NSF Award
2205950
Implementation Projects in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) provide support to design, implement, study, and assess comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the numbers of students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research. This implementation project at Jackson State University (JSU) provides an innovative approach to broaden outcomes for STEM students. The project will explore the links between STEM faculty and student perceptions of talent and potential for STEM success through innovative assessment of practices and outcomes. The project focuses on linking evidence-based teaching and learning strategies with student outcomes and experiences to help assess and refine course activities in the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Atmospheric Sciences.<br/><br/>JSU’s ProjecTEST is designed to improve faculty implementation of pedagogy and mentoring strategies by establishing professional development opportunities and providing access to new assessment tools that extend faculty knowledge of race, culture, social, and historical factors that impact student interest and engagement in STEM fields. Faculty-student teams work together on assessment metrics to examine student experiences with course activities. The goal of the project is to improve the use of novel, fine-grained assessment tools, increase STEM learning outcomes, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging among STEM students, offer research opportunities that support the development of STEM workforce skills, and disseminate models of faculty and student engagement to a broader audience. An exploratory research project called Cave Scientia will examine the potential links between standardized assessments in admissions and placement and how those assessments impact faculty perceptions of their own standing and effectiveness in STEM and how they impact student perceptions of their potential to contribute and advance within a STEM discipline. This project promises to have wide-reaching broader impacts at the institution and larger HBCU community. The project is guided and informed by an on-going evaluation, as well as by internal and external advisory committees.<br/><br/>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.
