STEM TRansfer Students Opportunity for Nurtured Growth (STRONG)

STEM 转学生提供培育成长的机会（强）

• 批准号: 1742424
• 负责人: Mubarak Shah
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-03-01 至 2023-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1742424&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STEM; TRansfer; Students; Opportunity; Nurtured

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the STEM TRansfer Students Opportunity for Nurtured Growth (STRONG) is providing support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at the University of Central Florida (UCF). This S-STEM Track 2 project is funding up to 36 scholarships over 5 years for transfer students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in STEM. Compared to first time in college (FTIC) students who begin their academic careers at a four-year institution, transfer students generally find the path to obtaining a bachelor's degree more challenging, and they are significantly less likely to graduate than their FTIC counterparts. Finding ways to improve the educational experiences of these students is an urgent national priority. The aim of UCF's STRONG project is to substantially increase retention, graduation rates, and career success of STEM transfer students. This goal is achieved in part by giving each student a role in various STEM activities within a community of high-achieving scholars, who are majoring in similar fields. Providing financial support, mentorship, and opportunities for academic engagement outside the classroom promises to reduce the obstacles students face, keep them interested in their field of study, and motivate them to excel academically. A thorough study of how the program affects its participants will maximize the impact of the intervention and informs future efforts to improve the educational experiences of STEM transfer students.The UCF STRONG project consists of three components, which are all essential for reaching the program goal of increasing retention, graduation rates, and career success of STEM transfers. The first component is to design, implement, and improve a high-accuracy prediction model for identifying high-risk STEM transfers. Using known information about transfers, along with statistical analysis and machine learning, it will establish a means of predicting which students are least likely to complete a STEM degree, thereby helping UCF to know which students will benefit most from STRONG. The second component is to increase retention of transfers in STEM fields. STRONG scholars will be selected from financially needy incoming transfers who have been predicted to be unlikely to graduate, with the purpose of retaining them through graduation due to their participation in STRONG. This outcome is an expected result of increased student success through stimulation of academic integration and a cultivation of proficiency in their chosen fields. More specifically, each student is given a role within a community of like-minded students from closely related fields; they also meet regularly with mentors and participate in STEM activities that promote their success. The third component is to learn how the interventions influence STEM transfer students' ability to become active participants in their own learning. The project team will study the effects of the intervention on metacognition, motivation, and behavior, which are the three pillars of Self-Regulated Learning and are essential for student success.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.

在美国国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金 (S-STEM) 计划的资助下，STEM 转学学生培育成长机会 (STRONG) 正在为中佛罗里达大学 (UCF) 的低收入学生提供支持，这些学生具有经济需求和学术承诺，能够在 STEM 学科中取得成功。该 S-STEM Track 2 项目在 5 年内为攻读 STEM 学士学位的转学生提供多达 36 项奖学金。与在四年制大学开始学术生涯的首次大学 (FTIC) 学生相比，转学生通常发现获得学士学位的道路更具挑战性，而且他们毕业的可能性明显低于 FTIC 同行。寻找改善这些学生的教育经历的方法是国家的当务之急。 UCF STRONG 项目的目标是大幅提高 STEM 转学生的保留率、毕业率和职业成功率。 这一目标的部分实现是通过让每个学生在主修相似领域的高成就学者社区中的各种 STEM 活动中发挥作用。 提供经济支持、指导和课堂外学术参与机会有望减少学生面临的障碍，保持他们对学习领域的兴趣，并激励他们在学术上取得优异成绩。 深入研究该计划如何影响参与者，将最大限度地发挥干预措施的影响，并为未来改善 STEM 转学生教育体验的努力提供信息。UCF STRONG 项目由三个组成部分组成，这对于实现提高 STEM 转学生的保留率、毕业率和职业成功的计划目标至关重要。第一个部分是设计、实施和改进高精度预测模型，以识别高风险 STEM 转移。利用有关转学的已知信息以及统计分析和机器学习，它将建立一种方法来预测哪些学生最不可能完成 STEM 学位，从而帮助 UCF 了解哪些学生将从 STRONG 中受益最多。第二个部分是提高 STEM 领域的转移保留率。 STRONG 学者将从预计不太可能毕业的经济困难的转学学生中选出，目的是由于他们参与 STRONG 项目而留住他们直至毕业。这一结果是通过刺激学术融合和培养所选领域的熟练程度来提高学生成功率的预期结果。 更具体地说，每个学生都在来自密切相关领域的志同道合的学生社区中扮演一个角色；他们还定期与导师会面并参与促进他们成功的 STEM 活动。 第三部分是了解干预措施如何影响 STEM 转学生积极参与自己学习的能力。项目团队将研究干预对元认知、动机和行为的影响，这些是自我调节学习的三大支柱，对学生的成功至关重要。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。