Improving Professional and Scientific Competencies of Undergraduate Biological Sciences Students to Increase Graduation and Career Readiness

这个项目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。它将通过支持Ana G. Mendez - Carolina校区的学生保留和毕业来实现这一目标，该校区是波多黎各的一所西班牙裔服务机构。该项目将在五年内为12名攻读生物学、生物技术和微生物学理学学士学位的学生提供四年奖学金。该项目旨在通过建立一个学习社区来支持学生的学习成绩，从而提高奖学金获得者的留校率和毕业率。此外，它还侧重于帮助学者培养他们在大学和STEM职业生涯中取得成功所需的专业、研究和其他能力。该项目将分析哪些策略和心理社会因素在支持STEM领域的学生方面最成功。鉴于几乎所有在学院注册的学生都是西班牙裔，这个项目有可能扩大生物科学劳动力的参与。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。这个项目将提供一个基于探究社区理论模型的群组经验。这种体验将包括以学生为中心的学术和非学术支持，嵌入在多层次系统中，以及专业发展和体验式学习活动。预计这一队列经验将提高学者的竞争力，并为STEM职业做好准备。此外，该项目将产生有关有效实践的新知识，从而使低收入西班牙裔学生坚持STEM。通过集体案例研究和现象学研究来回答以下研究问题：(1)哪些社会心理因素促进了低收入西班牙裔STEM学生学术自我概念（科学认同）的发展？(2)科学身份在多大程度上预测了低收入西班牙裔学生在STEM职业道路上的持久性？(3)奖学金经历的哪些因素有助于低收入西班牙裔学生坚持STEM职业道路？项目评估将包括形成性和总结性评估，采用混合方法，包括定量和定性技术。研究结果将透过一系列研讨会及通讯与书院分享。通过在专业会议上的演讲，如美国本科教育工作者微生物学会会议和同行评议的STEM教育期刊上的出版物，将更广泛地传播到生物科学界。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，旨在增加有经济需求的低收入学术天才学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，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 project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians. It will do so by supporting the retention and graduation of students at the Universidad Ana G. Mendez - Carolina Campus, a Hispanic Serving Institution in Puerto Rico. Over five years, the project will provide four-year scholarships to twelve students who will pursue Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology, Biotechnology, and Microbiology. This project intends to increase the retention and graduation of the Scholars by developing a learning community to support student academic performance. In addition, it focuses on helping the Scholars develop the professional, research, and other competencies they need to succeed in college and in STEM careers. The project will analyze which strategies and psychosocial factors are most successful at supporting students in STEM fields. Given that nearly all students enrolled in the College are Hispanic, this project has the potential to broaden participation in the biological sciences workforce.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project will provide a cohort experience based on the Community of Inquiry theoretical model. The experience will include student-centered academic and non-academic support embedded in a multi-tiered system, together with professional development and experiential learning activities. It is expected that the cohort experience will increase the scholars’ competitiveness and readiness for STEM careers. In addition, this project will generate new knowledge about effective practices that lead to STEM persistence in low-income Hispanic students. A collective case study and a phenomenological study will be conducted to answer the following research questions: (1) What psychosocial factors promote the development of an academic self-concept (science identity) in low-income Hispanic STEM students? (2) To what extent does science identity predict persistence of low-income Hispanic students in STEM career pathways? (3) What elements of the scholarship experience contribute to the persistence of low-income Hispanic students in STEM career pathways? Project evaluation will include both formative and summative assessments using a mixed-methods approach that includes quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results of the study will be shared with the College community through a seminar series and newsletter. Broader dissemination to the biological sciences community will occur through presentations in professional conferences such as the American Society of Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Educators and publications in peer-reviewed STEM education journals. 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.