Inclusive Excellence in STEM: Addressing Inequities in Undergraduate Student Access and Achievement through Integration of STEM-Focused, Equity-Minded Pedagogy

Skagit Valley College, Mount Vernon WA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project aims to serve the national interest by addressing inequities in undergraduate STEM students’ access, learning, and degree completion. These inequities will be addressed in this project via three primary areas. First, the project seeks to increase use of inclusive, student-centered teaching practices. Second, the project seeks to implement high impact practices supporting STEM student engagement. Third, the project seeks to improve student access to STEM degrees by restructuring mathematics course pathways. The project will create and support equity-focused collaborative professional development groups for STEM faculty to increase faculty awareness of equity-mindedness. STEM faculty will implement and support inclusive teaching and high impact practices designed to improve student success and specifically address the needs of students from underrepresented STEM student populations. The project will increase student access to STEM degrees by developing innovative accelerated models for pre-college mathematics to improve student completion of mathematics prerequisites required for STEM degrees. This project aims to advance understanding of mechanisms and institutional reforms contributing to student success in STEM degree pathways at community colleges. It will also provide greater insight about factors contributing to meaningful and sustainable changes in STEM faculty teaching practices. Additionally, this project has potential to increase the impact of equity-focused teaching for improving underrepresented student success in STEM pathways. The project specifically addresses the needs of students from underrepresented STEM student populations, including racially minoritized, first-generation, low-income, and female students. The project will: 1) increase awareness and use of inclusive pedagogical practices by STEM faculty, 2) utilize high impact practices to address equity gaps in access and achievement in STEM degrees and improve student persistence and success in STEM courses and programs, and 3) increase student transition and success rates in calculus-based mathematics prerequisites. This project provides an opportunity to generate much needed knowledge for STEM educators at two-year institutions, including a greater understanding of the successful interventions for community college students, where aspiring STEM students are more likely to be academically unprepared, first-generation, older, working, and/or from underrepresented student groups. The broader impact of this project allows for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms contributing to student success in STEM degree pathways. Focusing on the impact of culturally responsive, inclusive teaching approaches for student success within STEM, the project seeks to determine if implementation of culturally responsive and inclusive teaching approaches within introductory STEM courses, combined with high impact practices, peer mentoring, and undergraduate research experiences, result in improved outcomes for students, and especially students from underrepresented groups. The evaluation of the project’s overall success and progress towards outcomes will be based on the achievement of objectives, resulting in improved STEM student access, retention, and degree completion, curricular redesign and implementation, and a shift in faculty culture. The project asks the following research questions: 1) What activities result in changed beliefs and teaching practices within 2-year institutions and produce STEM departments more focused to address the needs of underrepresented STEM student populations? 2) What are the impacts of restructuring and accelerating pre-calculus math pathways to reduce structural barriers to STEM participation and promoting overall student access and success in STEM, including the participation and achievement of underrepresented STEM students? The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities. 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.