Improving student success in completing science degrees and entry into the science workforce through collaborative student peer-teaching and improving science identity

Dominican University, River Forest CA

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 Dominican University in River Forest, IL. Dominican University is a liberal arts and sciences university which is also a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 16 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Biology-Chemistry, and Chemistry. First-year students will receive four-year scholarships. The project will include academic support with collaborative faculty-student teaching, known as Peer-led team learning support, a cohort experience through common courses, a four-year learning community-style course, faculty mentoring, and supported research experiences. A unique feature of this project will be a combination of academic and sociocultural supports, such as activities designed to improve science identity and feelings of connection and inclusion in the field of science. Dominican University has a large population of students who are female, Hispanic/Latinx, and are from low-income families, and supporting these students will diversify the science workforce. The findings of this project will be of interest to universities with similarly diverse student populations. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. In addition to supporting a cohort of students in successfully earning STEM degrees, a second project goal is to support entry of graduating students into the STEM workforce or graduate/professional programs. Other project goals include increasing knowledge of how interventions can increase student persistence through academic support, improved science identity, and improved science efficacy as well as increased institutional capacity in supporting students with financial need. While there is growing evidence that certain forms of academic support can improve persistence and student success, less is known about how academic support combined with psychosocial interventions can improve science identity, science efficacy, which in turn can improve degree completion and entry into scientific careers. The research design and implementation of this project is grounded in constructivist and sociocultural theories of learning. The expected outcomes, based on theory and previous empirical results, are that course-based interventions, trained faculty mentoring, and academic support through Peer-led Team Learning will improve student persistence by improving those students’ science identity. The project will be evaluated through several forms of evidence, including analysis of student transcripts, student career choices, faculty data, and student interview data. The project results will be disseminated by presentation at regional and national academic conferences such as the Chicago Math and Science Symposium series and the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research Annual Conference. Additionally, project results will be published in science discipline-based education research journals, such as the journal CBE – Life Sciences Education and The Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. 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 to 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.