Scholarships, Mentoring, and Evidence-based Study Skills to Support Undergraduate Student Success in Science and Engineering at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

该项目将通过支持新墨西哥矿业与技术学院（一所公立四年制，以stem为重点的西班牙裔服务机构）保留和毕业表现出经济需求的优秀低收入学生，从而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。该项目为期五年，将为至少34名攻读STEM学科学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金，这些学科包括生物学、工程学、计算机科学、地球科学、数学和/或物理学。一年级学生将获得四年的奖学金，转学生将获得最多三年的奖学金。该项目将为学生提供指导和工作坊，指导学生的专业知识和技能发展。学生还将接受基于证据的学习策略的指导，以提高他们在第一学期的关键过渡时期的学习技能。该项目的实证研究旨在告知大学如何改善低收入学生的学习策略和学业成就。一个主要的预期结果是增加传统上代表性不足的学生进入STEM高薪职业的人数。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。该项目将评估三种具体干预措施的影响：1)定向指导；2)奖学金;3)由一个真实的同伴榜样来展示学习技巧的证据。先前的研究表明，在大型研究型大学，社区建设和指导性指导可以提高留用率。该项目将确定针对所有STEM专业的指导是否可以在小型公共HSI中取得成功。机构数据显示，当经济援助在毕业前结束时，许多不再有资格获得联邦援助的低收入学生无法完成他们的学位。这种资金短缺导致了符合佩尔资格的学生和其他学生之间的毕业差距，在大学四年级到六年级之间增长了11%。该项目将通过奖学金和直接指导来解决这一问题，以促进课程选择和明确计划，在四年内完成毕业。学习技巧将通过视频演示来解决，以实验性地操纵提供学习策略证据的人是由研究人员还是由学校的榜样校友或学长提出的，这些人在必修的科学和数学课程中提高了自己的表现。项目评估将使用有关学生在指导指导下的发展数据、关于学习技能的身份信息研究以及奖学金本身的有效性，以提高STEM专业的留校率和毕业率。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 New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, an public four-year, STEM-focused Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to at least 34 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor degrees in STEM disciplines including biology, engineering, computer science, earth science, mathematics, and/or physics. First-year students will receive four-year scholarships, and transfer students will receive up to three-year scholarships. The project will provide students with directed mentoring and workshops to guide students’ professional knowledge and skill development. Students will also receive instruction about evidence-based study strategies, to improve their study skills at a critical transition in their first semester. The project's empirical research is designed to inform universities how to improve study strategies and academic success of lower-income students. A major intended outcome is increasing the number of of traditionally underrepresented students who enter higher-paying careers in STEM. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project will evaluate the impact of three specific interventions: 1) directed mentoring; 2) scholarships; and 3) presentation of evidence on study skills by an authentic near-peer role model. Previous research has shown that community-building and directed mentoring can increase retention at large research universities. This project will determine whether mentoring aimed at all STEM majors can succeed at a small, public HSI. Institutional data shows that, when financial aid sunsets before graduation, many low income students who no longer qualify for federal aid cannot afford to finish their degrees. This financial shortfall results in a graduation gap between Pell-eligible and other students that grows 11% between college years four and six. This project will address this issue with scholarships and directed mentoring, to facilitate course selection and clear plans to achieve graduation within four years. Study skills will be addressed through video presentations to experimentally manipulate whether the person providing evidence on study strategies presents either by a researcher or a role model alumnus or upperclassman from the institution who has improved their own performance on required science and math coursework. Project evaluation will use data about development of students in directed mentoring, the research on identity messaging about study skills, and the effectiveness of the scholarships themselves to increase retention and graduation rates of STEM majors. 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.