STEM and Branches: Update on the Columbus State University STEM-II Initiative

Two USG STEM Initiative awards to Columbus State University have spawned the growth of several STEM and STEM education programs and nearly $2.6 million in grants. We provide an update on STEM-II Initiative projects including a peer leader program for core math and science courses, a faculty mini-grants program to promote scholarship on teaching and learning and awareness of best practices models, and a service learning course. The infrastructure that emerged through the first STEM Initiative and continued to develop with the STEM-II Initiative paved the way for a$1.4 million UTeach replication grant and a $1.2 million Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant. We describe key developments in these two programs designed to recruit and prepare more STEM teachers

Outgrowths of USG STEM Initiatives: Service Learning Courses and a STEM Honors Camp

We examine two programs that have developed out of USG STEM Initiative projects. With the first STEM Initiative, Columbus State University initiated an Academy of Future Teachers that has led to an expanded STEM Honors Camp for recruiting university students into high school teaching and heightening high school students’ interests in STEM careers. With STEM Initiative II, Columbus State launched a Project FOCUS replication that contributed to the establishment of the UTeach Columbus program for preparing high school STEM teachers

Developing a STEM Teacher Recruitment Pipeline

The Columbus Region Academy of Future Teachers of STEM (CRAFT-STEM), a Phase I Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, combines internships and scholarships, an exciting summer STEM Honors Camp, a new Teaching Connections Seminar, and an impressive array of existing resources to recruit, prepare, and graduate an increasing number of STEM teachers committed to serving high need high schools

The Effect of Peer Leader Instruction on Introductory University Science and Mathematics Course Performance: Preliminary Results

The Peer Instruction Leader (PIL) program at Columbus State University pairs courses having historically low success rates with dedicated peer helpers in an attempt to boost student learning and success. PILs are selected from undergraduate students who have demonstrated success in the targeted subject. They attend classes, meet with the assigned instructor periodically, participate in PIL training, and manage course focused discussion groups. The authors analyze data collected in the early stages of the program, which shows that students who attended the discussion groups fared better than those who did not

Lessons Learned in an Internship Program to Recruit Pre-service Teachers

The Columbus Region Academy of Future Teachers of STEM (CRAFT-STEM) utilizes an internship program for university freshmen and sophomores and a STEM camp for pre-college students to encourage the interns to consider careers in teaching. Interns assist with camp activities and other projects, supported by funding from the National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (award #1136356). As part of an ongoing research project, we examine four years’ worth of data to identify strengths and weaknesses of the experience, and propose adaptations based on these findings

The Influence of the CSU Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program on Undergraduates\u27 Teaching Plans

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program offers academic and financial support for students pursuing secondary teaching certificates in STEM fields. In return, students commit to teaching in high-need K-12 school districts. The Noyce Program has had uneven results in increasing the number of teachers in high needs schools. Large scale studies of its impact indicate the program is not likely to influence decisions to teach but may persuade participants to initially teach in high needs schools. To better understand the influence of the Noyce Program, we offer case studies of two Noyce scholarship recipients at different stages: (1) a former scholarship recipient who has graduated and is currently teaching, and (2) a second-year recipient who is currently pursuing a teaching certificate. This qualitative analysis provides insights that may have implications for optimizing scholarship programs for recruiting and retaining highly qualified STEM teachers

Creation of ultracold molecules from a Fermi gas of atoms

Since the realization of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) in atomic gases an experimental challenge has been the production of molecular gases in the quantum regime. A promising approach is to create the molecular gas directly from an ultracold atomic gas; for example, atoms in a BEC have been coupled to electronic ground-state molecules through photoassociation as well as through a magnetic-field Feshbach resonance. The availability of atomic Fermi gases provides the exciting prospect of coupling fermionic atoms to bosonic molecules, and thus altering the quantum statistics of the system. This Fermi-Bose coupling is closely related to the pairing mechanism for a novel fermionic superfluid proposed to occur near a Feshbach resonance. Here we report the creation and quantitative characterization of exotic, ultracold $^{40}$K$_2$ molecules. Starting with a quantum degenerate Fermi gas of atoms at T < 150 nanoKelvin we scan over a Feshbach resonance to adiabatically create over a quarter million trapped molecules, which we can convert back to atoms by reversing the scan. The small binding energy of the molecules is controlled by detuning from the Feshbach resonance and can be varied over a wide range. We directly detect these weakly bound molecules through rf photodissociation spectra that probe the molecular wavefunction and yield binding energies that are consistent with theory

Honors Contracts: A Scaffolding to Independent Inquiry

Honors contracts can be valuable curricular assets if aligned with institutional goals and properly supported to overcome the challenges they sometimes present. At Columbus State University (CSU), honors contracts allow students to achieve one of our primary learning outcomes: honors graduates will demonstrate the ability to design independent inquiry projects that require critical and creative thinking. We believe graduate schools value this ability, and we know that employers in our community seek honors graduates who can work independently on extended projects, communicate effectively, and solve problems analytically and creatively. We achieve this important learning outcome by requiring a senior project or thesis and use honors contracts as a tool to develop students’ research skills, connect their academics with personal goals, and help them to grow as professionals in their fields. With adequate planning and structured assessments, honors contracts can be a valuable part of the honors curriculum and an efficient strategy for maximizing limited resources. At CSU, honors contracts have evolved from an economic necessity that replaced upper-division honors offerings to an essential component of our curriculum that provides fundamentally different educational experiences than traditional honors courses

The Influence of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program on Undergraduates\u27 Teaching Plans

The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program offers academic and financial support for students pursuing secondary teaching certificates in STEM fields. In return, students commit to teaching in high-need K-12 school districts. In this completed research study, we examined factors that influence Noyce Scholars in their decisions about STEM as a major and teaching as a possible career. Through a thematic analysis of nine scholarship applications and a questionnaire, two participants at different stages in the program were selected to participate in a case study: (1) a former scholarship recipient who had graduated and was teaching, and (2) a second-year recipient enrolled in a teacher preparation program. Data were collected from these two participants through scholarship applications, questionnaires and a 45-minute interview. Findings indicated that informal or formal teaching experiences and socialization influences were highly motivating factors in participants’ decision to major in a STEM field and to pursue teaching as a career. The Noyce Scholarship was not a major factor in their decision to teach. These findings may have implications for optimizing scholarship programs to strengthen recruitment and retention in STEM teaching careers

Comparison of Success Rates for Peer Instruction and Drop In Tutoring

Many post-secondary institutions are interested in gathering data to demonstrate the effectiveness of various interventions to support student learning in STEM. Columbus State University has implemented for several years both a drop-in tutoring center for introductory math and science courses, as well as a Peer Instruction program that has trained students to work more closely in supporting an individual course. While doing so, ongoing data regarding student usage of both support systems has been gathered in an effort to determine the efficacy of these programs. We have analyzed the data, and will present a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of these two programs in improving productive grade rates in these courses