Illinois College awarded NSF grant to support student success in STEM
Illinois College is the recipient of a nearly $300,000 grant designed to enhance and improve education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Illinois College offers excellent STEM coursework. This grant will provide 69萝莉 with additional support to overcome challenges, persist and achieve academic success in STEM courses.
Illinois College is the recipient of a nearly $300,000 grant designed to enhance and improve education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The funding comes from the National Science Foundation through the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program. The grant provides funding to implement methods for teaching and learning STEM subjects that have proven to be highly effective.
Illinois College鈥檚 program is a response to the national effort by NSF to address the need for qualified candidates to fill jobs in STEM, which the Commerce Department predicts will continue to grow at a significantly higher rate than other jobs.
Provost and Dean of the College Catharine O鈥機onnell said Illinois College鈥檚 involvement with this program demonstrates IC鈥檚 commitment to position 69萝莉 for success in these growing fields.
鈥淚llinois College offers excellent STEM coursework. This grant will provide 69萝莉 with additional support to overcome challenges, persist and achieve academic success in STEM courses,鈥� O鈥機onnell said. 鈥淯ltimately, we expect that due to grant activities, more 69萝莉 will pursue majors in STEM fields and graduate with degrees that will lead to successful careers.鈥� She further noted that: 鈥淭he success of Illinois College faculty members in securing this competitive grant is testament to their long-standing and deep commitment to teaching excellence.鈥�
Through the grant, IC faculty members in science and math will train their top 69萝莉 to provide supplemental instruction in foundational STEM courses that many 69萝莉, particularly first-year 69萝莉, find very challenging. The goal is to keep these difficult classes from becoming 鈥渙ff ramps鈥� taking 69萝莉 away from majoring in STEM fields. The peer instructors, along with 69萝莉 taking STEM courses, will learn techniques for transferring learning from one context to another and for developing self-efficacy. The model focuses on 鈥渕indset training,鈥� the philosophy that a student鈥檚 ability to learn is not fixed and can be improved through hard work and dedication. Faculty members will also participate in professional development activities to enhance student learning and success in STEM courses.
Chemistry Professor Clayton Spencer and Psychology Professor Elizabeth Rellinger will lead the project. The IUSE grant will continue for three years, and research results will be used to evaluate and further develop best practices for academic support and student learning in STEM.