STEM Articulation and Transfer Collaborative Project

Palm Beach State College, Lake Worth FL

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this Track 1 project aims to increase the successful transfer of students from a two-year institution to a four-year institution, and their graduation with a four-year degree. It will do so by creating a model of proactive articulation, advising, and enhanced student learning opportunities. The transfer model will be developed through a partnership between Palm Beach State College and Florida Atlantic University. To enhance student learning, Palm Beach State College will collaborate with the Scripps Research Institute-Florida and the Max Planck Florida Institute to integrate classroom-based undergraduate research opportunities into chemistry courses. Expected project outcomes include improved degree attainment and development of a transfer success model that can be adapted by all STEM disciplines at the partner institutions. By developing a collaborative transfer-success model that enhances student learning and facilitates the successful transfer of students, this project can contribute to diversifying the STEM workforce. It is expected that the project's transfer success model could also be implemented to enhance the success of other two-year/four-year collaborations that seek to enhance student success and degree attainment in STEM. The project aims to increase retention and degree completion for all STEM students, full- or part-time, with attention to the needs of Hispanic students. To accomplish these goals, the project will streamline advising protocols and articulation agreements between the institutions, and provide students with early research experiences and enhanced academic supports. The program will focus on chemistry and biology, which are essential STEM disciplines for the successful completion of Florida Atlantic University's College of Science programs. In year 1, the project will develop and pilot a program of streamlined articulation, collaborative advising, and Hispanic culture-centered strategies to improve academic outcomes in chemistry. In year 2, the project seeks to fully implement and refine the validated model for chemistry. In years 3 and 4, the model will be institutionalized in chemistry and applied to biology. In year 5, elements of the model may be expanded to additional STEM disciplines at the two schools. To provide an understanding of student educational pathways, a mixed methods analysis will compare and synthesize quantitative data (e.g., data from student transcripts; co-curricular participation) and qualitative data from student surveys. Strategies and processes developed by the project will be shared through a website, presentations at national conferences such as the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities Conference and the Association of Community Colleges Conference, and publications in journals such as the Journal of College Science Teaching. It is expected that this project will influence other higher education institutions that seek to enhance student learning and the successful transfer of students from diverse backgrounds. 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.