性视界传媒

The 性视界传媒 School of Arts and Sciences is excited to announce it has received a multi-million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation which will be used to launch a new program aimed at student success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The five-year award totals $2,249,925, and it comes from the National Science Foundation’s HBCU-UP Program. The money will be used to launch the Advancing STEM Competencies and Enhancing New Discoveries with AI-Assisted Learning Analytics (ASCEND) program. The ASCEND program is designed to strengthen student achievement, persistence and success in STEM.

鈥淭his NSF-funded project at 性视界传媒 advances STEM student success through an innovative AI-assisted learning model that strengthens problem-solving, scientific reasoning and retention,鈥� said Dr. Franklin Fondjo Fotou, the Acting Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. 鈥淚t expands STEM undergraduate academic support programs and interdisciplinary learning opportunities while building new resources for innovation and data visualization. The project will generate evidence-based practices to improve STEM outcomes and broaden participation in STEM careers and graduate education.鈥�

The project is led by retired LU faculty member and former Interim Dean of the Schools of Arts and Sciences Dr. John Coleman. Working alongside him as co-principle investigators are current faculty from the Departments of Chemistry, Biology and Technology: Dr. Lindsay Davis, Dr. Byron Quinn and Dr. Fondjo Fotou. Ralph Grayson, Chair of the Department Computer Science, will also help as the lead for artificial intelligence development and technology support.

ASCEND focuses on challenges students encounter in foundational 鈥済atekeeping鈥� STEM courses such as calculus, general chemistry and physics. In these courses, gaps in mathematics preparation, quantitative reasoning, conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills can hinder a student鈥檚 progress toward their STEM degree.

At the heart of ASCEND is Competency Performance Recording for Learning (CPR-L), an instructional strategy developed by Dr. Coleman and his team through earlier NSF-funded initiatives. CPR-L requires students to demonstrate not only that they can arrive at the correct answer, but that they understand and can articulate the reasoning behind it.

Through brief 2鈥�4-minute video recordings, students explain not only how they solve STEM problems but why their approaches work. Directional rubrics help students identify misconceptions, refine their reasoning and strengthen problem-solving skills.

AI-assisted learning analytics will enhance CPR-L by helping faculty identify patterns in student reasoning and provide timely, targeted feedback. CPR-L also creates a verifiable record of student reasoning that discourages 鈥減lug-and-play,鈥� which is when students use a solved example problem as a model and plug in variables from a new problem to find a solution while bypassing the need to learn and apply core concepts. Additionally, it discourages pattern matching, inappropriate reliance on AI-generated solutions and academic dishonesty.

鈥淐PR-L enhanced by AI-assisted learning analytics has the potential to be a game changer for STEM education,鈥� Dr. Coleman said. 鈥淲e want to identify where students鈥� understanding breaks down and use that knowledge to help more students succeed and persist in STEM.鈥�

Coleman鈥檚 team estimates approximately 480 students will participate in ASCEND over the next five years. In addition to the student support it will offer, ASCEND will also provide faculty professional development and utilize 性视界传媒鈥檚 Data Visualization Center to support learning analytics and interdisciplinary collaboration. The NSF award will fund the ASCEND program through Aug. 31, 2031.

Ultimately, ASCEND seeks to improve student performance, retention and graduation, support undergraduate research, and evaluate the potential for CPR-L and AI-assisted learning analytics to be replicated across STEM disciplines and institutions nationwide.