Activating stem skills and efficacy for transfer

The National Science Foundation awarded Polk State College $494,795 on October 1, 2025, under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076) to create curricular and co-curricular activities that foster student interest and success in STEM fields, with performance running through September 30, 2028.

Polk State College, in partnership with the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium Research Campus, will deliver experiential learning activities, faculty mentoring, and extracurricular opportunities designed to serve undecided community college students, students in non-STEM disciplines, and students interested in STEM careers. The project specifically targets low-income, first-generation, and online learners while ensuring full participation of students of all abilities through modifications or alternative activities where needed. Curricular components include adapted laboratory activities in introductory sciences courses, with field training conducted in professional laboratories and real-world environments. Co-curricular activities span from a priming event and STEM club engagement to a four-day field experience capstone, with students completing data analysis, final projects, and poster presentations. Throughout the project, students are paired with faculty mentors to provide guidance and learning support. Place of performance is Winter Haven, Florida.

Abstract

Recognizing that many students enroll in community colleges undecided as to their academic pathways and career interests or have plans to obtain degrees in stem, the project team intends to create an ecosystem of curricular and CO-curricular activities designed to foster and/or enhance students' interest and success in stem. The project aims to broaden opportunities in stem for its students, many who are low-income, first generation or are taking courses online by specifically addressing challenges faced by these students. Additionally, the project aims to support the full participation of students of all abilities by providing modifications or alternative activities when needed. To deepen student interest and experience, the project intends to engage students in experiential learning activities, faculty mentoring, and extra-curricular opportunities. A unique partnership between polk state college and the mote marine laboratory and aquarium research campus provides an innovative foundation for the project. The core goal of the project is to equip undecided community college students, students in other disciplines, and students interested in stem with technical skills, preparation, experience, confidence, and resources for academic and professional success in stem fields. A series of scaffolded activities foster student interest and engagement. This series is bookended by a priming event, the college's stem club and a capstone event, a four-day field experience. Introduction of experiential learning activities also include the adaptation and implementation in multiple introductory sciences courses with labs. Laboratory activities will be completed during field training in professional laboratories and real-world, earth scale environments. Coursework includes data analysis, final project completion, and a poster presentation. To provide guidance and learning opportunities, students are paired with faculty mentors. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design will be conducted, in which a qualitative component of focus groups and interviews, will substantiate the initial phase of quantitative findings, which draw on analyses of survey data, scores on established assessment instruments, and data from the institution and the florida department of education PK-20 education data warehouse. These data inform an investigation of how stem curricular and CO-curricular activities, together with programmatic interventions, influence first-year two-year college students' engagement, persistence, and progression along academic pathways leading to degree completion and transfer to baccalaureate programs. The effort is designed to advance knowledge and understanding of high impact experiential learning activities, specifically the impact of field training on academic success of community college students. The NSF iuse: innovation in two-year college stem education (ityc) program seeks to accelerate the impact of and advance knowledge about emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate stem education at two-year colleges. 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.- subawards are not planned for this award.