From gatekeeping to gateways: NSF project focuses on making STEM curriculum more accessible

In recent years, efforts nationwide have made great strides attracting prospective college students to the STEM disciplines. Those recruitment efforts translate into students who are excited about the promise and potential of STEM, leading them to enroll in science, engineering and math-related majors at UNM and thousands of other institutions.

However, once they arrive on campus and dive into their course of study, many students quickly become discouraged navigating prerequisite courses before they become eligible to enroll in courses more specifically related to their major. This can lead some students to switch majors - or drop out of college altogether.

To address this issue, a cross-disciplinary research team at The University of New Mexico has been awarded a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation to look at ways to reduce STEM barriers without impacting the rigor of these majors.

"Scaling and Sustaining Effective Practices to Drive Institutional Transformation" began Oct. 1 and continues through Sept. 30, 2030. Pamela Cheek, vice provost for student success, is the principal investigator. Co-principal investigators are Shuang Luan, associate dean for academic affairs and community engagement in the School of Engineering; and Peter Fawcett, associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences.

"We want to turn what are known as 'gatekeeping' courses into a gateway."

- Pamela Cheek, vice provost for student success

Many UNM faculty have integrated applied research opportunities into introductory courses and have designed projects that build on the knowledge and experiences that students bring to UNM. They have also helped students identify connections between skills learned in class and their broader goals and designed welcoming learning environments. This grant builds on UNM's successes.

"How can we get students involved in their degree programs as they complete pre-requisites? Drawing on past research, this is what this team will be looking at," Cheek said.

A lot of the efforts will be focused on how STEM curriculum is designed. The team will be taking a hard look at curriculum with a focus on making sure undergraduates have early access to courses that engage them.

"We want to turn what are known as 'gatekeeping' courses into a gateway," Cheek said.

The project will strengthen degree pathways that hold STEM students' interest through so-called "curricular safety nets" that improve completion rates. At UNM, data shows that less than half of those who enroll in a STEM-related major end up earning a bachelor's degree in that field within four years. The project will also encourage evidence-based teaching practices and bring university resources, such as peer tutoring and wellness programming, directly to the classroom.

"This is about taking some of the burden off of faculty, providing them with resources, and recognizing their achievement," Cheek said.

Although this grant is a new effort, it brings together many years' worth of projects that examined STEM curriculum that were successful at UNM, including grants led by Vanessa Svihla and Eva Chi (NSF-funded Formation of Accomplished Chemical Engineers for Transforming Society, or FACETS, project); Tim Schroeder (NSF-funded Expanding Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences); and Cheek and Sushilla Knottenbelt (The Urban-Serving Universities sponsored Student Experience Project). Like those projects, this one will look at ways of improving student experiences of learning.

"If you can identify how a subject connects to an issue that you care about and you feel that your university is designed to help you learn, you can start acquiring building-block skills," Cheek said.

The grant work draws inspiration from national reports on change in higher education. The Boyer 2030 Commission Report, published by the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities, prioritizes undergraduate education at America's leading research universities. It argues that excellent and accessible undergraduate education is a crucial mission of public universities in serving the public good. Such reports agree that university-supported collaborations on solutions are necessary to achieve equitable and effective undergraduate STEM education.

Although this NSF-funded project is focused on STEM, the broader task of learning how best to support faculty in teaching undergraduates will provide UNM with takeaways well beyond it, Cheek said.