NSF Org:	EES Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM
Recipient:	SANTA MONICA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
Initial Amendment Date:	July 28, 2019
Latest Amendment Date:	May 16, 2025
Award Number:	1928737
Award Instrument:	Continuing Grant
Program Manager:	Veronica Acosta vacosta@nsf.gov  (703)292-4894 EES  Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM EDU  Directorate for STEM Education
Start Date:	October 1, 2019
End Date:	May 2, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount:	$2,493,400.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date:	$2,493,400.00
Funds Obligated to Date:	FY 2019 = $1,326,757.00 FY 2020 = $1,166,643.00
History of Investigator:	Ciaran Brewster (Principal Investigator) brewster_ciaran@smc.edu Tram Dang (Co-Principal Investigator) Kristin Lui-Martinez (Co-Principal Investigator) Melanie Bocanegra (Former Principal Investigator) Edna Chavarry (Former Principal Investigator) Melanie Bocanegra (Former Co-Principal Investigator) Melanie Bocanegra (Former Co-Principal Investigator) Tram Dang (Former Co-Principal Investigator) Ciaran Brewster (Former Co-Principal Investigator) Edna Chavarry (Former Co-Principal Investigator) Kristin Lui-Martinez (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office:	Santa Monica College 1900 PICO BLVD SANTA MONICA CA  US  90405-1628 (310)434-4616
Sponsor Congressional District:	36
Primary Place of Performance:	Santa Monica College 1900 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica CA  US  90405-1628
Primary Place of Performance Congressional District:	36
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI):	CJAAYN7JEPJ4
Parent UEI:	CJAAYN7JEPJ4
NSF Program(s):	HSI-Hispanic Serving Instituti, HSI-Hispanic Serving Instituti
Primary Program Source:	04002223DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04001920DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002021DB NSF Education & Human Resource
Program Reference Code(s):	9178, 8209
Program Element Code(s):	077y00, 077Y00
Award Agency Code:	4900
Fund Agency Code:	4900
Assistance Listing Number(s):	47.076

ABSTRACT

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. With HSI program support, this Track 1 project at Santa Monica College (SMC) aims to identify, implement and investigate interventions that enhance the success and subsequent graduation of Hispanic and other underrepresented STEM students through the use of culturally responsive and effective classroom-based curricular materials and instructional practices focused on STEM. SMC will bring together the equity-focused work of the college's Science and Research Initiative and the Center for Teaching Excellence to implement a three-pronged approach that includes faculty professional development, pilot and assessment of research-based innovations, and dissemination of project outcomes both internally and externally. This project will target first year and other tenure track STEM faculty and provide them with release time so that they may participate in a 2-year professional development program and allocate the time necessary to develop and implement effective equity-minded interventions in their courses. By assessing the impact of both the innovations and the professional development, SMC will establish a toolbox of effective practices that can be used by STEM and non-STEM faculty, as well as a professional development strategy that can be sustained beyond the grant period for ongoing delivery to new faculty.

The project will build upon research-based effective practice currently underway at SMC's Science and Research Initiative, as well as research from the field, to explore and further assess innovative approaches to community college student success in STEM. The project will identify effective strategies for engaging the faculty in change-focused activities designed to improve student success through critical transitions, thereby helping the numerous colleges across the country that are struggling to bridge the cultural divide between STEM faculty and a culturally diverse student population. The project will assess not only the impact of the proposed innovations on student ability to successfully transition, but also the degree to which the professional development contributes to teaching effectiveness, student sense of belonging and learning, and departmental and institutional culture. Project evaluation will assess the quality of the program and its ability to achieve grant goals and long-term project outcomes, as well as provide ongoing feedback to suggest improvements in implementation. The research focus of this project is to identify effective pedagogical strategies and methods of teaching that positively impact student success and successful transitions. The research will use a quasi-experimental design to assess each intervention, using a combination of both qualitative and quantitative indicators to answer both implementation and outcome evaluation questions. Project summative evaluation and research includes conducting a pre- and post- assessment of all students impacted by the project at both the beginning and end of each academic year, immediately after they graduate, and again one year after program completion. Project data will be disaggregated by race/ethnicity, income status, and gender. Project results will be disseminated at regional and national conferences. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.

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.

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.