BASE Project Activites
The proposed BASE project aims to better prepare selected underrepresented first-time freshman and transfer STEM students who are not college ready by fostering metacognition through culturally responsive teaching (CRT) strategies. Several explanatory definitions and frameworks exist to define and implement “culturally responsive teaching strategies.” The widely cited definition comes from the seminal work of Gloria Ladson-Billings which emphasizes culturally responsive teaching as an approach of “using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them” (Ladson-Billings, pg. 31, 1995). Previous studies have shown that CRT increases student engagement, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills and more importantly, a sense of belonging among marginalized student populations. In this student-centered approach, there are three main components: 1) students’ learning: intellectual growth, critical thinking skills and moral development; 2) cultural competence: developing positive ethnic and social identities towards students’ culture of origin; and 3) critical consciousness: ability to identify, analyze and solve real-world problems that result in social inequalities. To achieve this, we will be implementing widely accepted CRT strategies such as giving students an opportunity to share family traditions, running problem-based learning scenarios, involving parents/family to improve student support network (high percentage of first-generation students), and establishing cooperative base groups.
- Clarity on how culturally responsive pedagogy might be tailored to various intersectional populations of students, including those discussed in the Project Description.
The BASE leadership team will tailor culturally responsive pedagogy to first-time freshman and transfer STEM students who are not college ready with the goal of increasing retention and graduation. However, to be inclusive of the intersectionality exemplified by students whether it be at the local, state, or national level, we need to recognize their diverse backgrounds. TAMIU enrolls both traditional and non-traditional undergraduate students of whom 65% are low-income, 51.3% are first-generation college students, 62.6 % identify as part-time college female students, 37.4% are part-time college male students, and an average of 4% are international students. Thirty participants will be recruited through applications, surveys, and interviews giving the BASE team an opportunity to get to know each student: specifically, their personal goals, learning styles, and challenges. Students will be placed into a community of practice supported by mathematics and science faculty who will themselves participate in professional development on culturally responsive teaching practices to nurture students’ aspirations via participation in mentoring and metacognitive strategies using the participants’ community cultural capital. The concept of community cultural capital is defined by Yosso (2005) as an array of cultural knowledge, skills and resources possessed and utilized by communities of color to navigate unfamiliar social institutions. Some examples of cultural knowledge, skills and resources are family stories, anecdotes parables, personal chronicles, and scenarios.
- Faculty preparation to utilize culturally responsive approaches in their courses across the project.
The Project leadership team will holistically assess students by implementing the Mathematics Resilience Scale (MRS) to determine their math and science self-efficacy and the Metacognitive Awareness Skills Inventory (Flavell, 1979) to create personalized college success plans focused on building their mathematics and science readiness. The results of both, plus data on students’ sense of belonging to the university community via an open-ended questionnaire and focus group meetings, will be collected and analyzed. The resulting information will inform professional development sessions for faculty teaching participating students. Development activities include:
i) Informal mentoring support through a TAMIU STEM faculty advisory group: experienced STEM faculty will meet with the faculty involved in the BASE project to identify TAMIU-specific problems in first-time freshman and transfer STEM students.
