Learning from Students - How Teams Rethink Their STEM Transfer Process Through Student Input - Data Note 3 - August 2023

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

This data note examines how community college and university partnerships use student input to transform STEM transfer pathways and improve outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds. It synthesizes evidence from nine two-year/four-year teams over the first 18 months, drawing on applications, six surveys, researcher observations in coaching sessions and convenings, and interviews. Findings highlight contextually responsive, multifaceted strategies that prioritize engagement and clarify the information systems needed to turn input into actionable changes across transfer processes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Defining Student Input

Program Background and Data Sources

Data-Driven Strategies for Student Input

COMMUNITY COLLEGE RESEARCH INITIATIVES STEM TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP SERIES Learning from Students: How Teams Rethink Their STEM Transfer Process Through Student Input Leandra Cate, Lia Wetzstein, and Katie Kovacich DATA NOTE 3 | AUGUST 2023 Student input is an essential element in institutional transformation for student success but the process of cultivating student input involves creative rethinking of data collection strategies. This data note documents the collaborative work of community college and university partnerships to collect student input and translate that data into improvements in the STEM transfer pathway. We find that these partnerships are developing contextually responsive, multifaceted strategies for incorporating student input that prioritize student engagement and clarifying information systems. One of the key commitments of CCRI’s Stem Transfer Partnership (STP) program is to transform STEM transfer pathways and improve outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds using student input. Teams of two-year and four-year college and university partnerships have been working together to improve the STEM transfer process based on student data and what they learn from student feedback. Since the inception of the program, CCRI has been providing technical support and collecting data on how each team approaches the process of learning from students. What has emerged from these data, across the first 18 months of the partnership work, are some valuable insights into how different teams define student input, how they go about operationalizing and collecting student experiences and preferences, and how they make sense of that data. Each team has developed a distinctive plan for collecting student input, tailoring the plan to the specific contexts, disciplines, and goals of that partnership. This data note will describe not only the strategies for student input that resulted but, most importantly, the evolution of thinking about what constitutes student input, what forms of input are most needed, and insights from learning from students. PROGRAM BACKGROUND AND DATA SOURCES The data for this analysis are drawn from the first year and a half of the STP program, a three-year initiative to foster effective STEM pathways between four-year and two-year institutions for students from low-income backgrounds. Nine teams consisting of one twoyear college and one four-year university have been engaged in a process of advancing their partnership and implementing research-informed changes in student engagement and transfer processes in STEM fields. In support of this work, they have participated in monthly coaching sessions with CCRI coaches and three semi-annual convenings that bring together the full community of practice. This report examines data from each step of the program, beginning with initial application submitted by participants and including responses from six surveys, researcher observations in coaching sessions and convenings, and interviews with team leaders. [uw. edu/ccri](uw. edu/ccri) 1 STEM TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP SERIES | Learning from Students: How Teams Rethink Their STEM Transfer Process Through Student Input DEFINING STUDENT INPUT In order to develop a plan for getting student input, STP participants had to answer foundational questions about how to define, operationalize, and make meaning of student input. As scholars and practitioners in disciplines that emphasize quantitative methods and large data sets, many participants initially wrestled with the question of how to conceptualize student input that was sometimes informal, often qualitative and drawn from small populations. A common query from participants at the first convening, which took place just months into the program, was how to draw conclusions based on data from such small populations of students. In one of the earliest coaching sessions, a two-year college faculty participant commented,“The problem is that there a

FAQs

What is the purpose of using student input in the STEM transfer partnership program?

The program uses student input as an essential element for institutional transformation, aiming to improve STEM transfer outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds. Teams translate collected input into changes to the STEM transfer pathway.

What types of data and activities are used to analyze student input efforts?

The analysis draws on initial applications, six surveys, researcher observations from coaching sessions and convenings, and interviews with team leaders. Data reflect multiple steps of the program over the first year and a half.

How do teams address challenges when student populations are small?

Teams confront questions about interpreting conclusions from small samples. Some develop plans using multiple forms of data, especially when formal large data sets are not feasible.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Connor