Colorado-Wyoming Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (CO-WY LSAMP)

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program assists universities and colleges in their efforts to significantly increase the numbers of students matriculating into and successfully completing high quality degree programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in order to diversify the STEM workforce. Particular emphasis is placed on transforming undergraduate STEM education through innovative, evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, and relevant educational experiences in support of racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. These strategies facilitate the production of well-prepared students highly-qualified and motivated to pursue graduate education or careers in STEM. For the United States (U.S.) to remain globally competitive, it is vital that it taps into the talent of all its citizens and provides exceptional educational preparedness in STEM areas that underpin the knowledge-based economy. The Colorado LSAMP (CO-AMP), which began in 1995, is expanding its alliance to include two new partners in Wyoming to become the Colorado-Wyoming Alliance for Minority Participation (CO-WY AMP). This consortium of sixteen institutions is a unique reconstituted alliance with an urban/rural dichotomy, encompassing a distance of 550 miles between two states. CO-WY AMP will continue to work tirelessly to increase the representation of underrepresented students in the Western U.S. by preparing them to excel in an economically competitive global workforce. CO-WY AMP will use Engagement, Capacity and Continuity: A Trilogy for Student Success (ECC Trilogy) as a model to advance students in the sciences and quantitative disciplines on all partner campuses, which include two research-intensive universities, five high research universities, three comprehensive universities, one liberal arts college, and five community colleges. The three factors of the ECC Trilogy are defined as: engaging the student both academically and socially to foster positive attitudes and increase subject mastery (Engagement); preparing the student for fundamental knowledge necessary to advance (Capacity); and providing access that offers resources necessary for advancement (Continuity). CO-WY AMP will apply the trilogy model through the following goals: 1) Increase retention and subsequent attainment of baccalaureate degrees; 2) Increase the quality and quantity of students transferring from 2-year to 4-year institutions by providing skill-building interventions to strengthen students' mathematical knowledge and Summer Bridge experiences to enrich STEM achievement; 3) Facilitate pure and applied undergraduate research experiences both domestic and international and develop summer research experiences at both 2 and 4-year institutions; and 4) Expand capacity for preparation and matriculation into graduate programs. The knowledge generating research study, namely "the Mathematics Research Study", seeks to understand ultimately whether the algebra skills of community college students could be improved using cognitively-guided and self-reflective supplemental materials outside of the classroom environment. The materials will be developed collaboratively by community college algebra instructors, a mathematics education specialist, and a cognitive specialist.