Using a Scientific Literacy Approach to Increase Retention and Graduation of Undergraduates in Biology, Biochemistry, and Chemistry

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The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program supports the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. Over a five-year period, this S-STEM project at the College of Mount Saint Vincent will fund 88 annual scholarships of up to $7,000 for 22 students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, biochemistry, or chemistry. The project aims to build scientific literacy, defined as the scientific reading, comprehension, writing, and presentation skills students need to be successful STEM majors and professionals. To achieve this aim, the program will offer a Freshman Seminar with a focus on scientific literacy, and peer-led workshops that extend through the third year of study. Additionally, it will promote academic and post-baccalaureate success by engaging students in career development and enrichment activities such as scientific conferences, career panels, and field excursions to museums and academic centers. Participating students will also have the opportunity to engage in faculty-mentored scientific research. The primary goals of this S-STEM project are to improve academic performance, retention, graduation, and post-baccalaureate opportunities for participating low-income students. The project activities have been shaped by successful models for supporting students from minority and other populations that are underrepresented in STEM, both of whom comprise a significant portion of the College's student population. The project will investigate the effects of improved scientific literacy on these measures of student academic success. The project will gather data about student performance to answer the research question: In what ways does a combined program that features peer and faculty mentoring affect development of scientific literacy? The effectiveness of the overall project will be evaluated both formatively and summatively using a mixed methods approach, to promote project improvement and measure project outcomes, accomplishments, and lessons learned. This project has the potential to increase the number of students with financial need who earn STEM degrees and enter the STEM workforce, thus strengthening the STEM workforce and contributing to its diversity.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.