Scholarships to Support Undergraduate Student Success and Broaden Participation in Engineering and Computer Science

该项目将有助于对受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员的国家需要，通过支持在田纳西州州立大学表现出经济需要的高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业。 该大学是一所历史上的黑人大学，学生人数众多，在STEM领域代表性不足。在五年的时间里，该项目将为45名攻读工程或计算机科学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。学者将被录取在五个年度队列，并获得长达两年半的奖学金支持。除了提供财政支持外，该项目还将通过队列建设活动，本科生研究经验，本科生支持服务，暑期实习，研究生院准备以及参加区域和国家STEM会议来支持学生的成功。鉴于学生人口的统计数据和区域社区学院转学生的招聘活动，该项目有可能扩大工程和计算机科学劳动力的参与。该项目的结果可以为其他高等教育机构提供有效的学生支持服务，帮助学生坚持STEM课程，并帮助从社区学院转学的学生顺利过渡到四年制STEM学位课程。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率。该项目旨在帮助学生坚持STEM学位课程，并通过以下方式帮助转学学生从社区学院成功过渡到四年制学位课程：（1）提高学生的参与度;（2）提高保留率和学习成绩;（3）提高学生的自我效能。评估和进度监测监督小组将指导学生从入学到入学。该项目将创建一个生活和学习社区，其中学习模式包括相互学术支持，相互情感支持，社会和社区支持以及行业参与。来自和关于学者的数据将使用既定的调查工具和机构记录收集，以确定学生的支持网络如何变化和增长，因为学生被录取，保留，并从选定的STEM程序毕业。通过跟踪和监控学生的学习成绩，保留率和毕业率，该项目将提供有关如何确保学生在工程和计算机科学方面取得成功的见解。项目评估将使用混合方法来评估项目活动对学生成功的影响。 项目成果将通过在专业协会会议上的演讲、在STEM教育期刊上的出版物以及项目网站传播给STEM教育界。该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。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术成功，保留，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 Tennessee State University. The University is a Historically Black University with a high population of students who are underrepresented in STEM fields. Over its five-year duration, the project will provide scholarships to 45 unique full-time students who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering or computer science. Scholars will be admitted in five annual cohorts and receive up to two-and-half years of scholarship support. In addition to providing financial support, the project will support student success through cohort building activities, undergraduate research experiences, undergraduate student support services, summer internships, graduate school preparation, and participation in regional and national STEM conferences. Given the demographics of the student population and the recruiting activities for transfer students from regional community colleges, this project has the potential to broaden participation in the engineering and computer science workforce. Results from this project could inform other higher education institutions about effective student support services that can help students persist in STEM programs and help transfer students from community colleges make a smooth transition to a four-year STEM degree program.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project intends to help students persist in STEM degree programs and to help transfer students make a successful transition from community college to a four-year degree program by: (1) improving students’ engagement; (2) boosting retention and academic performance; and (3) enhancing student self-efficacy. Assessment and progress monitoring oversight teams will guide Scholar cohorts from entrance to matriculation. The project will create a living and learning community in which the learning model includes mutual academic support, mutual emotional support, social and community support, and industry involvement. Data from and about Scholars will be collected using established survey instruments and institutional records to determine how a student’s support network changes and grows as the student is matriculated, retained, and graduated from the selected STEM programs. By tracking and monitoring students’ academic performance, retention rates, and graduation rates, this project will provide insights on how to ensure student success in engineering and computer science. Project evaluation will use a mixed methods approach to evaluate the impact of the project activities on student success. The project results will be disseminated to the STEM education community through presentations at professional society conferences, publications in STEM education journals, and the project’s web site. 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.