Strengthening Rural STEM Education: A Framework for Increasing Student Success

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Institutional Transformation project aims to develop and implement a comprehensive model for transforming STEM education at a rural institution serving local communities. The project will address academic achievement gaps in STEM fields at both institutional and student levels. This work is especially timely as rural, community-based institutions face unique challenges in retaining STEM students, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on college-level preparedness. The project will transform institutional practice through structured dialogue between leadership and STEM stakeholders, professional development for administrators, and increased leadership engagement in student-centered STEM events. Through this dual approach of institutional transformation and evidence-based teaching practices, the project will contribute new understanding of how community-based institutions can effectively support all students while preparing them for the global STEM workforce. Through innovative programming and teaching practices, this work will create a model for other institutions across the United States to follow. The project will pursue two complementary objectives: i) enhancing institutional leadership’s engagement in STEM programs to transform student support networks, and ii) developing innovative experiential learning opportunities across STEM disciplines. Two primary research questions will guide this work: how backgrounds and experiences found in community-based institutions influence STEM outcomes, and what knowledge transfer approaches effectively help students fully engage in STEM programs and opportunities across varied educational contexts. The project will employ multiple research methods including Photovoice documentation, reflective student journaling, traditional storytelling approaches during research fellowships, and semi-structured interviews with institutional leaders. Specific interventions include Undergraduate Research Fellowships fostering mentored research experiences and the global interconnectedness of STEM, and comprehensive academic support systems with early intervention strategies. The project will advance the field by generating new knowledge about institutional transformation in rural higher education settings, particularly regarding the relationship between institutional STEM programs or practices and student success. Expected broader impacts include developing a model for mutual exchange between institutional leadership and students that can inform STEM policy development at other institutions, creating a guide for building community-based programs that benefit both students and their surrounding communities in both regional and international settings, and increasing the number of STEM graduates prepared for the workforce. Results will be disseminated through publications in undergraduate education journals, conference presentations, and through the NSF HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs. 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.