Developing Reliable Educational Avenues to STEM Careers

Florida Keys Community College, Key West FL

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project aims to build institutional capacity in STEM, particularly marine science and technology. To achieve this goal, the project seeks to improve student perceptions of STEM and to increase the number of students who enter STEM programs and pursue STEM careers. Project activities include implementation of innovative teaching strategies, use of and research about the effectiveness of technologies such as virtual reality, and development of effective pathways to STEM careers. By developing a STEM Ambassador program, the project will provide opportunities for undergraduates to participate in STEM outreach to K-12 students. The undergraduate STEM Ambassadors will share their experiences and provide real-life examples about what makes STEM interesting and how to be successful in STEM. The project will also engage students in undergraduate research and professional internships to help them develop skills needed in the workplace. The project team will investigate the effectiveness of innovative technologies, such as virtual reality, to actively engage students and elevate their interest in STEM and STEM careers. Expected outcomes of the project include increased recruitment and retention of students in STEM programs, thus contributing to increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce. The project aims to: (1) increase student interest in STEM careers; (2) increase retention and completion of students who participate in the project activities relative to non-participants; and (3) increase the successful transition of undergraduates into the STEM workforce. The project seeks to generate knowledge about: (1) how virtual reality can be a tool for increasing student interest in STEM programs; (2) how participation in the project activities affects student retention and completion in STEM programs; and (3) how paid professional internships affect student preparation to enter the STEM workforce. The project will analyze data from surveys, student tracking systems, and institutional sources to complete a comparative study of outcomes of project participants versus non-participants. The project intends to develop a reproducible model for creating reliable and realistic educational pathways from K-12, through academia and into the STEM workforce. Project results will be shared through webpages and social media, conference presentations, scholarly and professional publications, and through the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI) network. 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 aims. 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.