose of the project is to explore why undergraduate students drop out of STEM majors. The PIs propose to study a set of cognitive and motivational variables to understand the reasons for dropout from STEM gateway courses. They plan to employ a multimethod approach to study the process of undergraduate students? dropout from these courses at Temple University, where such gateway courses enroll 60% or more non-White students. Drawing on Dweck?s work, they hypothesize that students tend to believe their own STEM ability is either a fixed entity or malleable, and this affects whether they remain in STEM majors. In addition to the quantitative part of the study a purposive sample of students will be interviewed early and late in the semester in order to better understand students? own reasons for dropout/retention decisions and their relationship to entity/incremental beliefs. The students will be followed to document their dropout status over the course of four years, allowing for a longitudinal examination (using the statistical technique of survival analysis) of the effect of cognitive and motivational variables on students? persistence. The primary focus is on building knowledge in order to increase STEM retention and build scientific capacity. The results of the study are likely to provide important information about predictors of dropout and potential targets for intervention that can assist universities and policymakers who are trying to increase retention of STEM students. Undergraduate science majors from a high-minority institution (Temple University) will be participants, and pre-service science teachers will be targeted for undergraduate research assistants. The interdisciplinary project aims at policy relevant and evidence based findings to improve undergraduate and graduate STEM programs.