The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is implementing a number of activities to improve success of STEM students in the early years of their undergraduate programs, as a foundation for increased graduation rates. First, a local variant of Peer-Led-Team Learning (PLTL) already developed for chemistry is being employed to deepen students' understanding of concepts in introductory mathematics and physics. Second, a focus on enabling students to transition successfully through their second year studies cultivates professional skills such as communication, interdisciplinary teamwork, professionalism, and awareness of life-long learning needs and opportunities. Third, an alternative teaching certification academy expands the academic horizons of a selected cadre of sophomore and junior students by allowing them to explore opportunities in science education careers. Fourth, a readily accessible, on-line tutoring portal with Flash-video and other asynchronous and synchronous resources is being created to support current and future peer leaders and teachers and to provide the means to disseminate scholarly activities. The intellectual merit of the project lies in its unified curriculum reform effort that builds on an established pedagogical best practice (PLTL) and concomitant support structures and activities that promote improved retention. In addition, the project expects to contribute to scholarly research in education by i) identifying and analyzing factors that influence the transferability of a successful implementation of a PLTL variant in one discipline to other key disciplines in the introductory STEM education experience, and by ii) investigating how the systematic implementation of this pedagogical strategy in gateway coursework improves the overall retention, success, and graduation of STEM students. The project's broader impacts are felt through the collaboration of three academic units, the College of Science, the College of Engineering, and the College of Education, which promotes not only increased retention and expected graduation rates among students pursuing STEM degrees, but also among students preparing for future science and mathematics teaching careers. Moreover, the project expects to have an important impact on the diversity of the STEM work force through its goal of increasing the six-year STEM graduation rate to 50 percent by 2015. (For Hispanic-majority institutions located in the Southwest, the six-year graduation rate is closer to 25 percent.) This goal translates into an increase in the number of baccalaureate degrees conferred in STEM disciplines by 2010 to 600 per annum, of which over two-thirds are Hispanic students.
The College of Science, the College of Engineering, and the College of Education at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) united efforts to improve STEM student education during the early college-going years to insure that greater numbers of STEM students graduate. The Integrative Science Success, Teaching, and Retention (I-STAR) program addressed UTEP’s mission of Access and Excellence for a growing population of college students, the majority of whom are Hispanic, by systematically implementing a peer-led team learning (PLTL) pedagogical strategy across a number of STEM disciplines including Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. The impact of Project I-STAR lies in the spread of its locally generated curriculum innovation, as evidenced by the Peer-Led Team Learning International Society (pltlis.org). The PLTL model developed at UTEP replaces one hour of the time spent in large STEM lecture courses with many small group two-hour workshops, each led by an undergraduate peer leader, a learning facilitator. Peer leaders receive training in inquiry-based, constructivist teaching methodology, laboratory process thinking strategies, class structure/teamwork oversight, and leadership/presentation techniques. Undergraduate peer leaders, close in age to the students, are selected to enhance student participation in STEM core courses and deepen student learning. The selection process for peer leaders is based on application, interview, minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average, and subject matter knowledge. Project impact can be identified at the peer leader, student, faculty member, and college level: Peer Leaders- More than 200 students participated as peer leaders in facilitating STEM learning. They gained unsurpassed professional development in this leadership role, receiving opportunities to create and present posters and research results at national conferences; many leaders published their findings as they contributed to the literature on learning. Peer leaders gained teamwork experience, leadership, communication and presentation skills that profoundly influenced their lives and career directions. Students- Students in PLTL courses responded across disciplines that improved learning had occurred in workshops, where they formed lasting study group relationships with fellow students and developed life-long learning strategies. Faculty Members-Faculty members participating in PLTL enhanced courses benefitted in their own professional development, experiencing a rich successful learning-mode alternative to lecture. Faculty saw the peer leaders as junior colleagues and benefitted from the development of a community of learning scholarship. College – Other STEM majors outside the scope of the STEP grant also began utilizing undergraduate peer leaders in their disciplines after learning about PLTL. Historically, the courses targeted by I-STAR have yielded low performance rates with negative impact on retention, years to graduation, overall GPA, and motivation of STEM students. While the expected increase in grades was not observed, retention and motivation of STEM students leading to more students earning baccalaureate degrees did occur. UTEP increased by 44.5 percent the number of baccalaureate degrees conferred in STEM disciplines, from 458 in 2005-06 (the year prior to the grant) to 662 in 2012-2013 (the year of the no-cost extension). The percentage of STEM degrees conferred to Hispanics also increased for the corresponding time period , from 70% (322) to 81% (539).
