Applying Performance Pyramid Model in STEM Education

Abstract

While many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of programs designed to increase underrepresented minority participation, this article establishes a guiding theoretical model which examines why and how such programs are working. Theoretical analysis supports curricular innovation by specifying a set of guidelines for how best to design new programs intended to broaden participation in STEM. To connect mathematics concepts with biology, reduce students’ math anxiety, and increase student self-efficacy, intrusive Peer Partnership Learning (PPL) communities for College Algebra and General Biology I were created, involving weekly sessions led by trained Peer Partnership Learning leaders to reinforce course content and work on mathematics projects related to biology. Grounded in the theoretical model of the Performance Pyramid, a psychometrically sound instrument was developed through a pilot study to measure constructs directly related to the Performance Pyramid and used together with other instruments to assess the efficacy of the proposed intervention, PPL communities, based in the Performance Pyramid. The Performance Pyramid has been successfully used as a framework or process to identify, analyze and address barriers to optimal performance in a variety of workplace settings and incorporates other educational theories by proposing seven “support systems.†These studies combine this model with quasi-experimental research designs to investigate the individual (e.g. cognitive and behavioral) and institutional (e.g., organizational and systematic) processes which affect participation and retention of African American students in STEM disciplines. The overall goal of this project is to increase academic performance, to prepare and motivate students to pursue education and careers in STEM disciplines, and to develop an assessment and STEM educational intervention that could be implemented at the national level.