Research Spending & Results

• Nadia M Mills
• (340) 693-1331
• nmonros@uvi.edu

• FY 2020=$309,763

• Dawn Rickey
• (703) 292-4674
• drickey@nsf.gov

Awardee Location

Primary Place of Performance

Abstract at Time of Award

This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing undergraduate student success in STEM courses. It will do so by improving implementation of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) and implementing research to examine the effectiveness of these improvements. This project focuses on the effects of PLTL in early mathematics courses. When PLTL was implemented in a remedial mathematics course at the University of the Virgin Islands, students were able to complete the course successfully. However, less than half were successful in the subsequent course. This project will enhance the PLTL curriculum in this class to improve students’ mathematical problem-solving skills. It will also create new peer leader training modules, aimed at improving students’ non-cognitive factors, such as sense of belonging, that may contribute to student persistence and retention. Additionally, through conducting research regarding the impact of the curriculum and peer-leader training, the investigator will increase her capacity for STEM education research by building her quantitative and technical writing skills. During Year 1, this project aims to create an enhanced PLTL curriculum for the remedial mathematics course and develop an improved peer-leader training program during Year 1. In Year 2, the PI will implement the curriculum, collect data about its impact, and analyze data to determine the effectiveness of the revised PLTL curriculum and peer-leader training. The following research questions will be addressed: 1) What is the impact of an enhanced PLTL program on students’ pass rate, mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, perceptions of intelligence, sense of belonging and beliefs about mathematics? 2) What is the impact of the new training program on peer leader’s mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, perceptions of intelligence, and sense of belonging? 3) What is the impact of the peer leader training and enhanced curriculum on peer leader effectiveness and student engagement? To answer these questions, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies will be used. For questions 1 and 2, a quasi-experimental design will be implemented, and descriptive and inferential analysis methods will be used to determine significance. For question 3, qualitative research methods will be utilized to analyze audio and video recorded PLTL workshops. The PI is working with a team of three mentors who have expertise in STEM education research, qualitative and quantitative research methods, PLTL, and research evaluation. The STEM education research capacity of the PI will be enhanced through frequent virtual meetings with mentors, independent study in quantitative research in education, workshops, training in statistical software, publication preparation, networking, and opportunities to collaborate with other STEM education researchers. The PI will share the results from the project via national and local conferences, and in peer-reviewed journals. The project is supported through the EHR Core Research: Building capacity in STEM Education Research (EHR: BCSER) competition that is designed to build individuals' capacity to carry out high quality fundamental STEM education research in STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development. 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.