HSI Pilot Project: College of Alameda Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Connect

With support from Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project aims to increase the enrollment of Latinx students in College of Alameda (CoA) STEM programs and impact rates of success and retention in gateway STEM courses. The Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Connect program will excite students about applied STEM learning and teach them the fundamentals of STEM inquiry and research through Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) that will be woven into their fall semester courses.

The project has four objectives: (1) broaden participation in STEM degree programs by piloting and evaluating a summer STEM Discovery Institute and internships; (2) improve STEM teaching and learning by designing a first-year learning community that incorporates CUREs in introductory Biology, Chemistry, CIS and Math courses; (3) deliver comprehensive student support services, including academic tutoring, professional and near peer mentoring, faculty advising, transfer support services, campus health resources and financial aid; and (4) in collaboration with CSUEB, build institutional capacity to both deliver and analyze culturally informed STEM instruction.

The evaluation of MESA Connect will contribute to a growing body of knowledge about CUREs and their importance to Latinx community college students, particularly when CURE design is culturally relevant and significant. The formative evaluation will consider whether the project is being conducted as planned and with the stated intentions of cultural competency and fidelity to evidence-based practices.

The summative evaluation will look at whether project participants achieved the intended pilot outcomes, including qualitative academic (course completion) and qualitative STEM-related (career interest, understanding of core concepts) outcomes, and whether the project contributed toward its intended long- term impact on degree attainment and transfer. Quantitative analysis will compare participating Latinx student outcomes with overall college outcomes, and qualitative analysis will be grounded in students’ cultural backgrounds, measuring the effectiveness of the pilot interventions within the context of the project and the student experience.

Contributions to the literature on this topic will answer the research question: What is the impact of participation in a STEM learning community enriched by culturally informed CUREs on Latinx community college students’ awareness of and decision to pursue STEM education and careers? Deepening understanding of culturally appropriate CUREs in the context of a transfer pathway will benefit students from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM who begin their post-secondary education in the community college.

The dissemination plan will include presentations at national networks, such as the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs.

Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to 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.