ImprovingSTEMRetentionwithanOnlineCommunityofPractice

LisaB.Elliot,Ph.D.RochesterInstituteofTechnology,NationalTechnicalInstitutefor

theDeafAAC&USTEMConference,SanFranciscoCA

November3,2017

ForYourConsideration

Doyouhavestudentswhoare:

• UnderpreparedforSTEMcoursework?

• Underrepresentedandisolated(STEM-wise)?

• SeekingrolemodelswhoareSTEMprofessionals?

• Lookingforconnectionsbetweencoursecontentand“realworld”topics?

• Interestedinpursuinginternships,researchopportunities,orSTEM-relatedjobs?

Overview

• Whoweare

• Rationalefortheproject

• Describetheonlinecommunityinfrastructure

• Tutoring,mentoring,andSTEMdisseminationactivities

• Trackingengagement

• Q&A

WhoWeAre

• DeafSTEMCommunityAlliance

• OnlyAlliancespecificallyforD/HHstudents

• SupportedbytheNationalScienceFoundation,HRD#1127955

• Ongoingproject(startedSept2011)

• Nowinour7th year

CampusPartners

RITistheleadinstitutionforthisproject,withCamdenCountyCollegeandCornellUniversityaspartners.

TheNarrowSTEMPipeline

BarrierstoSuccessinSTEMPrior toPostsecondaryEducation

LowerEnrollmentinSTEMMajors

28%Bachelor’sDegree/20%Associate’sDegree

LowerRetention– Within6Years:48%leaveBachelor’s/69%leaveAssociate’s

LowerGraduation RatesatAllDegreeLevels13.4%Bachelor’sDegrees/13.8%Associate’sDegrees

FewerSTEMProfessionalsChen&Soldner,2013

DHHVACModelBarriers&Strategies

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StudentPreparation

Socialization AccessibleMedia

RemoteTutoringRemoteMentoring

UsingG+HangoutsorZoom

RemoteMentoringPeer-to-PeerInteraction

UsingG+PrivateCommunity&FacebookSecretGroups

AccessibleSTEMInformation

UsingWebsite,YouTube,G+PrivateCommunity,FacebookSecretGroup

&G+PublicPage

GoalandObjectives

• Goal:Createamodel virtualacademiccommunitytoincreasethegraduationratesofpostsecondaryD/HHSTEMmajorsinthelongterm• Iterativeandincremental(Cockburn,2008)

• Iterative– testingwhatworksandrevisingwhatdoesn’t• Incremental– buildingmodelinstagesinsteadofallatonce

• Objectives1)DocumentanddisseminateadescriptionoftheprocessofcreatingamodelVACforreplication

2)IncreasetheGPAsandretentionratesofD/HHstudentsinSTEMmajors

ImportanceofSocialNetworks

• Opinion&behaviormoresimilarwithingroups(Burt,2004)• Regulatorsofbehavior(Easly &Kleinberg,2010)

ImportanceofSocialNetworks

• Resourceforsocialcapital(Burt,2004)

• Resourceforinnovation(Burt,2004)

ModelInfrastructure

GSuiteforEducation(Enterprise)Account&

FacebookSecretGroup

(@dhhvac.org)

Website(www.dhhvac.org)

Deaf& HardofHearingVirtual

AcademicCommunity(DHHVAC)

YouTubeVideoLibrary

(www.youtube.com/user/dhhvac)

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OnlineTutoring• FAQs:

• Morethan160sessionswith~35differentstudents

• Avg.60minutesessions• GoogleHangoutsorZoom

• Benefits:• Betteraccommodationofstudentschedules• Easytosharedocuments• Goodforobservingstudenthomework,

watchingformistakes,providingfasterfeedback• Goodforclasseswithheavyonlinecomponent

• Challenges:• Schedulingappointments• StrongInternetconnection• Technology(e.g.,camera,tablet,etc.)

(Mostly)OnlineMentoring

• FAQs:• 18DHHSTEMprofessionals• One-to-one(email,videoorFaceTime)• One-to-many(socialmedia,YouTubevideos)

• Benefits:• Support• Careerdevelopment(academic/vocational)• Personaldevelopment• Rolemodeling• Individual(intergenerationalcontinuity,newcolleagues,futurecollaborators)

• Institution(alumniengagement,increasedstudentsuccess)

SocialMediaPlatforms

2012 2015• FAQs:

• G+,allmembers• FB,about2/3• M-Fpostings(STEM,opportunities,member

news)• Benefits:

• Mitigatessocialisolation• Intergenerationalcommunity(socialcapital)• AwarenessofSTEMinformation• Languagemodeling

• Challenges:• Documentingengagement

StudentSuccesses

• 61studentsenrolled

• 25graduated

• 7leftpriortograduation

Conclusions

• Underrepresentedpopulationsbenefitfrompositiverolemodels

• Studentscanbenefitfromeitherdirectorindirectmentoring

• IntergenerationalcooperationandsupportcanfurtherBOTHpersonal

andinstitutionalobjectives

• TheDHHVACisamodelthatattemptstoimplementthissolution

ContactInformation

DeafSTEMCommunityAlliancehttp://www.dhhvac.org

OR

lisa.elliot@rit.edu

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Statistics,InstituteofEducationSciences,U.S.DepartmentofEducation,Washington,DC.

Cockburn,A.(2008).Usingbothincrementalanditerativedevelopment.Crosstalk:TheJournalofDefenseSoftwareEngineering,(May2008),27-30.

Dawson,P.(2014).Beyondadefinition:Towardaframeworkfordesigningandspecifyingmentoringmodels.Educationalresearcher,43,137-145.

Ensher,E.,Heun,C.,&Blanchard,A.(2003).Onlinementoringandcomputer-mediatedcommunication:Newdirectionsinresearch.Journalofvocationalbehavior,63, 264-268.

Ensher,E.,Thomas,C.,&Murphy,S.(2001).Comparisonoftraditional,step-ahead,andpeermentoringonProtégés’support,satisfaction,andperceptionsofcareersuccess:Asocialexchangeperspective.Journalofbusinessandpsychology,15,419-438.

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774.

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NTID(2015).NationalTechnicalInstitutefortheDeaf:Annualreport.Rochester,NY:RochesterInstituteofTechnology

Shpigelman,C.,Weiss,T.,Reiter,S.(2009).E-mentoringforall.Computersinhumanbehavior,25,919-928.

Single,P.B.,&Single,R.M.(2005).E-mentoringforsocialequity:Reviewofresearchtoinformprogramdevelopment.Mentoring&Tutoring,13(2),301-320.

Williams,S.,Sunderman,J.,&Kim,J.(2012).E-mentoringinanonlinecourse:Benefitsandchallengestoe-mentors.InternationalJournalofEvidenceBasedCoachingandMentoring,10(1),109-123.