Research

With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Urban STEM Collaboratory project will support academically talented students with demonstrated financial need at three urban universities. The project leadership team will implement, research, evaluate, and refine a carefully planned, multifaceted program that will incorporate evidence-based best practices at the collaborating institutions alongside several innovative pedagogical and technology-enabled strategies. The Collaboratory will generate new knowledge in STEM education by investigating a variety of mechanisms for supporting a diverse set of students in an urban context in their development of a STEM identity--the lack of which is a fundamental reason students often select out of STEM majors and careers.

The project includes exploration of an extensive set of research questions examining factors influencing development of STEM identity and the resulting impact on student success, attitudes, workforce readiness, and STEM self-efficacy, with particular attention to impact on first-generation and underrepresented students.

An important outcome of the project will be the development and dissemination of a vetted, practical, sustainable, and transportable model to recruit and retain academically talented students with financial need and provide them with avenues for success in STEM studies and careers.