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1. Engaging STEM Transformational Experiences for Early Momentum (ESTEEM)

   Yahdi, Mohammed; Bracey, Zoe Buck (November 2019, National Science Foundation -  Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program Principal Investigator (PI) Meeting, November 2019.)

   Need/Motivation (e.g., goals, gaps in knowledge) The ESTEEM implemented a STEM building capacity project through students’ early access to a sustainable and innovative STEM Stepping Stones, called Micro-Internships (MI). The goal is to reap key benefits of a full-length internship and undergraduate research experiences in an abbreviated format, including access, success, degree completion, transfer, and recruiting and retaining more Latinx and underrepresented students into the STEM workforce. The MIs are designed with the goals to provide opportunities for students at a community college and HSI, with authentic STEM research and applied learning experiences (ALE), support for appropriate STEM pathway/career, preparation and confidence to succeed in STEM and engage in summer long REUs, and with improved outcomes. The MI projects are accessible early to more students and build momentum to better overcome critical obstacles to success. The MIs are shorter, flexibly scheduled throughout the year, easily accessible, and participation in multiple MI is encouraged. ESTEEM also establishes a sustainable and collaborative model, working with partners from BSCS Science Education, for MI’s mentor, training, compliance, and building capacity, with shared values and practices to maximize the improvement of student outcomes. New Knowledge (e.g., hypothesis, research questions) Research indicates that REU/internship experiences can be particularly powerful for students from Latinx and underrepresented groups in STEM. However, those experiences are difficult to access for many HSI-community college students (85% of our students hold off-campus jobs), and lack of confidence is a barrier for a majority of our students. The gap between those who can and those who cannot is the “internship access gap.” This project is at a central California Community College (CCC) and HSI, the only affordable post-secondary option in a region serving a historically underrepresented population in STEM, including 75% Hispanic, and 87% have not completed college. MI is designed to reduce inequalities inherent in the internship paradigm by providing access to professional and research skills for those underserved students. The MI has been designed to reduce barriers by offering: shorter duration (25 contact hours); flexible timing (one week to once a week over many weeks); open access/large group; and proximal location (on-campus). MI mentors participate in week-long summer workshops and ongoing monthly community of practice with the goal of co-constructing a shared vision, engaging in conversations about pedagogy and learning, and sustaining the MI program going forward. Approach (e.g., objectives/specific aims, research methodologies, and analysis) Research Question and Methodology: We want to know: How does participation in a micro-internship affect students’ interest and confidence to pursue STEM? We used a mixed-methods design triangulating quantitative Likert-style survey data with interpretive coding of open-responses to reveal themes in students’ motivations, attitudes toward STEM, and confidence. Participants: The study sampled students enrolled either part-time or full-time at the community college. Although each MI was classified within STEM, they were open to any interested student in any major. Demographically, participants self-identified as 70% Hispanic/Latinx, 13% Mixed-Race, and 42 female. Instrument: Student surveys were developed from two previously validated instruments that examine the impact of the MI intervention on student interest in STEM careers and pursuing internships/REUs. Also, the pre- and post (every e months to assess longitudinal outcomes) -surveys included relevant open response prompts. The surveys collected students’ demographics; interest, confidence, and motivation in pursuing a career in STEM; perceived obstacles; and past experiences with internships and MIs. 171 students responded to the pre-survey at the time of submission. Outcomes (e.g., preliminary findings, accomplishments to date) Because we just finished year 1, we lack at this time longitudinal data to reveal if student confidence is maintained over time and whether or not students are more likely to (i) enroll in more internships, (ii) transfer to a four-year university, or (iii) shorten the time it takes for degree attainment. For short term outcomes, students significantly Increased their confidence to continue pursuing opportunities to develop within the STEM pipeline, including full-length internships, completing STEM degrees, and applying for jobs in STEM. For example, using a 2-tailed t-test we compared means before and after the MI experience. 15 out of 16 questions that showed improvement in scores were related to student confidence to pursue STEM or perceived enjoyment of a STEM career. Finding from the free-response questions, showed that the majority of students reported enrolling in the MI to gain knowledge and experience. After the MI, 66% of students reported having gained valuable knowledge and experience, and 35% of students spoke about gaining confidence and/or momentum to pursue STEM as a career. Broader Impacts (e.g., the participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM; development of a diverse STEM workforce, enhanced infrastructure for research and education) The ESTEEM project has the potential for a transformational impact on STEM undergraduate education’s access and success for underrepresented and Latinx community college students, as well as for STEM capacity building at Hartnell College, a CCC and HSI, for students, faculty, professionals, and processes that foster research in STEM and education. Through sharing and transfer abilities of the ESTEEM model to similar institutions, the project has the potential to change the way students are served at an early and critical stage of their higher education experience at CCC, where one in every five community college student in the nation attends a CCC, over 67% of CCC students identify themselves with ethnic backgrounds that are not White, and 40 to 50% of University of California and California State University graduates in STEM started at a CCC, thus making it a key leverage point for recruiting and retaining a more diverse STEM workforce. 

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2. Matriarchs Matter: Family Influences to Scientific Thinking of Women of Color in the Community College

   Yap, Melo-Jean (March 2020, IAFOR International Conference on Education official conference proceedings)

   In the University of California system, community college transfer students comprise of 48% of graduates with STEM bachelor’s degrees. This demonstrates that two-year colleges help pave the career pathways of community college students, many of which are students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM fields. To cultivate the potential of women of color in pursuing STEM fields in the community college, focusing on their standpoint will empower them in centering their own perspectives in their own retention and success. Learning more about their standpoint also highlights their knowledge production as future producers of knowledge in the STEM fields. To obtain the influences to their scientific thinking development, 35 women of color STEM majors answered a social network questionnaire by nominating these influences. Social network analysis was used to analyze their influential social networks. Results demonstrate that family members have the highest frequency of influence to scientific thinking, regardless of educational attainment at the high school or lower levels. These relatives also heavily consist of matriarchal figures, such as mothers and grandmothers, especially as influences to scientific observation and scientific justification. These findings signify the importance of family in cultivating intellect, whether or not the relatives obtained college degrees or higher. Significance also supports emphasis on the students’ standpoint in self-determining their own success, and creates a campus culture that celebrates family-inclusiveness. Creating campus programming that caters to students’ strong relationships with their families may promote even more persistence in their STEM career trajectories. 

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3. Impact of an I-Corps Site Program on Engineering Students at a Large Southwestern University: Year 3

   Lagoudas, M; Yoon, S. Y; Boehm, R; Asbell, S. (July 2020, Zone 1 Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education)

   In today’s global market economy, equipping engineering students with a broader set of skills associated with an entrepreneurial mindset will empower them to create value for the companies they join or to launch their own startups. In recent years, institutions across the nation have been investing resources in developing maker spaces plus curricular and extracurricular programs to provide opportunities for students to acquire knowledge and skills, and pursue innovative ideas in a safe environment – while still in college. This study presented assessment data from a NSFI-Corps site program at a Southwestern university to understand the impact of the program on undergraduate and graduate engineering students’ knowledge, perceptions, and practice of entrepreneurship. In the four-cohort assessment data, participants indicated significantly increased confidence in value proposition, self-efficacy in entrepreneurship, and customer discovery, while maintaining high interest in entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the data indicated that participants with a GO decision (to continue pursuing their technology) had significantly higher perception on the current status of technology and business model than did participants with a no-GO/unsure decision. In addition, this study presented a new pilot program to be offered in spring 2020 and aimed to further enhance the I-Corps Site efforts on campus for broader impacts. 

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4. Making the Most of Science Seminars

   https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2019.81.8.585  

   Morris, Sara R.; Elsinghorst, Hannah M.; Aronica, Susan M. (October 2019, The American Biology Teacher)

   Although guest speakers have been a part of our curriculum for several decades, in recent years we have adopted a system that allows us to maximize the benefit of these speakers for our students. We provide learning opportunities before, during, and after a seminar to enhance students' scientific comprehension. Our system begins with students reading peer-reviewed literature relevant to a future seminar. In class, students work cooperatively to answer guided questions about the article, which serves as a basis for a discussion of the article among the entire class. This preparation facilitates students' understanding, their engagement, and their awareness of effective presentation techniques. Finally, small-group discussions with the speaker can provide students knowledge about their curriculum, awareness of additional opportunities, and insight into the nature of science. Our system thus provides a series of learning opportunities that ensure student engagement with the material multiple times, resulting in a deeper understanding of scientific research and effective mechanisms to communicate it. 

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5. Recruiting and Retaining Low-Income Engineering Students Across Four Institutions During a Pandemic: Progress and Lessons Learned from a Track 3 S-STEM Grant

   Castles, R.; Venters, C.; and Goodman, C (June 2022, 2022 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition)

   In January 2020 East Carolina University (ECU) in partnership with Lenoir Community College (LCC), Pitt Community College (PCC), and Wayne Community College (WCC) was awarded an S-STEM Track 3 Grant (Grant number: 1930497). The purpose of this grant was to support low-income students at each partner institution, to research best practices in recruiting and retaining low-income students at both universities and community colleges, and to research how such programs influence the transfer outcomes from two-year to four-year schools. This grant provides scholarship support for two cohorts of students, one starting their engineering studies in Fall 2020 and the other starting their engineering studies in Fall 2021. Each cohort was to be comprised of 40 students including 20 students at ECU and 20 students divided among the three partnering community colleges. In addition to supporting student scholarships, this grant supported the establishment of new student support mechanisms and enhancement of existing support systems on each campus. This project involved the creation of a faculty mentoring program, designing a summer bridge program, establishing a textbook lending library, and enhancing activities for students in a living-learning community, expansion of university tutoring initiatives to allow access for community college students, and promoting a new peer mentoring initiative. The program emphasizes career opportunities including promoting on-campus career fairs, promoting internship and co-op opportunities, and bringing in guest speakers from various industry partners. A goal of the program was to allow community college students to build relationships with university students and faculty so they can more easily assimilate into the student body at the university upon transfer. This paper presents the challenges presented to the project in the first year and the pivoting that occurred due the pandemic. Data is presented regarding recruitment of scholars in both cohorts and retention of scholars from year 1 to year 2. 

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