Scholarships, Community, and Peer Academic Support for Success of Undergraduates in Computer Science and Mathematics

该项目将通过支持有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生的留校和毕业，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。具体地说，位于皮埃德拉斯的波多黎各大学的这一项目将为33名学生提供长达五年的奖学金支持，并提供有针对性的服务。该项目的总体目标是改善计算机科学或数学学士学位本科生的招聘和留住，并为他们就业或研究生院做好准备。这一计划将增加波多黎各学生进入计算机科学和数学等高需求学科的科学职业管道的人数。因此，该项目可以帮助满足不断扩大的对这些专业人员的需求，并增加地方和国家与STEM相关部门的劳动力的多样性。除了为成绩优异、经济困难的本科生提供奖学金外，该计划还将赞助以下活动：1)提高学者对继续深造或行业职业的认识；2)加强学者的学术和专业技能；3)建立社区意识和发展科学认同感；4)突出计算机科学和数学的社会和应用方面；以及5)通过同行顾问和导师支持学生学习。该项目将扩大以往S-STEM奖项的研究重点：(1)将学者纳入大学第二学期的奖项；(3)提高小组活动的协调性和连贯性，并通过定期的同行领导协作干预支持学者在障碍课程中的学习；(3)研究同行领导的团队学习模式对学者留存和学业表现的影响。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. Specifically, this project at the University of Puerto Rico in Piedras will provide 33 students with up to five years of scholarship support, together with targeted services. The overall project goal is to improve recruitment, retention of undergraduates pursuing bachelor’s degrees in computer science or mathematics and prepare them for employment or graduate school. This program will increase the number of Puerto Rican students who enter the scientific career pipeline in the high demand disciplines of computer science and mathematics. As a result, the project can help to meet the expanding need for these professionals and increase the diversity of the workforce in STEM-relevant sectors both locally and nationally. In addition to providing scholarships to high achieving, financially disadvantaged undergraduate students, the project will sponsor activities to: 1) increase the awareness of Scholars about further studies or industry careers; 2) strengthen the Scholars’ academic and professional skills; 3) build a sense of community and develop scientific identity; 4) highlight the social and applied aspects of computer science and mathematics; and 5) support student learning through peer advisors and mentoring. This project will expand the research focus of previous S-STEM awards by: (1) including Scholars as early as their second semester in college; (3) improving the coordination and coherence of group activities, and support Scholars in the barrier courses with periodic peer-led collaborative interventions; and (3) studying impact of the Peer-Led Team Learning model on Scholar retention and academic performance. 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.