The purpose of this work in progress study is to present a survey-based framework to evaluate the awareness of and participation in undergraduate research experiences (URE) by students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors in Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). MSIs, which include historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) and Hispanic serving institutions (HSI), recruit and admit underserved, low income, minority students in various disciplines, including STEM. While MSIs attempt to bridge educational gaps seen in these students with pre-college resources, first year mentoring, and tutoring sessions, awareness and participation in URE is not prevalent at a MSI. Participation in such activities, however, has been linked to improved career prospects and an increase in the number of students seeking graduate degrees. Past studies have also demonstrated that an initial interest in STEM does not necessarily continue throughout undergraduate education with a higher number of students requesting major changes and/or prolonging their graduation timeline. This paper proposes to identify current notions and perceptions surrounding undergraduate research of STEM students at a mid-sized MSI along the U.S. – Mexico Border. The proposed design for this study will include an online survey to identify which students are more likely to be aware of and participate in undergraduate research and which students are not. Our model will focus on remediation to increase participation in URE, retention in STEM majors, and progression towards career prospects and graduate study.
Mahmoud T. Khasawneh is as an Associate Professor of Systems Engineering at Texas A&M International University. Dr. Khasawneh got his Ph.D. in Engineering Management in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at Old Dominion University in August, 2012. He received an M.E. degree in Systems Engineering from the same department in May, 2009. He received a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) from the department of Business Administration at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at the Hashemite University, in Zarqa, Jordan, in 2007. His research interest are focused on Engineering management and systems engineering applications in healthcare, manufacturing, operations management, business, and other industries, modeling and simulation of complex systems, distributed networked operations, and Engineering Education.
John C. Kilburn Jr. is Associate Vice President for Research and Sponsored Projects and Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M International University. He has been awarded grant funds from the NSF, NIH, Department of Defense and the US Department of Education. One of his primary research interests is studying the productivity of research labs.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8805-1061
Texas A&M International University
[biography]
Jared R. Dmello, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Texas A&M International University. His work primarily focuses on collective violence, ranging from criminal street gangs to terrorist activity, and applying advanced quantitative approaches to criminological and political science research. His work has been published in top-ranked peer-reviewed journals, including Criminal Justice and Behavior, Crime & Delinquency, and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Dr. Dmello also has expertise in program evaluation, having conducted this work both in the governmental and academic sectors. He currently partners with TAMIU's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs to evaluate the institution's sub-award of the Texas A&M University System Louis Stokes STEM Pathways and Research Alliance (LSAMP) Grant.
Daphne E. Sanchez is a Program Specialist for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation at Texas A&M International University. She received her M.S in Pharmacology from Tulane School of Medicine in May, 2019. She also received her B.S.A in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin in May, 2017. Her research interest are focused on underrepresented minorities in higher education, mental health, and memory.
Alicia Segovia is a Program Specialist for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program at Texas A&M International University. She received her B.S. in Biology from Texas A&M International University on May, 2019. She is currently finishing her Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston-School of Biomedical Informatics. Her research interests include underrepresented minorities in higher education, healthcare acquired infections, unintended consequences of electronic health records, and public health surveillance.
Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.