This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing retention and academic achievement of rural or first-generation college students in STEM fields. To this end, Morningside College will develop and test a two-year pathway of four general education courses designed to serve undergraduate biology and/or chemistry majors. These general education courses will integrate project- and place-based STEM research experiences that are relevant to the local community. Potential research themes include water quality and availability, prairie restoration, and food safety. The courses and research experiences will be designed to meet general education requirements for developing skills in critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, communication, and ethical analysis. They will also support the students’ development of scientific reasoning skills. The STEM research/general education pathway is expected to support greater success of rural and first-generation STEM students. The project will examine this hypothesis by comparing learning outcomes of students in the STEM research/general education pathway relative to students in the traditional pathway of separate general education and introductory STEM courses.
The project will develop, implement, and evaluate an innovative two-year general education curriculum aimed at increasing representation of rural or first-generation students in the STEM workforce pipeline. The project will measure the effectiveness of this pathway through results from targeted surveys and reasoning skills assessments. Specifically, the project will: 1) determine how a two-year pathway of general education courses that integrate project- and place-based STEM research affects retention of rural or first-generation students; 2) assess student progress toward learning STEM skills, such as scientific reasoning; and 3) determine the impact of the four-course pathway on student agency and motivation to persist in STEM. The project will add to the evidence base regarding effective support for rural or first-generation STEM students. The project will integrate intensive faculty development to augment faculty members’ teaching skills and help define key factors or issues needed to scale this work across STEM fields of study and to other predominantly undergraduate institutions serving rural students. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.
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.
