HSI Institutional Transformation Project: Cal Poly Pomona INtentional Venture Engaging STEM Students (CPP INVESTS)

Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, Inc., Pomona CA

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 3 ITP project at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP) will advance the goals of the HSI Program by embedding high-impact practices (HIPs) during three critical transitions in the STEM student life cycle: (1) secondary to post-secondary education -- scale First Year Experience (FYE) courses and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), and embed peer learning assistants (PLAs) in FYEs; (2) lower division to upper division STEM courses -- embed CUREs in second year STEM gateway courses and capstone and upper-division GE courses; (3) graduation into the STEM workforce -- utilize two innovative components: “micro” internships and alternative learning records (ALRs). The project will scale the number of STEM students participating in internships by embedding six-week “micro” internship experiences in junior gateway and senior capstone courses. The project will develop and implement two ALRs -- leadership and research career development. To support STEM faculty, the project will provide STEM Faculty Institutes to coach faculty in developing culturally relevant pedagogy anchored in diversity, equity, and inclusion, developing FYE courses, embedding CUREs, micro-internships, and ALRs in their courses and programs. The specific aim of the project is to contribute to the understanding of how to build institutional capacity to enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education at HSIs. The program evaluation plan will focus on institutional-level variables including recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of STEM students in the project by utilizing both formative and summative assessment methods. This project will employ quasi-experimental design to examine the impact of PLAs on the sense of belonging and academic self-efficacy of first year students in FYE courses. It will use mixed-methods to examine both the impact of micro-internships and ALRs on the professional identities of STEM students and the impact of the faculty professional development efforts, including pre-post surveys, interviews, and focused group discussions. The project will generate new knowledge and contribute to the development of the nascent research on the impact of ALRs and course-embedded micro-internships on STEM student success. The broader impact of the project is the potential to develop and test a model that will be disseminated to and can be utilized by the California State University system which serves the greatest number of Hispanics and underserved STEM students in the nation, and other institutions that serve large populations of students who are URMs, first-generation and low-income. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to 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.