Hispanic Serving Institutions as Catalysts for Belonging and Community in STEM Education
Presented by:
Pamela Medina, California State University San Bernardino
Miranda McIntyre, California State University San Bernardino
Ana Ni, California State University San Bernardino
Donna Garcia, California State University San Bernardino
Abstract:
Existing literature posits that learning is a social endeavor, and that a sense of belonging underlies a number of positive academic outcomes. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, course offerings have increasingly moved online, raising the question of how belonging manifests in the online setting. Within this space, Hispanic Serving Institutions are noted as catalysts for belonging. Guided by the literature in social constructivism, this study explores the sense of belonging and community of STEM students, specifically taking online courses, at a mid-size HSIs in a large metropolitan area.
Keywords:
Online Learning, STEM, Belonging and Community
Outcomes:
Analyze contributions to belonging and community in online courses.
Summarize the role of HSIs in fostering learning among STEM students.
Adapt best practices for teaching to the online space.
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Audio Transcript:
Hispanic Serving Institutions as Catalysts for Community & Belonging in STEM Education presented by Pamela Medina, Miranda McIntyre, Ana Ni, and Donna Garcia from California State University San Bernardino.
Online learning environments struggle to maintain a high sense of belonging, particularly among under-represented students in Science Engineering Technology and Math Fields. Where women and under-represented ethnic and racial minority, or URM students and first-generation students tend to struggle. Hispanic Serving Institutions, or HSI’s, present an opportunity to increase belonging, retention, and overall success of Latinx students. In this study, we survey 704 students in STEM at an HSI to better understand their sense of inclusion, experiences in the online classroom, and overall sense of belonging and community. Findings indicate that URM, women, and first-generation students tend to report a higher sense of belonging and community in online classes at the surveyed HSI, and that HSIs can contribute to a higher sense of belonging by meeting and suiting individual student preferences, ensuring high quality teaching, understanding and encouraging individual drive, acknowledging and adjusting to various educational backgrounds, and providing instructor support for learning.
References:
Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Advancing Research and Transformative Practice, edited by Anne-Marie Nunez, et al., Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csusb/detail.action?docID=1974401. Moss, D. L., Bertolone-Smith, C. M., Boyce, S., MacDonald, B. L., Grabhorn, J. A., & Roman, C. (2023). Tension between Objectivism and Constructivism in Organizing and Enacting Student Learning in Online STEM Education. The Educational Forum (West Lafayette, Ind.), 87(2), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2022.2149913 Anderman, E. M. (2002). School effects on psychological outcomes during adolescence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 795-808. Goodenow, C. (1992). Strengthening the links between educational psychology and the study of social contexts. Educational Psychologist, 27, 177-196.