Improve Retention Rate and Performance of Students in STEM Field Using a Virtual Teaching Assistant System

This research describes the execution of a web-based Teaching Assistant System (ViTAS) for college students to improve the retention rate of the students in a Hispanic serving institution. The teaching assistant system is developed as a digital repository of class homework assignment and submission. This system provides a homework assignments grading system for the instructors and to provide an interactive learning environment outside the lecture period for the students. Using ViTAS, students will be able to submit the homework assignments online, to engage in anonymous homework review, and to discuss with their peers. The idea of students grading the homework assignments of their peers is very beneficial, because during the process of grading other’s homework, the students get the opportunity to learn/review their own work/mistakes. Also, the instructors finalize all grades and post them on the website to confirm the students’ learning activities. In particular, this project focuses on the Agile system development process, which is a group of system development methodologies based on iterative, interactive, and incremental development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing and cross-functional teams.