Project-based Service Learning and Career-training to Support Graduation and Career Readiness of Engineering and Computing Science Majors

该项目将通过支持杰克逊维尔大学（Jacksonville University）成绩优异的低收入家庭学生的留校和毕业，帮助满足全国对工程师和计算机科学家的需求。这所大学是佛罗里达州的一所小型私立大学，主要是本科生。该项目为期五年，将为35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。该项目将采用包容性招聘活动，促进公平获得项目奖学金和支持活动。学者将进入三个年度队列，并获得长达四年的奖学金支持。学者团队将包括一年级到大四的学生，他们已经注册或正在参加基于课程整合项目的服务学习课程。项目示例包括指导K-12机器人团队和开发用于自我监测健康指标的应用程序。学者们还将获得课外支持，包括由项目团队成员、教师导师和同伴导师指导的学习社区。为了支持职业准备，学者们将有机会参加一个学期的职业培训课程，并参加由职业资源中心提供的职业研讨会。该项目还希望加强与当地工业的联系，从而增加在杰克逊维尔大学接受培训的工程师和计算机科学家的实习和就业机会。由于其共同努力，该项目有可能增加高技能的下一代STEM专业人员的数量。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。该项目有以下具体目标：1。增加工程和计算机科学专业的招生人数；2. 改善工程和计算机科学教育，提高留校率和毕业率；3. 提高学者的职业准备。将进行一项纵向研究，探讨课程和课外活动对学生准备进入STEM劳动力的影响。知识的产生将通过一种混合方法进行定量和定性研究，调查项目支助结构在促进职业准备方面的有效性。项目团队计划与行业合作伙伴密切合作，帮助学者从课程项目过渡到实习或全职工作。该项目包括一个强大的外部评估计划，将由摩根州立大学的合格评估人员进行。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 help meet the national need for engineers and computer scientists by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students at Jacksonville University. This University is a small private, predominantly undergraduate institution in Florida. Over its five-year duration, the project will fund scholarships to 35 full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in engineering or computing science. The project will use inclusive recruitment activities to promote equitable access to the project’s scholarships and support activities. Scholars will enter in three annual cohorts and receive up to four years of scholarship support. The Scholar cohorts will include first-year through senior-year students who are enrolled or serving in curriculum-integrated project-based service-learning courses. Examples of projects include coaching K-12 robotics teams and developing applications to self-monitor health indicators. Scholars will also have access to co-curricular supports including a learning community guided by project team members, faculty mentors, and peer mentors. To support career readiness, Scholars will have opportunities to enroll in a semester-long career-training course and attend career workshops offered by the career resource center. The project also expects to strengthen connections with local industry, thus increasing internship and employment opportunities for engineers and computer scientists trained at Jacksonville University. As a result of its collective work, the project has the potential to increase the number of highly skilled, next-generation STEM professionals.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project has the following specific aims: 1. Increase enrollment of students in engineering and computing science majors; 2. Improve engineering and computing science education to increase retention and graduation rates; 3. Improve the Scholars’ career readiness. A longitudinal study will be conducted to explore the effects of curricular and co-curricular activities on preparing students to enter the STEM workforce. Knowledge generation will be accomplished through a mixed methods quantitative and qualitative study that investigates the effectiveness of the project’s support structures in promoting career readiness. The project team plans to work closely with industry partners to help Scholars transition from course projects to internships or full-time jobs. The project includes a robust external evaluation plan that will be conducted by a qualified evaluator from Morgan State University. 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.