Eric Bell, Astronomy | 2020-2021
Retaining a diverse population of students in STEM majors is a national and institutional priority. Promoting equity and inclusion in foundational STEM courses is critical to achieve this goal. Toward this end, we propose a one-year trial of low cost, scalable learning communities structured around STEM foundational courses. Building on a successful pilot of the STEM Success Communities program (STEM Comm), we will collaborate with instructional teams to design learning communities that address course-specific barriers to student achievement and persistence – with a focus on women and students who are members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, come from a low-income background, or are the first generation in their family to attend college. Community design will utilize core pedagogies and interventions that have been shown to positively influence equity, achievement, and persistence in STEM. Through a process of iterative design, evaluation, and improvement, the ultimate goal is to justify and secure the long-term future and institutional home of STEM Comm.