Project-SOAR: Investigating students' (S) Online self-efficacy (O), Academic performance (A) and course Redesign (R) - Building my capacity in science education research

This project, submitted by California State University-Sacramento, proposes Project SOAR (investigating Students Online self-efficacy, Academic performance, and course Redesign). The aim is to study how student academic performance may influence redesign of online STEM courses (electrical engineering, computer science) to improve student self-efficacy, with the goal of improving student retention and decreasing the dropout rate.

This research pilot study will be paired with professional development for the PI to develop science education research expertise in both quantitative and qualitative study design, mixed methods research and data analysis techniques.

The project professional development plan will support the development of the capacity of the PI to carry out high-quality STEM education research and improve the nation's STEM education. The professional development is accompanied by a research pilot project that addresses research on the effect of redesigning online STEM courses. This activity is based on Bandura's Social Cognitive theory, which has been used to predict student performance in online engineering courses.

The project addresses four undergraduate courses in engineering with high course fail rates and wide equity gaps. The plan is to be implemented using a two-phase mixed methods research design to enhance students' self-efficacy with a goal of improving student performance. The project also aims to increase the effectiveness of instructor-led course redesign, particularly with 'enhancement of student self-efficacy' as a goal.

The project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research: Building Capacity for STEM Education Research (BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators' capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research.

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.