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Advancing Excellence and Equity in Science: A curriculum to build community and belonging in STEM

Emily Borda, Dustin Van Orman, Dan Hanley

Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

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Advancing Excellence and Equity in Science (AEES)

Funded through HHMI’s Inclusive Excellence program
HHMI’s overall goal is to enhance the numbers and inclusion of underrepresented students in the natural sciences.
AEES is currently nearing the end of it’s 6th of 7 years.

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Advancing Equity and Excellence in Science (AEES)

Project Goals

Improved student success in STEM courses
More diverse students with STEM degrees and/or career intentions
Sustainable climate for continuous improvement
Adaptable model for institutional transformation

Project Activities

Professional development for faculty in inclusive, student-centered teaching and learning
Professional development for teaching assistants in inclusive, student-centered teaching and learning
Policy review and revision
Restructured coursework for entering students (Two-quarter seminar sequence, Math for the Natural Sciences, special section of English 101)
Faculty mentoring of students in seminars

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Advancing Equity and Excellence in Science (AEES)

Project Goals

Improved student success in STEM courses
More diverse students with STEM degrees and/or career intentions
Sustainable climate for continuous improvement
Adaptable model for institutional transformation

Project Activities

Professional development for faculty in inclusive, student-centered teaching and learning
Professional development for teaching assistants in inclusive, student-centered teaching and learning
Policy review and revision
Restructured coursework for entering students (Two-quarter seminar sequence, Math for the Natural Sciences, special section of English 101)
Faculty mentoring of students in seminars

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AEES Seminars

Learning about learning
Learning about science
Learning about DEI issues in science
Mentoring from faculty and near peers

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Research Questions

What is the impact of the AEES program on students’ perceptions of their science identity, motivation, and sense of belongingness?

To what extent are science identity, motivation, and sense of belongingness predictive of academic outcomes?

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AEES Seminars

Students invited to the AEES program:

First Year OR Transfer AND:
Science interest AND:
Underrepresented minority
First generation
Women

Accepted invitation

OR

Did not accept invitation

Comparison

Group

FY Section 1

(Biol, premed)

(Max 24)

FY Section 2 (Chem, Phys)

(Max 24)

FY Section 3

(Geol, Marine Sci)

(Max 24)

Transfer Section

(Mixed)

(Max 24)

Added Y2 (2018)

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Participants

STEM-interested students experiencing their first year at WWU (2017-2019)

	AEES	Non-AEES	Total
N	208	115	323
% Female	74.5	76.8	74.6
% White	49.0	60.9	53.1
% Transfer	27.9	22.6	25.9

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Results for RQ1: Impact of AEES vs. non-AEES

Science identity

No differences between AEES and non-AEES groups.

Dustin

To understand the impact of the AEES program on students’ perceptions of their science identity, motivations, sense of belongingness, we conducted a series of analyses.

For science identity, controlling for students initial ratings, we did not find differences between AEES and non-AEES students. This may be as a result of students coming into Western Washington University with a strong sense of science identity- they knew they wanted to become a scientist.

For science motivation, we also didn’t find differences between AEES and non-AEES students, but we did find that, on the whole, AEES transfer students were more goal oriented than non-AEES transfer students meaning that these students’ personal goals and long-term motivation were aligned with a desire to study science, but the opposite was true for first year students- AEES first year students were less goal-oriented toward science than non-AEES first year students. Again, for science motivation, we may not have detected a difference between AEES and typical Western students because students came with already high motivation levels for studying science.

Finally, we found that AEES students perceived more comfort in the classroom and greater belongingness to the Western Washington University campus community. Further we found that first year students perceived greater peer support than transfer students. This may be an unsurprising finding given that first year students typically live on campus.

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Results for RQ1: Impact of AEES vs. non-AEES

Science identity

No differences between AEES and non-AEES groups.

Science Motivation

No differences between AEES and non-AEES groups.
AEES transfer students had higher science goal orientation than non-AEES transfers, but the opposite for first year students.

Dustin

To understand the impact of the AEES program on students’ perceptions of their science identity, motivations, sense of belongingness, we conducted a series of analyses.

For science identity, controlling for students initial ratings, we did not find differences between AEES and non-AEES students. This may be as a result of students coming into Western Washington University with a strong sense of science identity- they knew they wanted to become a scientist.

For science motivation, we also didn’t find differences between AEES and non-AEES students, but we did find that, on the whole, AEES transfer students were more goal oriented than non-AEES transfer students meaning that these students’ personal goals and long-term motivation were aligned with a desire to study science, but the opposite was true for first year students- AEES first year students were less goal-oriented toward science than non-AEES first year students. Again, for science motivation, we may not have detected a difference between AEES and typical Western students because students came with already high motivation levels for studying science.

Finally, we found that AEES students perceived more comfort in the classroom and greater belongingness to the Western Washington University campus community. Further we found that first year students perceived greater peer support than transfer students. This may be an unsurprising finding given that first year students typically live on campus.

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Results for RQ1: Impact of AEES vs. non-AEES

Science identity

No differences between AEES and non-AEES groups.

Science Motivation

No differences between AEES and non-AEES groups.
AEES transfer students had higher science goal orientation than non-AEES transfers, but the opposite for first year students.

Belongingness to STEM

AEES students perceived greater classroom comfort.
First year students perceived greater peer support overall.

Belongingness at WWU

AEES students reported greater belongingness at WWU.

Dustin

To understand the impact of the AEES program on students’ perceptions of their science identity, motivations, sense of belongingness, we conducted a series of analyses.

For science identity, controlling for students initial ratings, we did not find differences between AEES and non-AEES students. This may be as a result of students coming into Western Washington University with a strong sense of science identity- they knew they wanted to become a scientist.

For science motivation, we also didn’t find differences between AEES and non-AEES students, but we did find that, on the whole, AEES transfer students were more goal oriented than non-AEES transfer students meaning that these students’ personal goals and long-term motivation were aligned with a desire to study science, but the opposite was true for first year students- AEES first year students were less goal-oriented toward science than non-AEES first year students. Again, for science motivation, we may not have detected a difference between AEES and typical Western students because students came with already high motivation levels for studying science.

Finally, we found that AEES students perceived more comfort in the classroom and greater belongingness to the Western Washington University campus community. Further we found that first year students perceived greater peer support than transfer students. This may be an unsurprising finding given that first year students typically live on campus.

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Results for RQ2: Predicting Success

Science identity and various aspects of motivation were not predictive of ultimate academic outcomes– persistence in STEM majors, graduation, or GPA.

Less intrinsically motivated students tended to change majors after their initial year at WWU, but these were most often to another STEM major.
The lack of significant findings may have been as a result of ceiling effects on the measures.

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Results for RQ2: Predicting Success

Science identity and various aspects of motivation were not predictive of ultimate academic outcomes– persistence in STEM majors, graduation, or GPA.

Less intrinsically motivated students tended to change majors after their initial year at WWU, but these were most often to another STEM major.
The lack of significant findings may have been as a result of ceiling effects on the measures.

Students’ sense of belongingness to WWU at the end of their first year positively predicted both STEM and overall GPA.

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I like making connections with faculty members, it makes me feel less intimidated of the STEM field because now I know many professors here.

I benefited from the in depth analysis of graphs and scientific articles. I know that will help me in my future, in fact, it already has for this year. . .I loved that the class felt like a safe space for students to share their thoughts, and always empowered us to succeed in science.

I had a really hard time meeting people and making friends when I first got to campus, so the AEES program really allowed me to have sort of this instant community.

Some feedback from AEES Students

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Implications

Belongingness is a central factor in college success

Programs with cohort designs may lead to greater belongingness.
Explicit attention within courses to equity and inclusion may contribute to belongingness.

At WWU, science-interested students tend to come in with strong science identity and science motivations.

There is an opportunity for seminar instruction to leverage these traits.

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Questions?

Emily Borda: bordae@wwu.edu

Dustin Van Orman: vanormd2@wwu.edu

Dan Hanley: hanleyd@wwu.edu

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Next Steps

Examining the effects of mentoring on students and peer mentors.

How do peer mentors impact AEES students’ science identity, motivation, and sense of belongingness to STEM and WWU?
What is the impact of the peer mentoring experience on the peer mentors?

Longitudinal, mixed-methods study of AEES impacts with cohorts 1-6.

What is the impact of AEES participation on students’ measured outcomes long term?

Are there changes in students’ science identity, motivation, and sense of belongingness in STEM and WWU long term?

How did instructors adapt their curricular decisions, instructional and mentoring practices over iterative terms of the AEES seminar course?
What key barriers, supports, critical junctures and decisions did AEES students encounter during their path toward their program/degrees?
At the departmental level, in what ways are inclusive and student-centered teaching supported or constrained?

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Interactions: Science Identity

Transfer students had higher science identification than first-year students.

Cohort two transfer students identified less with science than first-year students.

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Interactions: Science Motivations

In non-AEES cohort one and two, freshman students averaged higher self-determination and intrinsic motivation than transfer students, but the opposite is true in corresponding AEES cohorts.

Non-AEES cohort three transfer students averaged greater self-determination and intrinsic motivation than freshman, but their AEES counterparts had an inverse relationship.

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Interactions: Belonging

Freshman students perceived greater peer support, classroom comfort, and less insolation than transfer students, with the exception of AEES cohort three students where the opposite was true.
Cohort three AEES students reported greater belongingness to WWU than did the other cohorts.