Scholarships and a Learning Community Approach to Support Success of Undergraduates in Mathematics and Biology

该项目将通过支持东康涅狄格州立大学（Eastern Connecticut State University）这所以本科生为主的公立文理学院的优秀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。该项目为期五年，将为10名攻读生物学或数学学士学位的全日制本科生提供奖学金。奖学金获得者将分为两组，第一年的奖学金获得者将获得长达四年的奖学金支持。该项目旨在通过一个学习社区来提高学生对STEM的坚持，该社区提供建议和指导，并促进学者和教师之间的牢固关系。学者们将在教师和同行的指导下制定实现职业目标的路线图。奖学金获得者还将有机会参加一系列全面的支持性活动，包括本科研究经历、为STEM研究生学习和职业生涯做准备、以STEM为重点的研讨会，以及对STEM相关学术机构和行业的实地考察。除了发展Scholar学习社区外，该项目还计划修订STEM课程，以更好地支持所有一年级STEM学生的保留。该项目有可能增加低收入、有学术天赋的学生对STEM的坚持，并有助于减少全国STEM毕业生的短缺。将研究和公开分享项目活动对STEM持久性的有效性。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。该项目旨在将学生转变为STEM劳动力或研究生学习，并了解他们在本科职业生涯中的哪些实践有助于他们对STEM的信心和坚持。低收入家庭的学生，尤其是第一代大学生，进入大学时通常缺乏自信，认为自己属于STEM领域。该项目旨在增加有关培养学生STEM身份的新知识。该项目包括对一个以群体为基础的跨学科学习社区的研究调查，该社区汇集了攻读生物学和数学专业的学生。该研究将研究学者的STEM身份如何受到参与基于群体的学习社区的影响，该社区促进了学生和教师之间的牢固关系。该项目还将确定支持STEM身份发展和STEM持久性的活动。工作假设是，一个基于队列的学习社区，帮助学者与教师和同龄人建立牢固的关系，将增加STEM的身份，从而提高STEM的保留率和成功率。研究方法包括一种混合方法来回答研究问题，使用来自调查、观察和对学生参与者、同伴和教师导师的采访的信息。该项目的结果将在大学网站、区域和国家会议上以及通过科学教育期刊上发表的手稿提供。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 Eastern Connecticut State University, a primarily undergraduate, public liberal arts institution. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 10 unique full-time undergraduate students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology or Mathematics. Scholars will be selected in two annual cohorts and first year Scholars will receive up to four years of scholarship support. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM through a learning community that provides advising and mentoring and fosters strong relationships among Scholars and faculty. Scholars will be mentored by faculty and peers as they develop a road map to achieve their career goals. The Scholars will also have access to a comprehensive range of supportive activities including undergraduate research experiences, preparation for STEM graduate studies and careers, STEM-focused seminars, and site visits to STEM-related academic institutions and industries. In addition to developing the Scholar learning community, the project also plans to revise STEM curricula to better support retention of all first-year STEM students. The project has the potential to increase the persistence of low-income, academically talented students in STEM, as well as to help reduce the national shortfall of STEM graduates. The effectiveness of the project activities on STEM persistence will be studied and shared publicly. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project aims to transition students into the STEM workforce or graduate studies and to learn which practices during their undergraduate careers facilitated their confidence and persistence in STEM. Low-income students, especially first-generation college students, typically enter college lacking the confidence to view themselves as belonging to the STEM field. This project is designed to add new knowledge about developing students' STEM identities. The project includes a research investigation of a cohort-based, interdisciplinary learning community that integrates students pursuing biology and mathematics majors. The study will examine how Scholars’ STEM identity is affected by engaging in a cohort-based learning community that promotes robust relationships among students and faculty. The project also will identify the activities that support STEM identity development and STEM persistence. The working hypothesis is that a cohort-based learning community that helps Scholars build strong relationships with faculty and peers will increase STEM identity, leading to increased retention and success in STEM. Research methods include a mixed methods approach to answer the research questions, using information from surveys, observations, and interviews with student participants, peer and faculty mentors. Results from this project will be made available on the University website, at regional and national meetings, and via published manuscripts in science 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.