Central Indiana STEM Talent Expansion Program: Student and faculty interventions

Abstract

Abstract--Funded by 5-year, $2M grant from the National Science Foundation, the Central Indiana STEM Talent Expansion Program (CI-STEP) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is creating a pipeline of students and a campus culture change to increase the number of undergraduates obtaining Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degrees. CI-STEP addresses initiatives needed for transforming the undergraduate STEM experience by propagating, expanding, and creating new evidence-based educational innovations in undergraduate STEM education at IUPUI.The primary goal of the project is to employ and assess the impact of several intervention strategies focused on student success, leading to higher numbers of students graduating with STEM degrees. These interventions include: new STEM Summer Bridge Academies; strengthened articulation agreements; peer-mentoring, and academic advising support for community college transfer students; expansion of Peer-led Team Learning, Just-in-Time Teaching, and other facultyinitiated, evidence-based educational opportunities; and development and expansion of career development services and internships for undergraduates. This paper will describe CI-STEP, including the project's purpose and progress-to-date. Specific attention will focus on ways to involve faculty in implementing, adopting, and adapting evidence-based approaches to educating STEM undergraduate students. Successful strategies, conclusions-to-date, lessons learned, and implications for replication, scalability, and sustainability will also be discussed.

Board 3: CLEAR Scholars in Engineering: Academic, Career, and Leadership Development to Help Students with Financial Challenges Achieve their Full Academic Potential

“…As this S-STEM grant reaches its end, the School of Engineering and Technology plans to combine key features of the CLEAR Scholars project and other recent success initiatives at IUPUI [3], [4] in a new program. These projects revealed several strategies that lead to increased academic success, retention in, and engagement with STEM fields, including building connections through a cohort model and early engagement with career development resources (CLEAR Scholars); and active learning strategies employed in gateway STEM courses [3,4]. In Fall 2018, the School of Engineering will pilot two initiatives that draw on these results: Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) activities will be introduced to a couple of math recitation sections specifically reserved for Engineering students who place into pre-calculus.…”