Building Capacity: An Undergraduate STEM-Enrichment Program in Texas

Texas A&M International University, Laredo TX

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, this Track 1 project aims to research the educational support and instructional activities that increase the quality and number of STEM graduates from underserved groups of students such as Hispanic, female, low-income, and first generation. The project will introduce important STEM knowledge and skills plus other academic support (tutoring and mentoring), in addition to video project assignments, to improve students’ sense of belonging, confidence, and identity with STEM disciplines. Consequently, this programming will lead to enhanced minority STEM students’ academic performance and progress toward timely graduation. Through professional formation experiences, this project will prepare students to graduate and work in critical U.S. sectors such as agriculture and food, energy, health care and medicine, cyber and information technologies, and national security. The research will disseminate new knowledge to other universities and colleges to help institutions implement new instructional strategies. Overall, the project’s expected outcomes will produce novel strategies to improve and enhance undergraduate STEM education for minority students across the nation. The specific aims of the project are to implement several enrichment strategies on selected Texas A&M International University STEM students with the aim of improving GPA and time to degree. These strategies will include a pre-college summer camp to provide participants with a head start on the STEM-introductory classes critical to progressing in their majors, a two-semester STEM research methods seminar series, and an undergraduate STEM research experience. Tutoring and supplemental instruction sessions will also be included. Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to work on STEM-related creative video assignments. The methodology embeds an experimental design, treatment, and control groups. The project will test whether the enrichment strategies lead to have higher GPAs and an improved path toward timely graduation. The project will also create professional developmental opportunities in the form of academic learning opportunities; STEM-internships and/or STEM-incubatorships; and mentorship of program participants 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.