HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Using Peer-Enhanced Blockchain-Based Learning Environments to Promote Student Engagement and Retention

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to increase the sense of belonging, retention, and research participation of Hispanic and other students historically underrepresented in STEM by revising the traditional lecture format of Introduction to Psychology (PSY100), the largest introductory STEM-focused course in this institution. Black and Hispanic students that enroll in PSY100 at the College of Staten Island drop or fail this course at a higher rate compared with that of White and Asian students. Peer-led team learning (PLTL) approaches have been shown to reduce equity gaps in STEM courses but are not typically amenable to large-format lecture courses such as PSY100. This project will leverage technological advances in blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to: 1) adapt the PLTL model to a large lecture course, and 2) show students, in real-time, how the work they do for course requirements translates to real-world employment-related skills. These peer-enhanced blockchain-based learning environments (PEBBLEs) are expected to reduce equity gaps and remove barriers to student retention and graduation. This project will recruit peer-leaders, customize a student-focused application for skills mapping, and implement PEBBLEs in multiple sections of PSY100, with enrollment of over 1000 students across two HSIs in the City University of New York. This project is expected to lead to a significant decrease in the number of students who drop or fail this course, compared to students in the traditional format course. Expected outcomes of this project also include decreased attrition, increased research participation, and higher graduation rates of students who participate as peer-leaders, compared to other psychology majors. Finally, consistent with peer learning implementation in other STEM-focused courses, the most pronounced improvements are expected to be among Black and Hispanic students. The project aims to develop a "PEBBLE in a box" solution that can be easily adapted by other disciplines and other institutions. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. 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.