Nationally, more than half of all college students who declare a major in STEM fields drop out or change their majors in the first two years of post-secondary education. Among first-generation college students in West Virginia this number may approach 70%. The First2 STEM Success Network, an NSF INCLUDES Alliance, is a cross-sector effort aimed at improving the college enrollment rate and success of undergraduate STEM students, with emphasis on rural first-generation students in West Virginia. At the core of our shared vision is the inclusion of students themselves as co-creators of the solutions. First2 is an outgrowth of a two-year pilot project funded by the National Science Foundation in 2016. During the pilot, we began to create and test interventions that address the underlying reasons for attrition in STEM majors, and to develop a preliminary research program to better understand rural first-generation STEM students, a population for which there is scant existing research. We engaged 36 rural first-generation students in some combination of early STEM research experiences, an online discovery-based "principles of research and development" college seminar, a “hometown ambassador” program, and leadership training. We also developed and administered an online survey to an additional 101 first generation students attending West Virginia University and Fairmont State University. This presentation describes the research and evaluation findings from the pilot project and implications for the Network moving forward. The First2 Network Design and Development Pilot Project was supported by National Science Foundation INCLUDES Award No. 1649323.
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First Two Network: Improving STEM persistence in the first two years of college.
Many college students in West Virginia hail from rural communities and are the first in their families to pursue an undergraduate degree. Research indicates that first-generation college students can face particular barriers to their postsecondary persistence, as can rural students. However, data on the persistence of first-generation college students who are also from rural places is scant. To better understand—and help remove—the barriers confronting such young people interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), the FIRST TWO Project (https://first2network.org/) brings together community college and university faculty, administrators, national laboratory professionals, and rural education experts. The FIRST TWO pilot program integrates early STEM experiences via internships, a support network for rural first-generation STEM students, and STEM skills development through a discovery-based "principles of research and development" college seminar for first-year students. A "Hometown Ambassadors" program component prepares students to return to their home communities to engage younger students’ interest in STEM, and teachers’ and school board members’ support for STEM education. Our goal is for project courses and support mechanisms to be fully transferrable to other institutions of higher education in the state so that, ultimately, more rural first-generation students participate in the wider STEM enterprise. Funding for the project is provided by the National Science Foundation INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science) initiative.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1649323
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10422907
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science
- Volume:
- 89
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0096-4263
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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