Today's blog is written by Logan Gin, PhD Student in Biology and Society, and member of Sara Brownell's Biology Education Research Lab
What are bridge programs?
The transition to college can be difficult for students from a variety of different backgrounds as they attempt to adjust to the rigor of college courses, adapt to a novel university setting, and become members of a university community. Summer bridge programs, sometimes called boot camps or early start programs, have been developed as a way to ease the academic and social transition to college. They are intensive experiences for incoming students that can provide early exposure to the opportunities, knowledge, and skills it takes to succeed in college.
How can bridge programs help STEM students?
Surprisingly, there is limited research on the goals and effectiveness of bridge programs. A recent review of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) bridge programs (Ashley, Cooper, Cala, and Brownell, 2017) found that there is wide variation in bridge programs in terms of their target populations, their goals, and how they measure the impact of the program on students. Some bridge programs tend to target individuals who have been historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines, such as racial/ethnic minority students and women, with the intention of enhancing diversity within a major. It is also common for bridge programs to be developed for academically underprepared students who may be at the highest risk of attrition from college. Many bridge programs focus on academic success goals, such as remediating or improving student understanding of content knowledge of a STEM discipline, while some programs have broader goals of increasing student retention and graduation rates. Bridge programs have also focused on affective outcomes for students, including increasing their interest in STEM, their sense of preparedness for a degree program, and their sense of belonging to a discipline. Additionally, students in bridge programs are often given unique opportunities to network with other students and faculty in their major that can help them integrate into a college community and navigate a STEM discipline. The potential impact of bridge programs is great, but much more research needs to be done before we can make any broad generalizations about the impacts of summer bridge programs.
BioBridge at ASU
The ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) is host to a suite of summer bridge programs in multiple disciplines. One of the oldest programs – five years running – is the School of Life Sciences BioBridge program that enrolls incoming first-year students who intend to major in Biology. The program is free of cost for students who participate, and students receive college course credit for completing the program.
The goals of the BioBridge program are to
Success of the BioBridge program?
Is the BioBridge program successful at achieving its goals? We have conducted several studies and have found that it has led to several positive outcomes for students. For example, we have found that the program has led to an increased comfort towards faculty (Cooper, Ashley, and Brownell, 2018), and that students who participate in the program hold more positive conceptions of active learning after completing the program and are more conscious of equity in participation in the classroom (Cooper, Ashley, and Brownell, 2017).
We are engaged in several on-going studies to determine the effectiveness of the BioBridge program on students’ career development as a result of their participation in the program. We are also interested in how students’ knowledge of their desired careers change based on interventions that they participated in during BioBridge. It is our hope that additional research in this area can improve the way we design our BioBridge curriculum and continue to ease the transition for incoming students to the School of Life Sciences.
Citations
Ashley, M., Cooper, K. M., Cala, J. M., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). Building better bridges into STEM: A synthesis of 25 years of literature on STEM summer bridge programs. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(4), es3.
What are bridge programs?
The transition to college can be difficult for students from a variety of different backgrounds as they attempt to adjust to the rigor of college courses, adapt to a novel university setting, and become members of a university community. Summer bridge programs, sometimes called boot camps or early start programs, have been developed as a way to ease the academic and social transition to college. They are intensive experiences for incoming students that can provide early exposure to the opportunities, knowledge, and skills it takes to succeed in college. How can bridge programs help STEM students?
Surprisingly, there is limited research on the goals and effectiveness of bridge programs. A recent review of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) bridge programs (Ashley, Cooper, Cala, and Brownell, 2017) found that there is wide variation in bridge programs in terms of their target populations, their goals, and how they measure the impact of the program on students. Some bridge programs tend to target individuals who have been historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines, such as racial/ethnic minority students and women, with the intention of enhancing diversity within a major. It is also common for bridge programs to be developed for academically underprepared students who may be at the highest risk of attrition from college. Many bridge programs focus on academic success goals, such as remediating or improving student understanding of content knowledge of a STEM discipline, while some programs have broader goals of increasing student retention and graduation rates. Bridge programs have also focused on affective outcomes for students, including increasing their interest in STEM, their sense of preparedness for a degree program, and their sense of belonging to a discipline. Additionally, students in bridge programs are often given unique opportunities to network with other students and faculty in their major that can help them integrate into a college community and navigate a STEM discipline. The potential impact of bridge programs is great, but much more research needs to be done before we can make any broad generalizations about the impacts of summer bridge programs.
The ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) is host to a suite of summer bridge programs in multiple disciplines. One of the oldest programs – five years running – is the School of Life Sciences BioBridge program that enrolls incoming first-year students who intend to major in Biology. The program is free of cost for students who participate, and students receive college course credit for completing the program.
The goals of the BioBridge program are to
- teach students biology content
- provide students with knowledge of campus resources
- to create opportunities for students to connect with faculty, academic advisors, and other students.
Success of the BioBridge program?
Is the BioBridge program successful at achieving its goals? We have conducted several studies and have found that it has led to several positive outcomes for students. For example, we have found that the program has led to an increased comfort towards faculty (Cooper, Ashley, and Brownell, 2018), and that students who participate in the program hold more positive conceptions of active learning after completing the program and are more conscious of equity in participation in the classroom (Cooper, Ashley, and Brownell, 2017).
We are engaged in several on-going studies to determine the effectiveness of the BioBridge program on students’ career development as a result of their participation in the program. We are also interested in how students’ knowledge of their desired careers change based on interventions that they participated in during BioBridge. It is our hope that additional research in this area can improve the way we design our BioBridge curriculum and continue to ease the transition for incoming students to the School of Life Sciences.
Citations
Ashley, M., Cooper, K. M., Cala, J. M., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). Building better bridges into STEM: A synthesis of 25 years of literature on STEM summer bridge programs. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(4), es3.
Cooper, K. M.,
Ashley, M., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). Using expectancy value theory as aframework to reduce student resistance to active learning: A proof ofconcept. Journal of microbiology & biology education, 18(2).
Cooper, K. M.,
Ashley, M., & Brownell, S. E. (2018). Breaking Down Barriers: A BridgeProgram Helps First-Year Biology Students Connect With Faculty. Journal
of College Science Teaching, 47(4).
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