| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | December 23, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | September 23, 2022 |
| Award Number: | 1939890 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Thomas Kim
tkim@nsf.gov (703)292-4458 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | May 1, 2020 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2023 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $299,935.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $299,935.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
12000 SW 49TH AVE PORTLAND OR US 97219-7132 (971)722-8392 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
2305 SE 82nd Ave Portland OR US 97216-1413 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | IUSE |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
This project aims to serve the national interest by studying how college makerspaces might increase student retention and success in developmental mathematics courses. The project will partner with a community group, the Wind & Oar Boat School, to develop activities that are culturally relevant, self-directed, and put students at the center of cooperative group-based learning. The College and community partners will work together to design, implement, and test a 36-hour inquiry-based co-curricular course in a college makerspace. The course will align basic mathematics principles that are taught in a developmental mathematics course with specific activities related to building a wooden boat. Nationwide, 60% of community college students require developmental mathematics, suggesting that many are not prepared for the college-level mathematics required for STEM degree programs. Furthermore, only one-third of students in developmental mathematics courses move on to college-level courses within six years and many end up dropping out of college completely. Project activities are expected to engage all students, including students from groups that are underrepresented in STEM. It is also expected that the activities will increase student success in math and retention in college. This project is designed to generate new knowledge about how makerspaces can increase equitable access to STEM education. It will also explore whether engaging students in these spaces improves their STEM identity and self-efficacy. The project design is intended to build competencies such as critical thinking, the view that failure is a natural step toward success, and the understanding that academic ability can be improved. It is expected that this approach can be adopted by other two-year colleges and other makerspaces that intend to expand access to all students.
The project will develop new interventions and approaches that transform learning for diverse student groups, particularly those in developmental mathematics courses. Eight 36-hour makerspace co-curricular activities will be developed and implemented in conjunction with Introductory Algebra II. Four of the eight activities will span two years. The project team will adapt the Dimensions of Success Observation Tool to measure overall student success and examine whether the project activities ameliorate specific barriers for underrepresented students working in makerspace environments. Three research questions will be examined: 1) To what extent do activities that align fundamental mathematics principles with makerspace competencies increase student learning in mathematics? 2) To what extent do project activities increase student learning? 3) Does the use of makerspaces attract other mathematics educators to reform their teaching practice? A mixed-methods research design will assess the effectiveness of the project in achieving its goals and identify unexpected outcomes. Student-level data to be collected includes demographics, course success metrics, instances of future STEM course enrollments, and surveys regarding students' experiences with the intervention, perceptions of STEM identity, and self-reported identities regarding URM definitions. Surveys will be distributed to both the intervention participants and a control group. External evaluators will observe students during the activities to understand their engagement with activities and will do exit interviews to capture students' reflection on the overall experience. 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. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, 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.
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.
The goal of our grant was to address challenges experienced by historically underrepresented students at Portland Community College (PCC) in college-level mathematics. To do this, in Year 1 of the grant we developed, taught, and learned from a remote project-based class constructing a model boat. A total of 35 students, 7 peer facilitators and 4 educators took part in 3 sections of this class.
Through this experience we explored and defined a makerspace culture in the math classroom. We believe a makerspace culture in a math classroom:
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Promotes a strong sense of belonging for all students
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Incorporates diverse and inclusive cultural representation in mathematics
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Works to reduce anxiety and help students manage previous trauma
Our hope is that these elements create an environment where all students are able to engage in meaningful problem solving to develop strong mathematical skills and competencies, resulting in stronger retention of historically underrepresented students in upper level math courses.
In Year 2, we developed and carried out professional development to help math faculty promote this makerspace culture in their classroom. To do this, we created and led a Makerspace Workshop Series and Faculty Learning Community geared toward math instructors. These workshops were led by the 4 grant members and a 4 person advisory committee made up of math faculty. We had 260 participants across 19 workshops, learning community meetings, and conference presentations.
In Year 3, we created and administered a Student of Belonging Survey in an attempt to measure the makerspace culture in the PCC math classroom in general and for students who are historically underrepresented in STEM. In crafting the demographic questions in the Student Belonging Survey we attempted to broaden the definitions of Underrepresented Students in STEM, and collect this information in a culturally responsive, trauma informed approach. We collected 450 responses from students enrolled in math class at PCC in fall 2022, which was 10% of the total enrollment. We asked questions to measure the students? level of Math Anxiety, Growth Mindset, Sense of Belonging. We also asked students to assess their current class for Culturally Responsive Materials and Makerspace Culture.
We then worked with RMC Research Cooperation to create a report of our findings.
PCC MGESS Year 3 Student Belonging Survey Report
We hope that the math department at PCC will use our findings to identify which groups experience better outcomes than others, and consider how these outcomes can be improved for all groups.
Last Modified: 05/06/2023
Modified by: Laura C Smoyer
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