Faculty-Mentored Experiences for Improving Undergraduate Biology Student Outcomes

国家科学基金科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金(S-STEM)计划将支持犹他州山谷大学有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生的留校和毕业。在五年的时间里，这个项目将为37名攻读生物、生物技术或植物学学士学位的学生提供全额学费奖学金。这个项目旨在通过解决几个自然流失因素来提高这些学生的保留率和毕业率，这些因素包括完成工作所需的时间过长、过多的兼职工作以及孤立感。该项目将通过创建一个本科生研究计划来解决这些因素，该计划支持奖学金学生在教师指导下的研究。该项目旨在为劳动力和研究生院培养低收入、有学术天赋的学生。该项目旨在增进关于循证实践对学生自我效能、兴趣和坚持性的影响的知识。该项目的主要目标是：1)在传统上STEM入学率较低的开放招生教学机构促进学生的成功和STEM学位的完成；2)提供教师指导的研究和其他经验，以丰富学生的教育，并增加他们为劳动力和研究生院做准备；以及3)增进关于自我效能、教师直接性和教师指导在支持学生成功方面的作用的知识。这个项目将有助于培养生物学生和教职员工的社区意识。该项目的一个关键组成部分是一门迎新课程，第一学期的奖学金获得者将在该课程中了解教师/学生团队进行的研究。该项目的一个重要方面是培训和评估为教师研究导师提供的指导。奖学金获得者将参加他们感兴趣的研究实验室之间为期两周的轮换。随后，学生们将与他们选择的由教师指导的研究团队一起工作。代替研究，学生将能够参与其他类型的教师指导的项目、助教和实习。所有奖学金获得者的丰富活动包括每月两次的会议，多层次的指导网络，以及包括出席会议和演讲在内的职业发展机会。这个项目将有助于奖学金学生之间的专业合作精神，以支持他们的研究生准备和在生物科学领域的职业生涯。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program will support the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Utah Valley University. Over a five-year period, this project will fund full-tuition scholarships to 37 students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, biotechnology, or botany. This project aims to improve the retention and graduation rates of these students by addressing several attrition factors, including lengthy time to completion, excessive part-time work, and feelings of isolation. The project will address these factors by creating an undergraduate research program that supports faculty-mentored research for scholarship students. This project aims to prepare low-income, academically talented students for the workforce and graduate school. The project seeks to advance knowledge about the impact of evidence-based practices on student self-efficacy, interest, and persistence. The primary goals of the project are to: 1) promote student success and degree completion in STEM at an open-enrollment teaching institution with traditionally low STEM enrollments; 2) provide faculty-mentored research and other experiences that enrich students' education and increase their preparation for the workforce and graduate school; and 3) advance knowledge about the roles of self-efficacy, teacher immediacy, and faculty mentoring in supporting student success. This project will help cultivate a sense of community among the biology students and faculty. A key component of the project is an orientation course where first-semester scholarship recipients will learn about research conducted by faculty/student teams. An important aspect of the project is the training and evaluation of mentoring provided to faculty research mentors. The scholarship recipients will participate in two-week rotations among research laboratories that interest them. Subsequently, the students will work with their choice of faculty-mentored research team. In lieu of research, students will be able to participate in other types of faculty-mentored projects, teaching assistantships, and internships. Enrichment activities for all scholarship recipients include twice-monthly meetings, a multi-level mentoring network, and professional development opportunities that include conference attendance and presentation. This project will contribute to a professional cooperative spirit among the scholarship students that can support their preparation for graduate school and careers in the biological sciences.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.