Scholarship Opportunities for Student Retention and Degree Attainment in Undergraduate Engineering and Computer Science Programs

该项目将通过支持北亚利桑那大学表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，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。北亚利桑那大学（NAU）是一所西班牙裔服务机构。该项目为期6年，将为36名攻读土木工程、计算机工程、电气工程、机械工程和计算机科学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。一年级学生和转学生将分别获得四年和两年的奖学金。该项目将为学者们制定一个正式的指导计划，为他们提供充足的机会获得同行和教师指导，职业和专业发展，与工程项目校友建立联系，以及参加课外和课外活动，这将有助于提高他们的技能，扩大他们的整体工程经验。该项目将在高中学区开展外展活动，为参与STEM研究领域的人数不足的大量人口提供服务，并为社区大学工程预科专业的学生提供学术途径。NAU的工程课程建立在积极/体验式学习理念的基础上，为学生提供充足的机会获得深入的知识和基本的工程技能，并为整个社会做出重大贡献。该项目的更广泛影响将通过学生毕业后返回和回馈社区来实现，努力提高他们家庭和社区的生活水平。该项目的智力价值在于促进对计划的干预措施和课外活动将如何影响工程和计算机科学专业低收入学生的招聘、保留、成功、学术/职业道路和毕业的理解。为了提高有经济需求的低收入、优秀本科生的STEM学位完成率，该项目将实现四个目标。首先是为来自北亚利桑那地区的代表性不足和经济不稳定群体的学生扩大上大学的机会。第二是通过学生服务，如指导和职业发展，增加学生的成功，保留和毕业，这些都有充分的证据证明是有效的。三是促进学生进入相关的就业/职业道路，四是为工程预科社区学院学生提供完成工程和计算机科学学士学位的学术途径。项目团队的具体目标包括：a)建立正式的教师指导计划，以培养学者的科学身份和职业道路；b)提供职业发展培训，包括支持学者主动寻求实习机会；c)指导工程预科社区大学生获得工程学士学位的途径。该项目将了解具体的支持机制和课程创新对代表性不足的工程和计算机科学学者的保留、学业成功、职业发展和毕业率的影响。计划中的教育研究将调查为数据收集和分析所选择的模型是否适合本项目中计划的活动类型和结果。评估将使用混合方法进行，以收集有关项目每个组成部分的定量和定性信息。结果将用于改进项目的各个方面，所吸取的经验教训将适用于奖励期结束后的工作。该项目的成果将通过内部研讨会、期刊出版物和会议报告进行传播。出版物和演讲将记录项目成果、成就和最佳实践的经验教训，为学生提供促进包容性参与STEM的学习环境。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 Northern Arizona University. Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a Hispanic Serving Institution. Over a 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 36 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. First-year students and transfer students will receive four-year and two-year scholarships, respectively. The project will develop a formal mentoring program for Scholars to provide them with ample opportunities for peer and faculty mentoring, career and professional development, networking with engineering program alumni, as well as for participating in extra- and co-curricular activities that will help sharpen their skills and broaden their overall engineering experience. The project will engage in outreach activities in high school districts serving significant populations underrepresented in their participation in STEM fields of study, and facilitate academic pathways for pre-engineering majors at community colleges. The engineering curriculum at NAU is built around an active/experiential learning philosophy that offers students ample opportunities to acquire in-depth knowledge and essential engineering skills and to make significant contributions to society at large. The broader impacts of the project will be enacted by Scholars returning to and giving back to their communities after graduation, working toward improving the standard of living of their families and communities at large. The intellectual merit of the project is in advancing the understanding of how the planned interventions and co- and extra-curricular activities will affect the recruitment, retention, success, academic/career pathways, and graduation of low-income underrepresented students in engineering and computer science.To increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need, the project will pursue four goals. First is to broaden opportunities for university access to students from underrepresented and financially insecure groups from the broader Northern Arizona region. Second is to increase student success, retention, and graduation through student services such as mentoring and career development for which ample evidence of effectiveness exists. Third is to facilitate student advancement to relevant employment/career pathways, and fourth is to foster academic pathways for pre-engineering community college students to complete B.S. degrees in engineering and computer science at NAU. Specific objectives for the project team include a) establishing a formal faculty mentorship program to foster scientific identity and career pathways for Scholars, b) providing career development training that includes and supports Scholars in proactively seeking internship opportunities, and c) mentoring pre-engineering community college students on pathways to engineering BS degrees. This project will generate knowledge about the impact of specific support mechanisms and curricular innovations on the retention, academic success, career development, and graduation rates of underrepresented engineering and computer science Scholars. The planned educational research will investigate the suitability of the models chosen for data collection and analysis for the type of activities and outcomes planned in this project. The evaluation will be conducted using mixed methods to gather both quantitative and qualitative information about each component of the project. The results will be used to improve all aspects of the project, and lessons learned will apply to work beyond the end of the award period. The outcomes of this project will be disseminated through internal seminars, journal publications, and conference presentations. Publications and presentations will document project outcomes, accomplishments, and lessons learned on best practices to provide students with learning environments that promote inclusive participation in STEM. 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.