AID DCL: Integrating Project-and-Place-Based Research Experiences to Increase Persistence in STEM Undergraduate Students

About This Grant

This Level 2 Engaged Student Learning project, Integrating Project-and-Place Based Research Experiences into General Education Courses to Increase Persistence (PERSIST) 2, aims to serve the national interest by improving the development of research skills and positive attitudes toward science in undergraduate biology and chemistry majors through active learning experiences. Through prior research conducted at Morningside University as part of the PERSIST program, investigators demonstrated that project-based learning (PBL) positively impacted the development of incoming biology and chemistry majors. In particular, these students demonstrated more positive attitudes toward science, better research skills, and a higher level of retention when compared to a control group. As a result, Morningside plans to offer another iteration of this project--PERSIST 2--to an expanded participant pool, making it available to all incoming biology and chemistry majors. The investigators hypothesize that the “learning by doing” core of PERSIST 2 may benefit all students at this early stage of development. PERSIST 2 will be a modified, enhanced version of the original PERSIST program, based on lessons learned from the first iteration. Specifically, a more compact PBL-intensive course sequence will be implemented (two semesters instead of three), allowing for multiple student cohorts, and we will offer an additional experience combining PBL with service and place-based learning. Building on the success of the NSF-funded PERSIST project (2021–2023), which improved STEM persistence and student development among biology and chemistry majors, Morningside University proposes a revised version, PERSIST 2. This new project will: (1) expand participation to all undergraduate biology and chemistry majors, increasing student impact and enabling more robust evaluation of pedagogical interventions; (2) introduce a new service-learning short course; (3) engage a broader group of STEM faculty; (4) train and mentor a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow; and (5) disseminate project innovations through publications, presentations, and workshops. These expansions build a more widely applicable model of STEM undergraduate engagement in project-based and service learning to improve success for all students. Researchers plan to use mixed methodology to assess the overall effectiveness of the PERSIST 2 model and advance the overall understanding of the effects of dedicated active learning experiences in the development of STEM college students. The NSF IUSE:EDU Program supports research development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This project is jointly funded by IUSE:EDU, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). 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.