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Explore past and current fundamental STEM education research projects across the three research areas that NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program funds, as well as across ECR funding types. Other search filters draw from both NSF's data and the ECR Hub's hand coding of award abstracts.

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Impact of Work-Based-Learning on Community College STEM Education and Careers

Effective Years: 2018-2022

Jobs for the Future is conducting a research project in collaboration with Wested that will examine the impact of STEM work-based-learning (WBL) in community colleges. The researchers will use social cognitive career theory (SCCT) as a framework and mixed-methods design to investigate research questions regarding (1) differences in student participants and motivation to participate in community college STEM work-based-learning, (2) structures of community college STEM WBL opportunities and their alignment to best practices principles in WBL, and (3) the impact of participating in community college STEM WBL on student outcomes, including certificate or associate's degree completion, persistence in STEM, and broadening participation. The underlying assumption is that WBL might serve as an antidote to negative social and cultural messages, lack of support, lack of access to on-the-job STEM learning, and other factors that influence students' decisions to remain in STEM. The study also will contribute to career counseling research through the application of the SCCT in the community college context.

Researchers will use a mixed-methods research design that involves an analysis of two cohorts (recession and post-recession) using data from the Florida Education Data System (FEDS), case studies at two Florida community colleges, and transcript data for the information technology and engineering technology students enrolled at the case study schools. The study sample is expected to include a total of 8,665 community college students with 1,500 having participated in a WBL course. Researchers will use exploratory and descriptive multivariate analysis of FEDS to answer questions about WBL participation and impact. Case studies of WBL will be conducted at two Florida community colleges to collect data about how students learn about WBL, what influences their choice to participate in WBL, how WBL influences their self-efficacy and expectations (per SCCT), and perceptions of whether WBL improves student outcomes. In addition, they will analyze extant data from the colleges to explore the impact of WBL experiences on student completion and entrance into STEM careers and four-year STEM programs of study. The interview sample for both colleges will include 60 students, six administrators, 24 faculty, and 48 employers. The researchers will use the data to test the best practice principles in WBL developed by Jobs for the Future as bench marks for community colleges. The project fills a gap in the knowledge about SCCT by applying it to WBL. It also will shed new insights about WBL in the community college STEM context.

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.