Supporting Success of Science Transfer Students

在国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金(S-STEM)项目的资助下，该项目将为从社区学院转到亚利桑那大学(UA)STEM专业的低收入学生提供经济奖学金和学术支持。该项目的双重目标是提高这些转学学生的学业成功，并确保他们坚持到毕业时获得STEM学位。奖学金获得者将在学术上有天赋，并有证明的经济需求。首席调查组还渴望招募一批代表亚利桑那州性别和种族多样性的学生。该项目的理由是，有经济需要的学生、第一代学生或从社区大学转学的学生经常面临阻碍他们实现学业目标的挑战。该项目的生动想法是，学术和经济支持、教师和同龄人的互动以及对多样化学生群体的支持将导致坚持攻读STEM学位。具体地说，该项目旨在表明，从学生进入UA开始，指导、辅导、建议和经济援助将使他们能够有效地毕业。在学术生涯早期建立社区和关系将使学生培养自信和归属感。两门一年级的课程将提供职业发展机会，最初侧重于学术成功、校园资源利用和职业探索，然后是为研究或实习经验做准备。本课程中的公民科学项目将整合社会和科学身份，并帮助学生了解STEM研究如何在个人层面上影响重要问题。主要研究人员将研究个人支持、社区建设和专业发展活动对两年制转学学生三个关键结果的影响：留住、坚持STEM和毕业。此外，他们还将探索在STEM课程早期广泛实施公民科学项目的潜力。按照上面详述的项目目标，每年高达10,000美元的基于需要的资金将在该计划的五年内支持60至150名S-STEM学者。与学生总数相比，从社区大学转学到亚利桑那大学的学生在种族上更加多样化，这为关注服务不足的人群提供了内在的机会。除了经济援助外，该计划还将在有组织的环境中为学生创造欢迎和支持的环境，重点是建立坚实的学术基础、适应能力、STEM领域的归属感，以及规划匹配良好的职业生涯。以学生为中心的方法将满足所有学者在他们的学术发展点，认识每个学生的独特情况，并验证学生的文化财富，共同建立信心，动力和成功。该项目将促进对不同人群中与留住、成功、学术/职业道路和学位获得相关的因素和活动的了解。计划分析将侧重于在UA 100%参与的政策范围内扩张的有效性、可持续性和可行性。对来自不同背景的学生的成功做出重大贡献并可能产生长期和可持续影响的关键方面将传播到其他项目和机构。

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will provide financial scholarships and academic support to low-income students transferring from community colleges to the University of Arizona (UA) to major in STEM disciplines. The dual goals of the project are to increase the academic success of these transfer students and to ensure their persistence to graduation with a STEM degree. Scholarship recipients will be academically talented, with documented financial need. The principal investigator team also aspires to recruit cohorts of students that represent the gender and ethnic diversity of the State of Arizona. The rationale for the project is that students with financial need, of first generation status or who transfer from community colleges often face challenges that impede achieving their academic goals. The animating idea of the project is that academic and financial support, faculty and peer interactions, and support of a diverse student body will lead to persistence to STEM degrees. Specifically, the project is designed to show that mentoring, tutoring, advising, and financial assistance, from the time the students enroll at UA, will enable an efficient path to graduation. Community and relationship building early in their academic careers will allow students to develop self-confidence and a sense of belonging. Two first-year courses will provide professional development opportunities, focused initially on academic success, utilization of campus resources, and career exploration, followed by preparation for a research or internship experience. A citizen science project in this course will integrate social and science identities and help students understand how STEM research impacts issues of importance on a personal level. The principal investigators will study the influence of individual support, community building, and professional development activities on three key outcomes for the two-year college transfer students: retention, persistence in STEM, and graduation. In addition, they will also explore the potential for broad implementation of citizen science projects early in the STEM curriculum.Toward the project's goals detailed above, need-based funding up to $10,000 per year will support 60 to 150 S-STEM scholars for the five years of the program. Students transferring from community colleges to UA are more ethnically diverse compared to the total student body, providing the intrinsic opportunity to focus on underserved populations. In addition to financial assistance, the program will create an environment of welcome and support for students in a structured setting focused on building a strong academic foundation, resiliency skills, a sense of belonging in STEM fields, and planning for a well-matched career. A student-centered approach will meet all scholars at their academic point of development, recognize each student's unique circumstances, and validate a student's cultural wealth, altogether building confidence, motivation, and success. This project will advance understanding about factors and activities associated with retention, success, academic/career pathways and degree attainment in a diverse population. Program analysis will focus on effectiveness, sustainability and feasibility of expansion within the scope of the UA's policy of 100% engagement. Key aspects that significantly contribute to the success of students from diverse backgrounds and that may have a long lasting and sustainable impact will be disseminated to other programs and institutions.