Strengthening a Higher Education Institution's Cohesive Engagement of Faculty and Students in STEM

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving student success in STEM and building on-island instructional capacity through faculty professional development. Through iterative course redesign and faculty professional development, this project will improve instruction across the Departments of Mathematics, Teacher Education, Science, Computer Science, and the Pacific Center for Human Security.

The redeveloped courses will support students in hybrid modalities across science and developmental math, while the faculty will be trained in best practices in hybrid education. The project will address the need to build STEM literacy in the future workforce and develop the next generation of STEM educators on American Samoa.

The project will pursue four goals. First, is to increase the quality, alignment, and relevance of foundational STEM curricula at the institution. Second, is to increase equitable access to quality postsecondary STEM education for students who experience systemic socioeconomic challenges and geographic isolation.

Third, is to increase the institution’s capacity to develop next-generation STEM professionals who are knowledgeable and qualified to serve as faculty to meet workforce needs. Fourth, is to lay the foundation for future innovations in instructional design and development at this institution. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.

Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

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.