Increasing STEM Persistence by Supporting Apprentice Research Experiences (AREs) as a Model for Institutional Change in Community Colleges

This project aims to serve the national interest by iteratively assessing and improving the STEM Academic Research and Training (START) program, an Apprenticeship Research Experience (ARE) at Wake Technical Community College. The project will contribute to understanding the effects of AREs - especially uncommon and understudied at 2-year colleges - on community college students’ persistence in college and in STEM careers.

This project will develop a sustainable model for co-curricular apprenticeship-style mentored undergraduate research programs and help build the case for state and donor funding for undergraduate research experiences and internships at community colleges across North Carolina. The project will enhance a current program, recruit students from populations underrepresented in STEM, and further develop relationships with numerous research partners.

By supporting students with paid internships, the project will increase access to STEM careers for low-income students. Training modules for mentors and students will also be developed. The project offers a distinct opportunity to recruit underrepresented minorities and first-generation college students into STEM research and prepare them for successful academic and professional careers.

The project goal is to develop a sustainable and scalable undergraduate research and internship program model for 2- and 4-year colleges to partner in undergraduate research. Such partnerships are expected to foster student success in transfer and persistence in bachelor’s degree programs in STEM. Funds will support approximately 50 student interns each semester resulting in 400 paid internships over the course of the project.

This project will develop a Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework-based model for strengthening undergraduate research experiences in the community college context. The project will utilize a randomized controlled trial that meets the "What Works Clearinghouse" standards, and includes research questions on the impact of participation in START undergraduate research on student outcomes, e.g. retention and persistence in college and in STEM fields, academic confidence, student identity and awareness, and scientific literacy and research skills.

Furthermore, the research questions examine the impact of START on the college, e.g. the impact on the diversity of student participation in STEM fields, the skills and comfort of mentors in engaging in mentoring activities, and the institution’s support for mentors and research. The external evaluator and project faculty will prepare manuscripts of findings for publication and disseminate them via national conferences, reaching audiences of both practitioners and researchers.

Academic partners include North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. By creating undergraduate research and internship opportunities for community college students the project is a model to build the STEM pipeline. Funding for this project comes from the Advanced Technological Education program through the program description on Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education (PD 21-7980) which promotes innovative and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education in the community college sector.

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.