Award Abstract # 1649323
NSF Includes. FIRST TWO: Improving STEM persistence in the first two years of college.

NSF Org: OIA
OIA-Office of Integrative Activities
Recipient: ASSOCIATED UNIVERSITIES INC
Initial Amendment Date: September 12, 2016
Latest Amendment Date: September 12, 2016
Award Number: 1649323
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Cynthia Phillips
cphillip@nsf.gov
 (703)292-0000
OIA
 OIA-Office of Integrative Activities
O/D
 Office Of The Director
Start Date: November 1, 2016
End Date: December 31, 2018 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $299,705.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $299,705.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2016 = $299,705.00
History of Investigator:
  • Sue Heatherly (Principal Investigator)
    sheather@nrao.edu
  • Erica Harvey (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Karen ONeil (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Associated Universities, Inc.
2650 PARK TOWER DR STE 700
VIENNA
VA  US  22180-7300
(202)462-1676
Sponsor Congressional District: 11
Primary Place of Performance: NRAO
PO Box 2
Green Bank
WV  US  24944-0002
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
01
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): NZBMKZMW68N3
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES
Primary Program Source: 01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 029Z
Program Element Code(s): 032Y00
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.083

ABSTRACT

Developing and maintaining a diverse, innovative workforce in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (known as STEM) is critical to American competitiveness in the world, but national surveys report a current and future shortage of highly qualified STEM professionals in the US. One problem creating this shortage is that 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 their post-secondary education. This problem is particularly acute for first generation college students. If we could increase the STEM degree completion rate by just 25%, we would make up 75% of the additional workforce needed over the next decade.

Our project aims to increase the STEM persistence of first generation college students and focuses on rural students in West Virginia. Project partners including scientists from National Labs, college faculty, local school system staff, informal educators, State Department of Education officials, and West Virginia college students will collaborate to develop summer and academic year activities that support young undergraduates majoring in STEM. Activities that we will pilot include early opportunities to do science research, academic year courses that develop science, math and communication skills, and the formation of Hometown STEM Ambassadors; undergraduate STEM students that encourage younger students back in their hometown schools. We will study the impact of these activities on students' persistence in STEM majors.

Our Project is called FIRST TWO: Improving STEM Persistence in the First Two Years of College (FIRST TWO).

Technical Details:
During the Development Launch Project, partners will create and pilot components of two courses
that will confer college credit to students in two and four year schools. Each course will have
as its center piece a research and development internship. By the end of the Project Development
Pilot, FIRST TWO course modules will be integrated into courses the State, and be transferable
between community colleges and four-year schools.

An innovative component of FIRST TWO is the creation of Hometown STEM ambassadors--students
who participate in both courses will be prepared to mentor their peers, and also conduct outreach
in their home school districts. They will make presentations to hometown K-12 students, and will
discuss STEM college readiness issues with local education leaders. We believe reconnecting post-secondary students with their home communities and providing place-based relevance to their STEM education will have a positive impact on their persistence, as well as the added benefit of encouraging
K-12 students to envision themselves as future STEM professionals.

FIRST TWO will:
- integrate early experience in STEM internships, online communities of practice and STEM skills development into a discovery-based "principles of research and development" college seminar for first year students;
- sustain engagement through a second service learning course, called STEM Leadership that will develop communication and mentoring skills and produce peer mentors who will mentor younger students, join in the efforts to change the STEM education experience at their schools, and conduct outreach in their hometown communities during the students? second year and third years.
- secure state-wide adoption and transferability of these courses, or course materials, and ultimately scale the program across the Appalachian region and to other states with large rural student populations.
- collaborate with National Labs to determine the feasibility of a National STEM Persistence Alliance partnering National Lab internship programs with 2 and 4-year schools who serve FGC students.

Finally, there are many studies that inquire into the factors that correlate with post-secondary retention in general, and with STEM attrition specifically but few that focus on rural students. FIRST TWO will fully articulate a rigorous educational research project aimed at advancing understanding of the factors affecting rural students' entry into and persistence in STEM career pathways. This research will study the impact FIRST TWO program components make on rural FGC students' persistence in STEM majors. Instruments will be developed and validated that test the components proposed in FIRST TWO interventions. As we scale the program to a larger Alliance, so will the research study scale, providing a unique opportunity to inform the education community about the rural students' experience.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Darrah, Marjorie and Cowley, Kimberly and Wheatley, Christopher and McJilton, Leah and Humbert, Roxann "Analyzing the Growth of a Statewide Network to Increase Recruitment to and Persistence in STEM" Journal of Appalachian Studies , v.28 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.5406/23288612.28.2.05 Citation Details
Heatherly, Sue Ann and Harvey, Erica and Howley, Caitlin "First Two Network: Improving STEM persistence in the first two years of college." Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science , v.89 , 2017 https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v89i1.278 Citation Details
Hewagallage, Dona Sachini and Stewart, John and Henderson, Rachel "Differences in the predictive power of pretest scores of students underrepresented in physics" 2019 PERC Proceedings , 2020 https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2019.pr.Hewagallage Citation Details

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Developing and maintaining a diverse, innovative workforce in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (known as STEM) is critical to American competitiveness in the world, but national surveys report a current and future shortage of highly qualified STEM professionals. One problem is that 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 their post-secondary education.  This problem is particularly acute for first generation college students.

The First2 Network aimed at improving the persistence of undergraduate STEM students, with emphasis on rural first generation students through their first 2 years of college.

At the core of our shared vision to improve student STEM success is the assumption that the students themselves should be co-creators of the solutions.  In concert with undergraduate students, First2 Network partners piloted activities for rural first generation students attending West Virginia colleges and universities that:

1)      Provided early exposure to STEM research. We piloted two 2-week internships for rising college freshmen STEM majors, and several upperclassmen to serve as mentors (N=27). This activity departs from the norm in two ways: the duration of the experience was much shorter, and the students were much younger than is typical for research experiences for undergraduates. External evaluation revealed that this exposure had a significant positive impact on students? motivation to persist in their STEM majors.

2)      Supported student leadership and agency: Over the academic year following the internships our students routinely gathered together for three major activities:

  • STEM Skills Development. Faculty from several WV colleges led course sessions on topics designed to improve students? study skills and time management in the context of a STEM major.
  • Peer Mentoring. Our First2 students help each other in many ways--from hard math problems, to preparing a resume. They also educate us all about the challenges they are facing as they are facing them. Who better to affect change in the college culture than the students themselves? 
  • Student Advocacy. STEM persistence starts at the K-12 level, where college readiness is a large problem.  Our undergraduate students are local leaders who return to their hometowns to inspire K-12 students and to illuminate problems and solutions that, if implemented at a district level, could improve students? chances for success in college.

According to the students themselves, the most effective components of the academic year activities were those in which students? voices were elevated through opportunities for peer-to-peer mentoring, and advocacy work.  On the negative side, the academic year activities created additional time pressures for our students, many of whom must work in addition to attending class and completing homework.

Finally, because so little research exists on rural first generation STEM students, the First2 Network developed educational research study aimed at advancing understanding of the factors affecting rural students' entry into and persistence in STEM career pathways.  Initial results

This work will continue, and we hypothesize that our findings will apply to improving persistence of all first generation STEM students, not just rural students.

Moving forward, the First2 Network continues to expand our membership to take the work state-wide as we develop a purposeful, inclusive network of committed individuals and institutions eager to learn from each other to solve the STEM persistence problem.  Multiple approaches and models can be successful.  Indeed, through this funding, First2 has learned of many complementary efforts and projects occurring around the state.   Network members will study, implement and improve these practices and disseminate them state-wide and beyond.

 


Last Modified: 05/01/2019
Modified by: Sue A Heatherly

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