Physical Sciences Scholars (PSS) Program

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With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the Physical Sciences Scholars (PSS) Program is providing support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at Bucknell University. The project is funding 84 scholarships over 5 years for students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in the physical sciences (Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology & Environmental Geosciences). The PSS program will provide opportunities for academic enrichment outside the classroom to help low-income students make successful transitions into rewarding careers in STEM disciplines by enhancing their self-identification as scientists. There are five primary tactics to accomplish the PSS Program objectives: provide scholarships; create a cohort of students that starts with shared living at the Discovery Residential College; provide dedicated and sustained faculty mentorship; encourage participation in student-faculty research and associated scholarly activities; and facilitate career placement by working closely with the Career Development Center. As a result, it is expected that PSS scholars will be better prepared to succeed in STEM majors as undergraduates and better equipped for careers in STEM after graduation. This S-STEM Track 2 project will research questions emerging from a focus on needs identified by Self-Determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation. In particular, it will contribute new knowledge to what is known about the effects of interventions on the STEM degree attainment of economically disadvantaged students. Bucknell University's PSS program also seeks to better understand the impact of faculty mentoring and cohort dynamics on the academic success of academically talented low-income students, who often are also underrepresented minorities, majoring in STEM disciplines at a private, liberal arts four-year institution focused on STEM. Program assessment activities will focus on the retention and success of the PSS scholars and explore which activities are most important for academic success of these students in this environment. The following three Research Questions will be explored: (1) What is the relationship between student employment and academic performance among low socioeconomic status physical science majors at a private rural liberal arts institution? (2) How will students' self-identification as scientists vary over time as a result of programming provided by this grant? (3) How do intrinsic motivation and curiosity vary over time and relate to students' self-identification as scientists? The results will be widely disseminated at STEM education conferences and journals.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.