Using Interdependence to Promote Sense of Belonging and Academic Success

Program Abstract: Developing a sense of belonging can increase academic performance and promote retention and progression in STEM programs and may be particularly important for historically underrepresented students (e.g., first-generation students, women, African American students, Latinx students). One way to develop a sense of belonging is to promote interdependence among students as they work collaboratively toward a common goal. This innovation/ideation session will share a model for promoting interdependence among science and mathematics students taking a first-year experience course as part of a learning community along with a science or mathematics course. Interdependence is used to promote students’ sense of belonging and academic success in their science and mathematics courses. Participants will help with refining the model and identifying ways to measure the impact of the model.