2019 — 2021 |
Caporale, Natalia |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Impact of Ethnic Studies Courses On the Sense of Belonging, Professional Identity, Self-Efficacy and Retention of Underrepresented Students in Stem @ University of California-Davis
The project combines a research project aimed at broadening participation in STEM with a detailed professional development plan focused on facilitating the principal investigator's transition from a subject-specific focus on the cellular and network mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity to a focus on STEM education research. The research project and professional development plan will launch a long-term research program focused on combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to increase recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities in STEM. This will be achieved through the development of interventions rooted in robust multivariate statistical methods and a deep understanding of the challenges and barriers these students face, examined through a theoretical lens that combines student-asset models, neurobiology pf learning and memory and critical race theory. The professional development plan includes developing research design skills through focused collaborations, attending quantitative and qualitative research methods summer workshops, auditing/taking courses on qualitative research methods and Critical Race Theory frameworks, and attending conferences that focus on these last two areas as they apply to STEM education research. The outcome of the professional development plan is to enable the principal investigator to complete an innovative research study and develop expertise that will allow her to make significant contributions to the field of STEM education
The research will apply a mixed methods approach to assess the relationship between taking Chicano Studies courses and underrepresented minority (URM) students' sense of belonging, science identity, and self-efficacy, as well as their likelihood to persist in STEM majors until graduation. To achieve this goal, the investigator will complete three objectives: (1) Assess the relationship between taking Chicano Studies courses on the sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and science identity of URM STEM students; (2) Evaluate the impact of taking Chicano Studies courses on the sense of belonging, self-efficacy and science identity of URM students in STEM; and (3) Characterize the reasons why URM students choose to take Chicano Studies courses and the overall impact of these courses on students' experiences. The investigator's long-term research plan focuses on improving outcomes for students of all backgrounds and experiences who are interested in developing careers in STEM. The long-term research agenda includes documenting and characterizing the experiences of STEM students along the academic pathway; identifying, developing, and assessing affordable, scalable, interventions that can have significant impacts on their experiences; and exploring the intersection of biological knowledge and learning with students' cultures.
The project is supported through the EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR:BCSER) competition that is designed to build individuals' capacity to carry out high quality fundamental STEM education research in STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.
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.
|
0.984 |
2020 — 2023 |
Caporale, Natalia Deeb-Sossa, Natalia (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Improving Outcomes For Stem Students On Academic Probation @ University of California-Davis
This project aims to serve the national interest in a diverse, well-prepared STEM workforce. Toward this goal, it will study a large population of students who are on academic probation and at high risk of leaving STEM majors. Academic probation is a designation given to students who are underperforming academically and at risk of being dismissed from the university. Data shows that around a quarter of all U.S. college students will find themselves on academic probation at least once in their college career. As a result, the findings of this study will be relevant to over 5 million college students in any given year. The limited information available suggests that a significant percentage of students who are placed on academic probation will eventually leave the university. However, little is known about the factors, attitudes, and practices that distinguish the students who recover from academic probation and go on to graduate from those students who do not recover. This research study will be designed to provide a better understanding of what factors affect the likelihood that students on academic probation will return to good academic standing and become active members of the STEM workforce. The findings from this study will be used to develop data-driven, targeted interventions that focus on the needs of different student populations, including those who are first generation college students and/or are from low income families or races/ethnicities thus far underrepresented in the sciences.
This project will use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to document in detail the impact of academic probation status on STEM students, as well as use the information to develop models and predict which students will recover. The project will study the academic, demographic, cognitive, and affective factors that are associated with increased likelihood of students on academic probation returning to good academic standing and graduation. Specifically, it will use multilevel regression to develop a predictive model of the relationship between student academic and demographic factors and the likelihood of graduation for students who are on academic probation. In addition, it will compare science identity, self-efficacy, sense of belonging and commitment to STEM major between students on academic probation and those in good academic standing. This project aims to infer how science identity, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging in STEM are differentially impacted by academic probation and how they correlate to the likelihood of students returning to good academic standing. Finally, the project will conduct a qualitative evaluation of student experiences while on academic probation to identify barriers to recovery that need to be addressed when designing targeted interventions for these students. Qualitative data will be analyzed through the frameworks of intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, and LatCrit. This project is supported by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. This project is in the Engaged Student Learning track, through which 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.
|
0.984 |
2020 — 2021 |
Caporale, Natalia Erdmann, Robert Weigel, Emily (co-PI) [⬀] Ahuja, Abha (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Rcn-Ube Incubator: Real (R in Education and Assessment of Learning) @ University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Knowing how to use math and computing skills effectively has become essential to working in science, particularly for biologists in recent years. However, because of the rapid pace of change in biological and computing technologies, many faculty members find themselves teaching skills which are also new to them or that they had to learn independently. In this project, the research team seeks to develop a network of researchers and educators who will collaborate to increase their own computing and statistical skills, while also developing "best practices" of how to teach these skills to students. Using the programming language R, a free and open source coding language that is increasingly used in the biological sciences, the R in Education and Assessment of Learning (REAL) network will establish an inclusive, sustainable community of biology educators and biology education researchers who will both teach and use R for the betterment of biology research and education nationwide.
The REAL network aims to support the training of biology researchers in quantitative and computational methods; foster collaborations for the development, sharing and assessment of educational modules for quantitative skills and of R-code for biology education researchers; and to catalyze the development of common standards and best practices for the training of undergraduates and graduate students in quantitative and computational skills. The network?s central activity involves training an initial cohort of beginners in R to develop, assess and disseminate biology classroom modules to teach quantitative skills using R and/or develop and test R code scripts and packages tailored specifically for biology education research. REAL trainees will develop novel educational modules to infuse effective, up-to-date quantitative skills into the biology curriculum, rigorously assess the impact of their teaching, and make significant contributions to education research both at the interface of biology and computing and at the edges of current statistical practice. The REAL Network will increase the number of biology faculty with the skills to effectively teach quantitative and computational skills to biology undergraduates, contributing to a new generation of biologists ready to tackle the research and data analysis challenges posed by the development of novel high-throughput technologies. In addition, these faculty will also be better equipped to rigorously assess the educational outcomes of their students, leading to improved teaching practices and allowing for the development of common standards and best practices unique to the training of biologists in quantitative methods.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/).
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.
|
0.936 |