Teaching STEM to first generation college students: A guidebook for faculty &amp; future faculty

Amin, Syahrul

doi:10.14507/er.v28.3129

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…10,11 Additionally, college instructors are encouraged to be deliberate in sharing knowledge that FGC students may not have, such as college study skills and academic help resources. 12,13 While these efforts have demonstrated some success in closing equity gaps between FGC and CGC students, they do not address structural barriers that cause these gaps. Some studies that focus on how colleges and universities can remove structural barriers for FGC students move beyond placing the onus solely on FGC students.…”

Section: ■ Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights from an Intervention to Support First Generation College Student Success in General Chemistry Online Course

Bano,

Ibrahim,

Wrona

et al. 2024

J. Chem. Educ.

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In this study, we investigated the impact of collaborative learning practices on the academic success of first generation college (FGC) students in one section of a general chemistry course. We implemented group problem solving and group quizzes during the lecture sessions of General Chemistry 1. Our focus was on understanding how FGC students experienced this intervention and benefitted from it, beyond just its impact on their performance in the course. Employing a mixed methods approach, we collected qualitative data through semistructured student interviews as well as group problem solving video recordings and quantitative data on student performance. Our qualitative analyses highlight FGC students' overwhelming appreciation of the collaborative learning intervention for the opportunity to connect with their peers. We show that these peer relationships become crucial supports for learning by providing a safe learning space for students and thereby providing learning opportunities that may not have existed without the intervention. Our quantitative analysis shows a significant reduction in the equity gap between first generation and continuing generation college students in the intervention section, compared to the nonintervention sections of the course. A key insight from our work is the potential of relatively small changes in instructional practices within the classroom that can provide great benefits to historically marginalized student groups.

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Section: ■ Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights from an Intervention to Support First Generation College Student Success in General Chemistry Online Course

Bano,

Ibrahim,

Wrona

et al. 2024

J. Chem. Educ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, only 19.5% of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students identify as FGCS, indicating a disparity in accessibility and support for FGCSs in STEM (Eagan et al, 2014;Peña et al, 2022). FGCSs are less likely to enter college, and once enrolled are less likely to persist and earn a degree relative to continuing-generation students (Harackiewicz et al, 2014;Horowitz, 2019;Chang et al, 2020;McCallen and Johnson, 2020). Additionally, FGCSs are more likely to have overlap with social and demographic factors that limit college success relative to continuing generation peers, such as working fulltime, delaying enrollment in postsecondary education, attending college part time, commuting to college, as well as being financially independent from their family or supporting dependents (Lohfink and Paulsen, 2005;Engle, 2007;Greene et al, 2008;McCallen and Johnson, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adopting a multi-systems approach: examining the academic belongingness of first-generation college students with multiple stigmatized identities in STEM

Google,

Sekaya,

McMullen

et al. 2023

Front. Educ.

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First-generation college students often experience greater social alienation and marginalization due to a mismatch of their cultural values compared to those of their university and often report lower academic satisfaction and sense of belonging. The effects on sense of belonging and satisfaction are intensified when first-generation college students have identities that intersect with other stigmatized social and cultural identities, like low socioeconomic status, Black or Latinx racial identities or religious identities, specifically for STEM majors. Students’ holistic health and well-being, including their sense of belonging, is highly correlated to their academic achievement, persistence, and overall student success, especially for underrepresented minority groups. However, there has been limited consideration for the nuanced experiences of first-generation college students with multiple stigmatized identities, and for how the academic STEM environment shapes student’s perceptions of inclusivity considering their social identities. To address these concerns, we used the Bioecological Systems theory to contextualize drivers of sense of belonging for students with stigmatized social and cultural identities by allowing space to explicitly consider institutional, departmental, classroom and societal-level phenomena that may operate to erode or fortify belonging for some individuals over others. Findings were organized contextually first, revealing how broader societal and familial values shaped their perceptions of their first-generation identity. Next, we reported how various forms of engagement and interactions with institutional agents impacted their perceptions of support at the institutional level. We then documented behavioral patterns within STEM departments that culminated to reveal how first-generation college students’ sense of belonging was impacted by perceived departmental culture. Last, we revealed interactions within STEM classrooms that signaled inclusivity through humanizing and intentional pedagogical practices. Infused throughout all findings are instances where student experiences were mediated through their multiple identities and were shaped by dual global pandemics of 2020, that being COVID-19 and the racial unrest resurfaced by the murder of George Floyd. Implications for this work have the potential to restructure how institutions provide support for first-generation college students given the salience of their intersecting stigmatized identities in shaping their institutional, disciplinary, and classroom belonging.

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Teaching STEM to first generation college students: A guidebook for faculty & future faculty

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Insights from an Intervention to Support First Generation College Student Success in General Chemistry Online Course

Insights from an Intervention to Support First Generation College Student Success in General Chemistry Online Course

Adopting a multi-systems approach: examining the academic belongingness of first-generation college students with multiple stigmatized identities in STEM

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