Summer break gives students the opportunity to build their résumés through jobs and internships and plan out their career goals. The faculty members at Azusa Pacific University want to see their students succeed, so professors in the STEM fields of the School of Humanities and Sciences often give students valuable research internship opportunities. This summer, applied mathematics and honors humanities double major Caylee Walker ’27 and mathematics and honors humanities double major Evan Knee ’26 are working with APU professors Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, PhD, and Bradley McCoy, PhD, to analyze data and conduct research on STEM identity.
STEM identity refers to the sense of belonging and confidence in skills that students experience as a current student and future professional. In order to increase positive STEM identity, APU employs students to serve as learning assistants (LAs) in various 100 level STEM classes through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). LAs sit in on classes and make themselves available to students for extra help and answering questions. In collaboration with the faculty, LAs give feedback and ideas for how to best help each class of students. They also hold office hours outside of class time for students to seek out extra support with course material. “We put LAs into entry level courses because students who want to study STEM might get discouraged if they are struggling,” Knee said. “LAs give students opportunities to get encouragement early on that helps them succeed in the future.”
With the NSF grant, Fitzgerald, Walker, and Knee have conducted research on the effectiveness of the LA program. For the past four semester, the group has sent out pre-semester and post-semester surveys to students for feedback about STEM identity, career interest, and their experience with LAs. “The goal of the LA program is to improve retention rates and reduce D, F, and withdrawal rates,” said Walker. “When we improve STEM identity, there’s a greater sense of student belonging, a confidence that they have the ability to succeed in college, and a growing purpose as a STEM professional.”
The group has also analyzed how the LA program impacts various student demographics. Part of the NSF grant proposal stipulates that as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), APU must look at the program’s impact on Hispanic students. Other tests compare demographics such as male and female or American and international students.
Walker has worked with Fitzgerald and McCoy to collect and analyze data since last
summer. “I’ve always loved that APU has small class sizes, and this internship has
allowed me to get even closer with my faculty,” she said.
The team is preparing to submit their findings about education research to multiple major scientific journals on STEM education. “It will be exciting to get published in a scientific journal,” Walker said. “It’s a niche topic, but I’m an LA and an intern because I want to know how we can best help students succeed, and this article will be a part of the solution to helping students enjoy and pass their classes.” The team is publishing their research on the LA program in hopes that other schools will experiment with similar programs to help their students.
Walker and Knee have also been able to grow as STEM students and professionals through their time in the internship. “I don’t know what career I want after graduation, but this internship has opened gateways for me into jobs in data analytics,” Knee said. “I’m grateful to the faculty for letting students know about these opportunities and opening doors to building relationships with them. It’s important for students to do research in their undergraduate years to figure out what they want to do in life.” As a team, Walker, Knee, Fitzgerald, and McCoy will continue to conduct and analyze research on STEM identity and the LA program in order to contribute to the success of not only APU students, but to the broader higher education community.