Fostering Communities of Practice Through Research and Peer Mentoring

Kean University, Union NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to develop a national model for STEM education at Hispanic-Serving Institutions that engages all members of the university community. Central to this effort is the development of a “Scholars Academy,” a cohort-based program to support undergraduate students with peer mentoring, undergraduate research opportunities, and additional support. The academy is designed to improve undergraduate success, particularly for Hispanic students. The project will address a number of well documented challenges to undergraduate student success, including the fact that Hispanic STEM students persist in STEM at a lower rate than their non-Hispanic peers. Communities of Practice (CoPs) – groups of people who share a common concern and work and learn together – will be developed among students, faculty, and administrators to ensure longer term retention of students and create institutional transformation by sustaining best practices. Through this project, Kean will increase the number of faculty engaging in research with undergraduates, and who are also trained in culturally responsive mentoring. These practices are intended to increase student retention, job readiness, and improve participants' sense of belonging. Key to this Scholars Academy will be three CoPs fostered as part of the project activities. To foster these communities, activities will be implemented based on smaller programs already piloted in two academic units at Kean. The first such activity is to build a community of student scholars, and meet the needs of students during critical attrition points, by offering a STEM major-specific version of the "Transition to Kean” first-year seminar. First- and second-year courses with high D, F, and withdrawal (DFW) rates will be targeted for supplemental instruction using peer-mentoring and peer-led team learning. Secondly, students will engage in small faculty-led research teams using the Computing Alliance for Hispanic Serving Institutions’ (CAHSI) Affinity Research Group model, with progress over multiple years and mentoring by senior-level students. A third activity involves implementing signature practices from CAHSI and Kean’s Center for Teaching and Learning to provide a variety of faculty professional development experiences aimed at enhancing advising and faculty pedagogy. A fourth and final activity is to form a team of faculty and administrators who will participate in an institutional transformation CoP that will help the project iteratively improve and institutionalize key project components. Project research will generate new knowledge on the effectiveness of the project's main interventions and what mechanisms supported the persistence and institutionalization of specific practices. 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 that are supported by this program. 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.