Broadening Participation Research Project: Investigating the Efficacy of Data Science for Environmental Justice based PBL Modules for Improving Diversity in Environmental Science

Information

• NSF Award
• 2306658

Owner

• North Carolina Central University

• Award Id

  2306658

• Award Effective Date

  8/1/2023 - a year ago

• Award Expiration Date

  7/31/2026 - a year from now

• Award Amount

  $ 349,112.00

• Award Instrument

  Standard Grant

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) provides support to strengthen STEM undergraduate education and research at HBCUs. This project at North Carolina Central University (NC Central) is a collaborative project between computer science and environmental science faculty at NC Central, social science researchers at Cynosure Consulting, and geography and biology faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This project aligns with the goals of HBCU-UP in its effort to provide support for research that seeks to create and study new theory-driven models and innovations related to the participation and success of underrepresented groups in STEM undergraduate education. The project at NC Central will conduct research on the impact of introducing social justice-based environmental science project-based learning (PBL) modules on student interest in environmental science and the declaration of majors. <br/><br/>The goal of this project is to increase the participation in environmental science, one of the least diverse STEM fields, among students from historically marginalized communities. The project innovation will be incorporated within an existing gateway course at NC Central University (ENSC 1000: Introduction to Sustainable Planet) by introducing data science for environmental justice project-based learning (DSEJ-PBL) modules. This project will study whether and how the innovation increases interest in environmental science using a mixed-methods approach to measure the efficacy of the innovation and its impacts on participants, and to provide insight into how the innovation produces changes in student beliefs, choices, and actions. The website that will be created through this project will host a repository of detailed DSEJ-PBL modules and associated tutorials and instructor materials. The research results from this project will be disseminated to the STEM and Education academic communities through presentations at seminars and conferences and publications in journals.<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.

• Program Officer

  Alfred Hallalfhall@nsf.gov7032924895

• Min Amd Letter Date

  7/26/2023 - a year ago

• Max Amd Letter Date

  7/26/2023 - a year ago

• ARRA Amount

• Name

  North Carolina Central University

• City

  DURHAM

• State

  NC

• Country

  United States

• Address

  1801 FAYETTEVILLE ST

• Postal Code

  277073129

• Phone Number

  9195307333

• First Name

  Adrienne

• Last Name

  Smith

• Email Address

  Adrienne.ann.smith@gmail.com

• Start Date

  7/26/2023 12:00:00 AM

• First Name

  ELISABETH

• Last Name

  STODDARD

• Email Address

  eastoddard@wpi.edu

• Start Date

  7/26/2023 12:00:00 AM

• First Name

  Ravanasamudram

• Last Name

  Uma

• Email Address

  ruma@nccu.edu

• Start Date

  7/26/2023 12:00:00 AM

• First Name

  Rebecca

• Last Name

  Lowe

• Email Address

  rebecca.anne.zulli@gmail.com

• Start Date

  7/26/2023 12:00:00 AM

• First Name

  Alade

• Last Name

  Tokuta

• Email Address

  atokuta@nccu.edu

• Start Date

  7/26/2023 12:00:00 AM

• Text

  Hist Black Colleges and Univ

• Code

  1594

• Text

  UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

• Code

  9178