Implementation of a Contextualized Computing Pedagogy in STEM Core Courses and Its Impact on Undergraduate Student Academic Success, Retention, and Graduation

University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, North Dartmouth MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Over its five-year duration, it will fund scholarships to twenty-eight unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, or physics. Scholarships will be awarded to first-time students for up to four years and to transfer students for up to two years. In addition to providing scholarships, the project plans to improve computing education by teaching computing though real-world contexts that include either computational research or authentic consulting. This learning will be integrated into the core STEM courses. The project team also plans to provide Scholars with intensive mentoring, which will focus on career development. The project will assess how problem-based computational teaching in core STEM classes, coupled with scholarships, proactive mentoring, and sustained career advising, affect the success, retention, and graduation of low-income students. Furthermore, it may provide a reproducible model for integrating financial support, mentoring, and discovery-based education, while helping to prepare a STEM workforce capable of computation and data analytics. The overall goal of the project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Specific objectives include developing and implementing a problem-based computing and analysis module in at least one new course every year for every involved STEM major and engaging every Scholar in computation-themed research or consulting for at least one semester. Every Scholar will have a faculty and near-peer mentor and will be encouraged to participate in at least one career event per year. The project will seek to determine what roles proactive faculty and peer mentoring play in increasing students' sense of belonging and self-efficacy in STEM and whether integrating undergraduate research, problem-based computing modules, and authentic learning within core STEM curricula increases retention and career aspirations of academically talented low-income students. To answer these questions, surveys and student-tracking will be used to study the curricular and co-curricular activities' effectiveness. Project evaluation will explore a cross-section of activities and impacts, the insights from which will inform both formative and summative aspects of the work. These findings and modules will be disseminated through websites, national conferences, and annual workshops with three community colleges so they can be adapted and implemented by other institutions. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low- income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers and generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. 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.