Scholarships, Targeted Support, and Leadership Development to Increase Retention and Graduation of Math-Intensive STEM Majors

该项目将通过支持布鲁克代尔社区学院（Brookdale Community College）表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为全国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。在为期五年的时间里，该项目将为32名攻读工程、计算机科学、化学、物理或数学副学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。这些学者将以每年三次的形式进入，并获得最多三年的奖学金。除奖学金外，学者们还可以参加多种支持活动，包括：1)结合学术、成功和文化方面的夏季桥梁项目；2)每周一次的技能提升课程，与从微积分预科到微积分II的数学课程相关；3)由学者所在学科的教师指导；4)领导力研讨会，由行业、教师和学生演讲，以及旨在培养STEM领导技能和归属感的研讨会组成。学生将在第二年参加领导活动。研究项目、实习或与潜在的四年制转学机构的合作将成为学者的顶点经验。这些支持结构和领导力发展活动旨在通过解决学术和文化差异，帮助STEM教育创造公平的竞争环境。此外，他们将帮助学生在毕业后担任领导角色，从而为更加多样化和具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力做出贡献。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。具体目标包括提高五个目标专业的保留率和完成率，提高这些专业共有的四门数学课程的完成率，以及增强学者对STEM的认同感。课程数据和学生评估将被用来研究补充教学在数学课程中的有效性。学生反思日志、前后评估以及个人和小组访谈将被用来促进对学生发展为科学家身份的条件的理解。通过在区域和国家会议以及出版物上传播方案组成部分和成果，见解和最佳做法将在更大范围和更多机构中得到分享和调整。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 by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Brookdale Community College. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to thirty-two unique full-time students pursuing Associate's degrees in engineering, computer science, chemistry, physics, or mathematics. The Scholars will enter as three annual cohorts and receive scholarships for up to three years. In addition to scholarships, Scholars will have access to multiple supporting activities including: 1) a summer bridge program incorporating academic, success, and cultural facets; 2) a weekly skills-enhancement session tied to mathematics courses from pre-calculus to Calculus II; 3) mentoring by faculty members from the Scholar’s discipline; and 4) a Leadership Seminar that will feature industry, faculty, and student speakers and workshops designed to build leadership skills and belonging in STEM. Scholars will be expected to engage in a leadership activity during their second year. A research project, internship, or collaboration with a potential four-year transfer institution will serve as Scholars’ capstone experience. These support structures and leadership development activities are designed to help level the playing field in STEM education by addressing academic and cultural disparities. In addition, they will help prepare students to assume leadership roles after graduation, thereby contributing to a more diverse and globally competitive STEM workforce.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Specific objectives include increasing the retention and completion rates in the five targeted majors, raising the completion rates in the four-course mathematics sequence common to these majors, and enhancing the Scholars' sense of STEM identity. Course data and student assessments will be used to study the effectiveness of supplemental instruction in mathematics courses. Student reflective journals, pre- and post-assessments, and individual and group interviews will be used to advance the understanding of the conditions under which students develop identities as scientists. Through dissemination of program components and outcomes at regional and national conferences and in publications, insights and best practices will be shared and adapted on a larger scale and at additional institutions. 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 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.