Discipline: Mathematics & Statistics
Subcategory: STEM Science and Mathematics Education
Qingxia Li - Fisk University
Co-Author(s): Thomas Gross, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY; Patricia McCarroll, Fisk University, Nashville, TN
Low participation and retention of African-American STEM students in remains a prevalent. However, integrated approaches have increased participation and retention in STEM programs. We created an intrusive Learning Community (LC) based on the Performance Pyramid Model that included peer-led weekly sessions to reinforce biology course content and connect biology with mathematics concepts through interdisciplinary projects. We compared LC students to separate biology and mathematics control groups on pre-post biology and mathematic quizzes, respectively. We compared all groups on post-test assessments of Performance Pyramid supports and student perceptions. The LC group had greater improvements on biology quiz scores than the biology control group (2= .19). The LC group reported higher rates of feedback compared to both control groups (d = .79 to .81), and greater confidence (d = .62) and science knowledge (d = .72) compared to the math control group. Implications for applying this model will be discussed.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): The authors would like to thank the support from NSF-HBCU-UP-BPR with grant number 1719262.
Faculty Advisor: None Listed,
NSF Affiliation: HBCU-UP