The Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program provides support for projects to design, implement, and assess strategies that can lead to comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the number of students receiving undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and enhance the quality of their preparation by strengthening STEM education and research. The project at Kentucky State University seeks to broaden minority student involvement in STEM fields by implementing evidence-based teaching, learning, research, recruitment, retention, and professional development strategies. The overall goal is to significantly increase the retention and graduation rate of underrepresented minority students choosing career paths in STEM graduate programs and the workforce.
This project supports the goal with activities to: develop a Summer Apprentice Program to prepare incoming students in mathematics; develop focused recruitment activities with high schools; provide a research experience for selected STEM sophomores; revise and develop critical STEM gatekeeper courses; integrate active learning activities in courses and provide a support system for students; and develop a faculty pedagogy development program. The activities and strategies are evidence-based and what is learned through this project can serve as a model for other institutions.
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.
