The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge about how to achieve these aims. This project will advance the aims of the HSI Program by increasing the number of students who complete baccalaureate degrees in engineering or related degrees in resilient and sustainable infrastructure. This collaborative project between the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Mayaguez, UPR Rio Piedras and UPR Ponce will develop an interdisciplinary Resilient Infrastructure and Sustainability Program to educate undergraduate STEM students in engineering and related skills needed to respond to natural disasters. After a natural disaster, many different organizations and STEM fields must work together to rebuild the local infrastructure. This project aims to develop an interdisciplinary, shared curriculum that links students enrolled in associate degree programs to baccalaureate degree programs. The project aims to foster student interest and learning by developing a database of case studies based on real events such as the recent devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The project will also facilitate student placement in internship programs and research opportunities with state and federal agency partners, including the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center and the US Department of Homeland Security Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence. These field placements will offer students important experiential learning opportunities, including exposure to real-world problems and the dynamics of the professional work setting. This project expects that these activities will increase the number of students who pursue and complete a baccalaureate degree in STEM related to infrastructure and sustainability.
The project will develop an interdisciplinary curriculum on resilient and sustainable infrastructure that is grounded in the Depth of Knowledge framework. It will investigate the impact of this curriculum on students' higher-order thinking skills, approaches to analysis, and interdisciplinary problem-solving skills. The project will compare students who participate in program with those who do not participate. In addition, retention and graduation rates for participating students will be compared to their peers who do not participate in the program. The project seeks to generate evidence needed to understand factors that motivate students, including underrepresented students, to pursue baccalaureate STEM degrees. An external evaluator will assess the project's development and activities to facilitate project effectiveness and impact. The project will develop case studies on infrastructure damages caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria will be shared with other institutions as well as STEM professionals continuing their education. This project has the potential to provide students opportunities to aid in current recovery efforts in Puerto Rico as well as prepare students to be able to use STEM to address future infrastructure disruptions. The curriculum itself may provide a model to other institutions seeking to develop STEM curricular programs with deep articulation between associate degree granting and baccalaureate degree granting 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.
