HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Advancing the Reach and Scope of Supplemental Instruction

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project focuses on increasing STEM student retention and success in entry-level courses at a Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) by expanding and adapting Supplemental Instruction (SI) to online learning environments. SI is a peer-facilitated academic support program consisting of regularly scheduled out-of-class collaborative learning sessions.

There is growing demand for well-trained STEM professionals, but high rates of student attrition in introductory level science and engineering courses limit the number of STEM degrees awarded. Additionally, diversity and inclusion in STEM fields remains a major concern, with students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds earning STEM degrees at levels well below rates of enrollment.

SI participation is a positive predictor of higher grades and student success in introductory STEM courses, and interaction with SI leaders of diverse backgrounds has been shown to further benefit underrepresented student groups in these classes. This project will expand face-to-face and online SI offerings to make SI more accessible and beneficial to a diverse group of STEM students, including non-traditional and commuting students.

In addition, the project will seek to expand SI leadership opportunities to traditionally underrepresented student groups.

The project aims to (1) determine the impact of the SI program on student retention and success in introductory science courses, and (2) determine the effect of the SI program on student’s metacognition, affective components of learning, and positive attitudes toward STEM education and STEM careers. This multi-year project will employ a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods over a period of three successive fall academic terms.

Findings will be compared among three student groups/ sets: those who attend required face-to-face SI sessions, those who attend required online SI sessions, and those for whom SI session attendance is optional. The research will provide insight into the effect of face-to-face and online SI implementations on student success, particularly among non-traditional and commuter student populations to whom face-to-face SI sessions may be less accessible.

In addition, the project findings will contribute to best practices for successful adaptation of SI to online learning environments. Broader dissemination of the findings at national conferences and in peer-reviewed educational journals of respective STEM fields will allow participants to share insights and innovations with the growing community of STEM educators leveraging peer-facilitated learning models.

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.