(87f) Addressing Student Equity in the First Year through the Student Experience Project

The Student Experience Project (SEP) seeks to develop equitable learning environments for students on campus. The SEP launched its programs in fall 2019 with six public urban universities. The University of Toledo joined the program and enlisted instructors of first year classes to participate in fall 2020.

Our chemical engineering program is a mandatory co-op program. Approximately one-half of a student cohort leaves in the spring of the sophomore year for one of their three required co-op experiences. To prepare students for their first co-op, mass and energy balances are taught in the first year (mass balances in the fall and a continuation in the spring) and thermodynamics in the fall of the second. Moving these classes so early in the curriculum creates unique challenges as students make the transition to a university learning environment and bring a broad spectrum of mathematical and scientific abilities to the classroom.

I have been the mass balances instructor for several years and elected to participate in the SEP program to help improve classroom equity, especially given the impact of the ongoing COVID pandemic and racial strife. Given the diverse backgrounds of students, this is especially challenging for courses in the first semester.

The SEP program monitored student experiences through a set of five surveys during the semester. The surveys report student mindset in six areas:

1. Trust and fairness
2. Institutional growth mindset
3. Identify safety
4. Self-efficacy
5. Social belonging
6. Social connectedness

Results are reported for all students and six subareas:

1. High financial stress
2. Low financial stress
3. Structurally disadvantaged race
4. Structurally advantaged race
5. Male
6. Female

Building upon the extensive literature, SEP provides a toolbox for addressing student experiences in each area and incorporating activities that can enhance equity.

Experiences with the SEP program are reported. The tools used in hopes of improving equity are discussed. Both anecdotal and quantitative findings are presented and compared to other first semester classes on campus. The potential to integrate activities across multiple first year classes to improve student equity will be discussed.