Supporting Science Identity Development with Course-Based Interventions: Strategies to Improve Undergraduate Student Persistence in STEM

Science identity can be described as the part of oneself that relates to science, and is made up of four components: competence, performance, recognition, and interest. Science identity is important because students who have a strong science identity tend to persist longer in STEM majors and are more likely to attain a scientific career post-graduation than students with a weak science identity. Despite its importance for undergraduate persistence and career attainment, many students struggle to identify as a scientist, especially those who belong to groups that have historically been underserved in STEM. Therefore, exploring the ability of course-based interventions to strengthen students' science identities could be an effective way to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in STEM education. In this dissertation, I explore the potential of two course-based interventions, Introduction to Primary Literature (IPL) courses and Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), for promoting identification with science in a population of undergraduate biology students. IPL courses are seminar-style courses in which students read, discuss, and write about primary literature in order to familiarize themselves with the products of science and scientific methods of communication. Results reported herein indicate that participating in an IPL course is associated with increases in student competence and interest in conducting research by exposing them to the nature of science. These results support the implementation of IPL courses as a way to promote students' identification with science, however, typical IPL courses serve smaller student populations than typical introductory STEM courses and may therefore be limited in potential impact by scale. Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), is a well-studied active learning pedagogy that can be implemented within the context of or ancillary to large-enrollment courses, and therefore has potential to serve a large number of students. During a PLTL workshop, students work collaboratively to solve content-related problems under the guidance of a peer leader who succeeded in the course during a previous semester. Results presented herein indicate that participation in PLTL was associated with increases in the recognition component of science identity pre- to post-course among students in general, particularly for women, URM students, and first-generation college students. Further, students identified collaborative groupwork as the most salient aspect of PLTL for promoting science identity development. Cumulatively, this work adds to the body of literature documenting the range of benefits that participating in IPL courses and PLTL programs can have for undergraduate students. Moreover, it provides evidence that participating in these programs can have positive impacts on undergraduate students' science identities, and therefore supports the use of IPL courses and PLTL programs as course-based interventions that promote DEI in undergraduate STEM education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]