– The authors identify 14 distinct bridge program goals that can be organized into three categories: academic success goals, psychosocial goals, and department-level goals.
– Academic success goals include: Remediation- Providing Students with Foundational Knowledge in a STEM Domain, Improving Student Content Knowledge in a Discipline, Maximizing Student GPA, Increasing Student Retention, and Increasing Student Graduation Rate from College.
– Psychosocial goals include: Increasing Interest in the Major, Improving Student Sense of Belonging, Increasing Student Sense of Preparedness, Increasing Student Self-Efficacy, Networking with Students, and Networking with Faculty.
– Department-level goals include Recruiting Students to the Major and Enhancing Diversity in the Major
– The authors’ recommendations include: encouraging bridge developers and evaluators to publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals, reporting unsuccessful iterations to help develop more successful future programs, reporting more information about the details of implementing bridge programs (including costs and resources, recruitment and selection, size, curriculum development, and follow-up information), and aligning bridge goals with measured outcomes.
Current Selections
ClearBuilding Better Bridges into STEM: A Synthesis of 25 Years of Literature on STEM Summer Bridge Programs
Examination of Factors that Predict Academic Adjustment and Success of Community College Transfer Students in STEM at 4-Year Institutions
1) What background characteristics, community college experiences, and university experiences predict academic adjustment for community college transfer students in engineering and other STEM (nonengineering) disciplines? 2) What background characteristics, community college experiences, and university experiences predict cumulative GPA for community college transfer students in engineering and other STEM (nonengineering) disciplines?
Influences of Faculty Validation on Community College STEM Students' Persistence and Success
1) What is the relationship between demographic variables and validation scores for community college STEM students? 2) What is the relationship between demographic variables and academic success and persistence for community college STEM students? 3) What is the influence of validation scores on academic success and persistence based on continued enrollment for community college STEM students?
Examining the Academic Success of Latino Students in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Majors
1) To what extent does cultural capital and cultural congruity affect the academic performance of Latino students’ majoring in STEM fields? 2) To what extent does campus climate, as measured through academic-related experiences of Latino students in STEM majors affect their academic performance?