This project is focusing on recruiting and retaining students in biology, chemistry, and mathematics, and is broadening the STEM student base to include the large proportion of students who have not declared their major. The target population consists of students who have high potential, but are at risk, and who are from among traditionally under-represented students as well as rural students.
This Merit-Based Immersion for Students and Teachers (MIST) project is building on and expanding the Merit-style program of facilitated group learning. Merit-style teaching consists of using a highly trained facilitator-instructor to stimulate student-student interactions by providing challenging problem sets or other activities for the students. The facilitator provides feedback as the students work together in small groups, and also encourages everyone in the group to interact and discuss each student's strategies.
Intellectual Merit: The project team is developing carefully structured suites of concept-based activities for students and teachers to help a wide variety of students succeed in college-level mathematics and science courses. In addition the overall project effort is contributing to advancing the knowledge base related to (1) understanding the role of higher education in improving learning and (2) recruiting and retaining students from diverse target populations. Success of the MIST program is externally evaluated by monitoring and assessing (a) the increase in the number and rate of graduation of students in the target population in the various STEM fields, (b) the competence of the graduate students who are trained via the MIST model, and (c) the extent to which the MIST program is implemented in the schools and colleges in which professional workshop participants teach.
Broader Impacts: An important component of the project is to expand the MIST model to a broader audience - including high schools, community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities - via a series of intensive workshops, graduate student training, a companion Website, presentations at conferences, and peer-reviewed publications. A summer workshop program is being provided to train facilitators from other institutions across the country to implement the program at their home institutions to help improve the success rate of a diverse student population in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and other STEM disciplines. The most current MIST program materials and evaluation reports are available on the project Website, and are being disseminated in print and at conferences for the benefit of other organizations. The Website resource also includes information for prospective students and their parents.
NSF’s support through the STEM Talent Expansion Program (STEP) has enabled the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to expand its highly successful Merit Program for Emerging Scholars to a critically important, new population of students – those who enter the University without a declared major. The Merit Program, based on the model of Uri Treisman, targets students with high potential, who are members of underrepresented groups in the areas of science, mathematics and engineering. At Illinois, these groups include ethnic minorities and students from small rural high schools. By developing a community of scholars among the Merit students, the program strives to increase retention and performance in STEM majors. Students enrolled in Merit sections work together to solve difficult problems, develop friendships based on common academic interests, and inspire each other to succeed. With MIST, Illinois has been able to significantly increase the number of Merit collaborative-learning sections in integrative biology, chemistry, and mathematics. In this way, we have met the project goal of increasing the percentage of undeclared students selecting STEM majors and earning a degree in a STEM field. Some data supporting this conclusion is provided below: The analysis of six cohorts of incoming undeclared students participating in the Merit Program from fall 2007 to fall 2012 revealed the following: significantly higher enrollment in STEM courses and accrual of STEM credit hours, as well as higher STEM GPAs than the comparison group. In addition, the Merit undeclared students are declaring STEM majors at a higher rate than the non-Merit comparison group – approximately 50% vs 39%. In a separate indicator, among the first two cohorts of students, approximately 48% of the Merit students who entered as undeclared majors earned a STEM degree in comparison to just 34% of the non-Merit students. The documented success of this project has led to the institutionalization of the MIST expansion by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Additionally, the coordinators of this project have also been awarded an NSF S-STEM grant to provide scholarships and mentoring services to academically talented but financially needy Merit students majoring in integrative biology, chemistry, and mathematics. A second main objective of the MIST Project was to train current and future teachers at the high school and college levels to implement the Merit model. This was accomplished through five Summer Teacher Workshops for in-service teachers and through the establishment of a Merit TA Mentoring Program at Illinois. Close to 200 high school and community college teachers participated in MIST Summer Teacher Workshops during the project. Roughly 80% of the participants reported their instructional strategies changed due to the workshop. They reported increased confidence levels with fostering active student participation in their classrooms, asking more open-ended questions, and encouraging critical thinking by their students. This project engaged post-secondary students and teachers in a broad program designed to significantly improve the success rate of a diverse student population in STEM disciplines. Specifically, the project impacted approximately 1000 new students in the Merit Program and approximately half of whom have completed or are on track to complete a STEM degree. The project also included nearly 200 in-service area high school and community college teachers who are now implementing Merit-style materials and pedagogy in their classrooms. Additionally, approximately 300 teaching assistants participated in the project. Roughly 70% either have or plan to go into a career that involves STEM teaching and/or research. This effort contributed to advancing an understanding of the role of the Merit pedagogy in a) improving learning; b) reaching the target student populations; and c) reaching the national audience to further the model. Specifically, the project provided evidence that involving undeclared students in a collaborative learning environment like the Merit Program for Emerging Scholars significantly increases the number of STEM majors they declare and STEM degrees they earn. The project also demonstrated that an immersive professional development experience for in-service teachers impacts the teaching strategies they use in their classrooms and fosters a higher level of confidence in their ability to implement student-centered, collaborative instruction. Finally, the project showed that involving upper-level undergraduate and graduate STEM students in the Merit Program as instructors and peer mentors positively impacts their career choices and is instrumental in preparing them as future faculty in STEM disciplines. For more information about the MIST Project and the Merit Program: www.merit.illinois.edu
