Culturally Responsive Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Heritage University, Toppenish WA

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this Track 1 project 'Culturally Responsive Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CRESCENT) ' aims to strengthen the institutional capacity for increasing the enrollment, retention, and graduation of underrepresented minority students (URM). The goal of the project is to provide innovative opportunities for URM students to improve their education, enhance transferable skills, and contribute to the regional and national need for a diverse and competent STEM workforce to address societal challenges of the 21st Century. CRESCENT is built on the longstanding collaboration of Heritage University with K-12 schools, community colleges and research-intensive institutions in rural south-central Washington State for increased URM participation, targeting in particular Hispanic and Native American students in the Yakima Valley. The CRESCENT project activities include innovative strategies for professional development of STEM faculty through the ESCALA program, STEM curriculum enhancement through institutional partnerships, offering experiential learning to students through hands-on research experiences and community outreach, and development of intensive culturally-responsive student support services to increase the number and diversity of students pursuing higher education in STEM disciplines. CRESCENT program activities will empower faculty with innovative and sustained pedagogical strategies for teaching URM students and prepare the next generation of global citizens with a breadth of knowledge and essential life skills to succeed in the rapidly changing milieu of the 21st Century. The CRESCENT network will explore factors influencing the success of STEM gatekeeper classes and gatekeepers at the most influential and critical educational transitions that are limiting URM student engagement and advancement into STEM careers, testing innovative models transforming these gatekeepers into positive forces. CRESCENT is a capacity building program for faculty development, curriculum enhancement, expanding diversity in educational institutions, and implementing student-centered activities focusing on critical transition of URM students from 1) secondary school to college, 2) between the first and second semester of college, 3) from lower division to upper division coursework, and 4) between undergraduate and graduate institutions in STEM disciplines. CRESCENT will test if applied culturally responsive active learning models for STEM teaching and student support services will improve student performance in STEM disciplines and academic and professional career advancement. The CRESCENT project aims to expand a sustainable collaborative network with regional high schools to increase the pool of URM STEM-prepared first-generation freshmen undergraduate students, increase the number of URM student applications indicating interest in STEM disciplines and increase in declarations of STEM majors during the project period, improve the performance and retention of URM STEM students, and increase the number of URM students who pursue graduate studies in STEM disciplines after completion of their undergraduate degrees. The project outcomes will be shared with other HSIs seeking to improve retention and graduation, resulting in multiplier impacts on STEM URM cohorts across the nation. 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 goals. 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.