Board 209: Adaptive Expertise: A Potential Tool for Supporting S-STEM Student Retention and Graduation

Alexander John De Rosa, Ashley Lytle, Maxine Fontaine, Frank T. Fisher

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

The ADAPT program theorizes that an S-STEM cohort experience, grounded in the concept of Adaptive Expertise will be effective at increasing the retention and graduation rates of our academically talented low-income students. The research elements of the ADAPT program are driven by the following research question: Can leveraging Adaptive Expertise through our targeted cohort and mentoring activities increase the retention and graduation rates for low-income students? In order to address this research question, both preliminary and early work in the ADAPT program has sought to establish baseline data concerning the levels of Adaptive Expertise (AE) that are displayed by various student populations using a previously validated survey instrument. Early work has established that statistically significant differences exist in the levels of AE displayed by various student groups, as summarized here. Future work is however required to better establish the AE levels characterizing various groups of interest. In order to better understand how AE develops and changes over time, we will continue to track the AE of individual students through their undergraduate studies, as well as the AE levels displayed by our ADAPT scholars (those receiving the S-STEM Scholarship). Tracking students over time will address one of the key limitations of our existing data, in that it does not assess possible longitudinal changes among the same sample of students. In February 2023, 16 ADAPT Scholars were accepted into the ADAPT program and notified of their scholarships which will provide $3,000 for each semester of their remaining undergraduate studies. Early work with these scholars to introduce them to the ADAPT program has begun but activities designed to promote growth in the dimensions of AE have yet to be implemented as this project is still in its infancy. As these activities are developed and as the ADAPT scholars progress through their program of study, the ADAPT population will be required to periodically take the AE survey to track changes in their adaptiveness. This data will be then correlated with institutional data such as course grades and GPA to examine the effectiveness of ADAPT programming. Retention and completion rates will also be measured at the end of their college careers. Attitudinal and experiential feedback on the program will be collected through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. A larger study to compare the progression of AE levels between low-income and non-low-income STEM students will also be conducted. This data will inform whether AE levels are developed at the same rate in both groups, and yield some evidence as to the effectiveness of the specialized ADAPT programming in promoting the growth of AE.

Original languageEnglish
JournalASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings
StatePublished - 25 Jun 2023
Event2023 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition - The Harbor of Engineering: Education for 130 Years, ASEE 2023 - Baltimore, United States
Duration: 25 Jun 202328 Jun 2023

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