Virginia State University (VSU) has been awarded a $1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to study the effectiveness of interventions on the mathematics performance of minority middle and high school students. The goal is to increase participation of minorities within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The three-year initiative, to be led by Dr. Oliver Hill, chair of the department of psychology, will promote partnerships between VSU and local school districts, while developing pedagogical modules to develop students’ capabilities to perform successfully in the targeted STEM areas.

The study involves three major components:

·        Indirectly developing STEM-related cognitive skills by implementing a unique educational curriculum, developed by VSU  investigators, which teaches programming languages and problem-solving skills in the context of video game design

·        Directly training STEM-related basic-level cognitive skills using the methodology developed by LearningRx, Inc. and delivered on-line

·        Assessing the impact of these interventions through psychometric tests of changes in attitudes and cognitive abilities of the participants, looking at improvements on school-based standardized tests of mathematics and science abilities, monitoring cortical changes in students using functional magnetic resonance imaging (f-MRI) and recording the number of participating students who matriculate to college in a STEM major. 

The direct cognitive training represents a new way to develop the skills necessary for a successful STEM career. The brain-imaging phase of the study also represents a unique approach to documenting the efficacy of the interventions. It will also allow for an assessment of how changes in cortical function persist after the training period has ended and an assessment of the relationship between brain function and performance on STEM tasks.

This grant represents the second major grant VSU has received from the NSF in the last two years to study psychosocial and cognitive factors related to mathematics performance. These projects are part of a larger goal to establish a Center of Excellence in STEM Education in VSU’s School of Engineering, Science and Technology.

In addition to Hill, the interdisciplinary team of investigators at VSU includes Dr. Omar Faison, professor in the department of biology; Dr. Giti Javidi, from the department of mathematics and computer science; Dr. Zewelanji Serpell, of the department of psychology;  and Dr. Ehsan Sheybani, from the department of engineering technology. The fMRI portion of the study will be done in conjunction with the department of radiology at Virginia Commonwealth University.