Biology and Environmental Science Scholars Program to Support Achievement and Persistence in STEM

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，该项目将支持檀香山查米纳德大学表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生。在五年的资助期内，该项目将为攻读生物学或环境科学学士学位的学生提供18个奖学金。该项目将围绕岛屿复原力和可持续性主题为这些学者提供与文化相关的STEM教育，并支持他们在STEM方面的学术成就和坚持。该项目旨在培养一批毕业生，他们准备进入与区域需求相关的STEM学科的劳动力市场。该项目的目标是：1)减轻学生参与STEM的经济和学术障碍；2)承认并解决学生参与STEM的文化障碍；3)开发和评估反映学生需求、挑战、优势和文化期望的新课程和课外活动。通过本项目获得的知识将增进对文化基础课程和学术支持方法的理解，以提高学生的成功。教师导师将为学者提供学术支持、生活指导和宣传。学者将参与学术丰富活动，包括辅导、密集咨询、学术监督、学术危机缓解和群体学习社区。学者将有机会在水资源可持续性方面进行研究实习。该项目将开展活动，吸引学者的家庭参与，并与社区建立联系；这些活动旨在减少“局外人身份”，增加学者对高等教育和STEM职业的归属感。为了实现这些目标，该项目将重新设计生物学和环境科学课程，并试点一种新的“从山到海”的四年文化基础课程，旨在提高学生的保留率、绩效、文化认同和自我效能。该项目将产生有关学生成果的知识，涉及：(1)增加四年制学位过程的文化相关性；(b)实施和评估混合的本土和西方科学方法；(c)保持与地方和文化的联系。该项目旨在实施与文化相关的、以岛屿为中心的STEM教育经验，并促进包括STEM教师、校园管理人员和社区领袖在内的主要利益相关者之间的合作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Throughout its five years of funding, this project will provide 18 scholarships to students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Biology or Environmental Science. This project will provide these Scholars with culturally relevant STEM education around the theme of island resilience and sustainability and support their academic achievement and persistence in STEM. The project aims to develop a cohort of graduates who are prepared to enter the workforce in STEM disciplines connected to regional needs.The goals of the project are to: 1) mitigate students' financial and academic barriers to STEM participation; 2) acknowledge and address cultural barriers to students' STEM participation; and 3) develop and evaluate new curricular and extracurricular activities that reflect students' needs, challenges, strengths, and cultural expectations. The knowledge gained through this project will enhance understanding of culturally-grounded curricular and academic support approaches to enhance student success. Faculty mentors will provide Scholars with academic support, life coaching, and advocacy. Scholars will participate in academic enrichment activities including tutoring, intensive advising, academic monitoring, academic crisis mitigation, and cohort learning communities. Scholars will have research internship opportunities focused on water sustainability. The project will develop activities to engage Scholars' families and connect to the community; these activities will be designed to decrease 'outsider status' and increase Scholars' sense of belonging within higher education and STEM careers. To support these goals, the project will redesign Biology and Environmental Science courses and pilot a novel 'mountain-to-ocean' four-year, culturally-based curriculum designed to increase retention, performance, cultural identity, and self-efficacy. This project will generate knowledge about student outcomes related to: (1) increasing the cultural relevance of the four-year degree process; (b) implementing and assessing blended indigenous and Western science approaches; and (c) maintaining connections to place and culture. This project aims to implement culturally-relevant, island-focused STEM educational experiences and foster collaborations among major stakeholders that include STEM faculty, campus administrators, and community leaders.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.