STEM Community Outreach Research Engagement Project

这个为期五年的项目将为20名低收入、成绩优异、有经济需求的STEM本科学生提供奖学金。该奖学金将支持攻读生物学、化学、生物化学、数学、物理、信息系统、计算机科学或环境科学系统学士学位的学生。该项目的目标是为学者提供基于证据的支持，以提高他们获得STEM学位和追求STEM职业或研究生学位的毕业水平。为了实现这一目标，该项目将开发一个服务学习课程，为学者们提供利用他们的科学知识改善当地社区的机会。它还将为学者提供基于证据的支持，包括指导、职业准备和研究经验。帮助这些学者获得学位将有助于满足国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求。该计划有三个具体目标：(1)加强对学者的学术和课外支持，使至少90%的学者留到第二年，85%的学者毕业后获得STEM学位；(2) 90%的学者在毕业6个月内进入研究生项目或STEM专业岗位；(3)产生和传播关于学生服务学习与STEM专业坚持之间关系的知识。具体而言，项目团队计划调查嵌入科学课程的服务学习课程和为期三周的强化服务学习项目是否能提高学生的自我效能感、学术价值感和同伴联系。他们还计划调查这些因素是否有助于提高学生的毕业率和进入STEM职业。本研究的结果将进一步阐明服务学习对学生保留率和毕业率的影响，有助于理解STEM本科教育中可用的有效教育方法的范围。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加低收入、学业成绩优异、有经济需求的学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来科学家、工程师和技术人员的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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。

This five-year project will provide scholarships to twenty low-income, high-achieving STEM undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need. The scholarships will support students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, physics, information systems, computer science, or environmental science systems. The goal of the project is to provide Scholars with evidence-based supports that will improve their graduation with a STEM degree and pursuit of STEM careers or graduate degrees. To accomplish this goal, the project will develop a service-learning curriculum that provides Scholars with opportunities to use their scientific knowledge to improve local communities. It will also provide Scholars with evidence-based supports, including mentoring, career preparation, and research experiences. Helping the Scholars attain their degrees will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians. The project has three specific objectives: (1) to enhance academic and co-curricular supports for Scholars so that at least 90% are retained through year two and 85% graduate with a STEM degree; (2) place 90% of Scholars into graduate programs or professional STEM positions within six months of graduation; and (3) generate and disseminate knowledge about the relationship between student service learning and persistence in a STEM major. Specifically, the project team plans to investigate if a service learning curriculum embedded into science courses and a three-week intensive service learning project improve student self-efficacy, sense of perceived academic value, and peer connectedness. They also plan to investigate if these factors contribute to improved student graduation and progression into STEM careers. Findings from this research should further illuminate the effects of service learning on student retention and graduation, contributing to understanding the spectrum of effective educational methods available in STEM undergraduate education. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.