Bolstering the Advancement of Mathematics Master's Students to Prepare for Doctoral Mathematics Programs

该项目将通过支持加州州立大学弗雷斯诺分校(CSU-Fresno)、旧金山州立大学和加州州立理工大学波莫纳分校留住和毕业有经济需求的高成就低收入学生，为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做出贡献。所有这些大学都是加州州立大学(CSU)系统中的大学，都是为拉美裔服务的机构。CSU-Fresno和旧金山州立大学也是为太平洋岛民服务的亚裔美国人、美洲原住民和太平洋岛民服务机构(AANAPISI)。在五年的时间里，这个项目将为30名正在攻读数学硕士学位的学生提供两年的奖学金。其目标是支持这三所大学的硕士项目中有经济需求和学术前景的学生留住和毕业，这些学生计划攻读数学科学博士学位，包括数学教育。该项目的五个组成部分是：1)加强学术准备；2)强有力的指导；3)带有中期基准的结构化轨迹；4)支持学生申请博士课程和研究生奖学金；5)为学生介绍研究和网络提供差旅支持。此外，学者将受益于三个CSU之间的合作，因为他们将获得所有三个部门的资源。该项目旨在招收和支持硕士研究生入学，然后在数学科学的博士项目中蓬勃发展。它建立在之前的两个NSF项目的基础上，这两个项目通过密集的暑期项目支持本科生学习数学。该项目将把这些早期的发现纳入两年制强化硕士课程，以提供更广泛的高级课程、更广泛的研究经验以及广泛的指导和社区建设机会。该项目将基于两种行动理论。首先，提供奖学金将允许学生工作更少的时间，并分配足够的时间致力于学业准备。第二，有组织的指导和频繁的战略基准将帮助学生利用他们的时间发展知识基础和学术资历，以便进入博士项目。该项目将通过衡量干预措施的效果来记录其影响。为了做到这一点，将通过两种方式进行研究。首先，收集和分析学生对他们的项目的调查和简短的反思，他们遇到的问题和挑战，以及他们用来应对这些挑战的策略。其次，比较三个项目地点之间的项目和人口差异，以研究项目的地方差异如何影响结果。将使用三管齐下的混合方法对项目效果进行外部评价：1)监测项目执行情况；2)评估项目活动在推动参与者实现项目目标方面的成效；3)报告项目的总结性效果。项目成员将在“梦想的田野”、奇卡诺人/拉美裔美国人和美国原住民科学促进会以及由美国数学协会、美国数学学会或太平洋数学联盟组织的其他会议上展示他们的发现，并在数学/数学教育期刊上发表结果，如果可能的话，包括学生参与者作为共同作者。该项目还将有一个网站，在那里可以访问材料。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并产生关于低收入学生的学业成功、留住、转移、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at California State University-Fresno (CSU-Fresno), San Francisco State University, and California State Polytechnic University-Pomona. All of these universities are in the California State University (CSU) system and are Hispanic-Serving Institutions. CSU-Fresno and San Francisco State University are also Asian-American, Native-American, Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI). Over its five-year duration, this project will fund two-year scholarships to 30 students who are pursuing master's degrees in mathematics. The goal is to support the retention and graduation of students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise in master's programs at the three universities who plan to pursue a Ph.D. in the mathematical sciences, including mathematics education. The five components of the project are: 1) strengthened academic preparation; 2) robust mentorship; 3) structured trajectories with interim benchmarks; 4) support for students' applications to Ph.D. programs and graduate fellowships; and 5) travel support for student presentations of research and networking. Additionally, scholars will benefit from the collaboration among the three CSUs as they will have access to resources from all three departments. The project aims to recruit and support Master's students to matriculate and then thrive in doctoral programs in the mathematical sciences. It builds on two prior NSF projects that supported undergraduate students in mathematics through intensive summer programs. The project will incorporate those earlier findings into intensive 2-year Master's programs to provide for more extensive advanced coursework, extended research experiences and a broad range of mentorship and community building opportunities. The project will be based on two theories of action. The first is that providing scholarships will allow students to work fewer hours and allocate sufficient time to dedicate to academic preparation. The second is that structured mentorship and frequent strategic benchmarking will help students to use their time to develop the knowledge base and academic credentials to matriculate to a Ph.D. program. The project will document its impact by measuring the effects of the interventions. In order to do this, research will be conducted in two ways. First, to collecting and analyze student surveys and short reflections on their program, questions and challenges that they are encountering, and strategies they are using to address these challenges. Second, to compare program and population differences among the three project sites to study how local variation to the project may affect outcomes. A three-pronged, mixed methods approach will be used to externally evaluate project effectiveness: 1) monitor project implementation, 2) assess the efficacy of project activities in moving participants towards project goals, and 3) report on the summative effects of the project. Project members will present their findings at conferences such as the "Field of Dreams," the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, and others organized by the Mathematical Association of America, the American Mathematical Society, or the Pacific Math Alliance and publish the results in mathematics/mathematics education journals, including student participants as co-authors when possible. The project will also have a website in which materials will be accessible. 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 talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, 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.