HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Broadening STEM Participation Through Authentic Learning Experience

The University Corporation, Northridge, Northridge CA

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-­Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to improve the diversity and availability of the STEM educational pipeline. The project will study how a sense of belonging in STEM and a motivation to solve real-world problems which are also culturally-connected can enhance the professional STEM identity and career intention of students enrolled in HSI. The supporting system the project builds will greatly increase opportunities for underrepresented minority students to succeed academically and personally and gain an early foothold on a future in STEM fields. The result of the project will show the quality and impact of higher education provided by an HSI through both internal and external factors. By building this sustainable undergraduate education program at California State University Northridge, the project will develop a strong professional STEM identity critical to the persistence in STEM majors and STEM careers for students who are traditionally underrepresented, particularly in careers at the human-technology frontier. Aims of the project include increase the readiness of students in an HSI for their STEM careers; increase their sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and persistence in STEM fields; create a sustainable mechanism to engage more under-represented minority (URM) students in STEM through interdisciplinary learning; increase the institute’s competitiveness in emerging technologies by leveraging its capacity to diversify the STEM workforce. The project will study the effectiveness of providing authentic project-based learning to students from different majors in an HSI and the connection to their culture background. This project will motivate students in an HSI to seek creative solutions for real-world problems by building assistive technologies. Students will engage in a highly interdisciplinary and project-based learning environment supported by faculty and professionals that has not always been accessible to URM student groups. Project results that contribute to the knowledge base about experiential learning and interdisciplinary-based professional development, STEM identity will be disseminated through publications, conference presentations, website, and other platforms. Activities that further broadly disseminate results to enhance educational and technological understanding include creating career opportunities and forging connections between students from HSI and employers with networks formed by the institute's partnership in the assistive technology field. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also 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.