This project is focusing on increasing the pass rate in gateway STEM courses in order to increase the number of STEM graduates at the institution by 18 percent. This increase brings the STEM graduation rate to that of the overall university average: 42 percent for first time freshmen; 62 percent for transfer students. Three strategies are being used to achieve this goal. I. The Early Intervention and Advising Program identifies at-risk students in gateway STEM courses and requires these students to participate in a specific set of academic and non-academic interventions prior to the fourth week of classes. II. The STEM Commit to Study Program motivates STEM students to achieve the University's recommended three hours of study per one unit of mathematics and science coursework. The Commit to Study curriculum enables students to recognize different teaching and learning modalities and how they can be used to succeed in STEM courses. III. The STEM Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Program improves student success with peer-facilitated supplemental instruction in gateway STEM courses. The PAL Program also influences instruction in STEM gateway courses to integrate active and collaborative learning, inquiry-based instruction, and Backward Design curriculum planning.
Intellectual Merit. This project provides an understanding of how an integrated set of research-based retention programs is coordinated with existing university programs to transform the pattern of STEM student success in gateway courses. This project is advancing knowledge about how certain factors put particular students at risk for failure in STEM. A more accurate understanding about how to match at-risk variables with validated research-based interventions is essential to increasing retention and graduation rates across all STEM disciplines.
Broader Impacts. This project integrates research and education by advancing understanding about how the factors that cause students to leave STEM fields during their enrollment in gateway lower division STEM courses can be systematically mapped onto specific sets of research-based interventions which have been proven to be successful. In addition, the project examines how STEM retention risk factors (math preparation, STEM-specific study skills, motivation, personal financial and social concerns, etc.) can be identified and prioritized for a particular student and how they can be mapped onto interventions such as peer assisted learning, study programs and non-academic support services such as financial aid and time management workshops, student health and wellness resources. Although this can be done one-on-one at small institutions with sufficient resources, including a trained STEM counselor, this method is too labor-intensive and prohibitively expensive to do at large public institutions. The Early Intervention and Advising component is generating a rich data stream that can uncover quantitative correlations between risk factors and retention while also allowing the creation of data-driven treatment plans for individual students enrolled in gateway courses. The PAL component affords STEM faculty a mechanism to engage in action-research projects that contribute to the knowledge base of science education, also creating interdisciplinary partnerships. With its focus on Backward Design curriculum planning, PAL also promotes student-centered teaching by faculty and PAL facilitators. PAL broadens the participation of underrepresented groups by creating academic support communities and the opportunity for diverse students to connect through STEM study activities. It also produces a large cohort of students trained to teach science to their peers, creating a pipeline for teacher recruitment. PASS interdisciplinary collaborations enhance the infrastructure for education by creating working partnerships between STEM departments and Student Affairs. The outcomes of PASS will be disseminated through multiple state and federal pathways via presentations to the California State University system and local community colleges and to discipline-specific STEM national meetings and interdisciplinary Higher Education and First Year Experience (FYE) conferences. A monograph with data and findings will be published electronically through a project website and the FYE list serve. The synthesis and analysis of the retention and science education research will benefit STEM students, faculty and administrators, and inform local and national public policy makers.
