Improving the Success of STEM Undergraduate Students in a Rural Community: Learning with Emphasis on Academics, Developmental Experiences, and Research in STEM

提高农村社区 STEM 本科生的成功：注重学术、发展经验和 STEM 研究的学习

• 批准号: 1741744
• 负责人: Joseph Coelho
• 金额: $ 64.94万
• 依托单位: Quincy University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1741744&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; Success; STEM; Undergraduate; Students

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program supports the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students pursuing STEM degrees. Over the five years of this project, Quincy University (QU) will award scholarships of up to $6,000 per year to 20 eligible students, renewable through their senior year. QU is in southwestern Illinois, in the largest town in a 100-mile radius. Forty percent of its students are from surrounding rural communities. Thus, the grantee institution provides an important setting to study the pathways of rural low-income students pursuing STEM education. These students often do not pursue STEM majors because they lack exposure to and experience with diverse STEM career options. This program aims to improve degree attainment, and to equip students with transferable skills that employers seek. Such skills include critical thinking, oral and written communication, and leadership. By increasing access to high-quality STEM education and providing individualized, methodical, and intensive professional guidance, this project expects to increase opportunities for members of a large sector of society that has a prominent presence in the region. Moreover, the project will generate knowledge on how to recruit, retain, and successfully graduate rural, low-income, high-achieving students in STEM fields. This project has three goals. First, it aims to increase opportunities and access to higher education for academically high-achieving, financially disadvantaged students pursuing non-clinical biology and chemistry degrees. Second, it aims to enhance the broad understanding of evidence-based academic and student support activities needed to increase the interest of these students in pursuing STEM degrees. Third, QU plans to increase the first-year retention rate and four-year graduation rate for the scholarship recipients. QU's recruitment plan builds on relationships already in place at surrounding rural high schools, and includes faculty outreach and an on-campus STEM Career Fair. Students receiving scholarships will be partnered with a success coach and faculty mentor, and placed into a learning community. Scholarship recipients will: be housed together in the residence hall; co-enroll in major and general education courses throughout their academic tenure; and participate in programming to support academic success and social integration, such as field trips to local industries or university research facilities, and service activities. A new, required sophomore-level "Introduction to Research" course will give the students the opportunity to participate in laboratory or field research with a faculty mentor. The project will make use of quantitative and qualitative data, including student records, surveys, and student products such as guided reflections and coursework to determine the effect of project activities on retention, graduation, and learning outcomes for supported students. Evaluation tools will include Articulated Learning Guided Reflections, the Inquiry and Analysis VALUE rubric from the American Association of Colleges & Universities, the Themed Learning Community Questionnaire, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and the National Survey of Student Engagement. A control cohort will be established by matching demographic and academic characteristics of students who were not scholarship recipients.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目支持攻读STEM学位的高成就、低收入学生的留校和毕业。在这个项目的五年中，昆西大学(昆西大学)将向20名符合条件的学生颁发每年高达6,000美元的奖学金，这些奖学金可以延续到他们的大四。屈位于伊利诺伊州西南部，方圆100英里范围内的最大城镇。该校40%的学生来自周围的农村社区。因此，资助机构为研究农村低收入学生接受STEM教育的途径提供了重要的背景。这些学生通常不攻读STEM专业，因为他们缺乏对各种STEM职业选择的接触和经验。该计划旨在提高学位获得率，并使学生掌握雇主寻求的可转移技能。这些技能包括批判性思维、口头和书面交流以及领导力。通过增加获得高质量STEM教育的机会，并提供个性化、有条不紊和深入的专业指导，该项目预计将增加在该地区有突出影响力的社会大部门成员的机会。此外，该项目将产生关于如何在STEM领域招收、留住和成功毕业农村、低收入、高成就学生的知识。这个项目有三个目标。首先，它旨在增加学业成绩优异、经济困难的学生攻读非临床生物和化学学位的机会和接受高等教育的机会。第二，它旨在增进对循证学术和学生支持活动的广泛理解，这是提高这些学生攻读STEM学位的兴趣所必需的。第三，屈计划提高奖学金获得者的第一年保留率和四年毕业率。屈的招聘计划建立在周围农村高中已经建立的关系基础上，包括教师外展和校园STEM招聘会。获得奖学金的学生将与一位成功教练和教师导师合作，并被置于一个学习社区。奖学金获得者将：住在寄宿大厅；在整个学年期间共同参加主要和一般教育课程；参与支持学术成功和社会融合的规划，如实地考察当地工业或大学研究设施和服务活动。一门新的大学二年级必修课《研究导论》将为学生提供在教师导师的指导下参与实验室或实地研究的机会。该项目将利用定量和定性数据，包括学生记录、调查和学生产品，如指导性反思和课程作业，以确定项目活动对受资助学生的留存、毕业和学习结果的影响。评估工具将包括衔接学习指导反思、美国大学协会的调查和分析价值问卷、主题学习社区问卷、社会认知职业理论和全国学生参与度调查。对照队列将通过匹配非奖学金获得者的人口统计和学术特征来建立。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。