Multi-tiered Peer Mentoring and Experiential Learning for Academically Talented, Low-Income STEM Students

该项目将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，支持麦克默里大学留住并毕业有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生。麦克默里大学是一所四年制的拉美裔服务机构，为主要来自西德克萨斯州农村经济贫困地区的学生提供一个小型校园环境。该项目为期6年，将为15名攻读物理、化学、生物、数学或计算机科学学士学位的学生提供奖学金支持。该项目将提供学术咨询、同伴辅助学习支持、学术指导、领导力发展、职业准备以及获得其他高影响力实践的综合计划。这套支持旨在增加学生的留存感、归属感、职业认同感，以及大学和职业成功。该项目的一个基石将是一个创新的“近距离同行”辅导计划，将头两年的学生与第三年和第四年的同行导师配对，将那些第三和第四年的学生与最近从麦克默里大学毕业的同行导师配对。另一个关键方面是通过服务项目发展领导力。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率。该项目利用了一系列学生支持计划，包括“近距离同行”辅导；针对自然减员热点的同伴辅助学习；通过研究和/或专业实习参与体验式学习；以STEM身份认同和职业探索为重点的一年级研讨会；以及STEM欢乐日和服务项目。总体而言，这些支持计划旨在培养归属感和职业认同感，进而增强韧性和毅力。预测的结果是，一年级到二年级的保留率将增加到75%，四年毕业率将提高到60%，至少有90%的应届毕业生在毕业一年内在STEM职业生涯中找到工作，或者被研究生院或专业学校录取。更广泛的影响包括：针对所有麦克默里STEM学生的“近距离同行”辅导计划的潜在扩展和制度化；麦克默里STEM教员旨在更好地支持第一代和其他历史上被排除在外的学生的教学能力的增强；以及在整个麦克默里校区扩大佣人领导机会和STEM参与机会。形成性和总结性评价将包括收集有关保留率、毕业率和毕业后行为的数据，以及关于认同感和归属感活动有效性的调查。该项目的成功和有希望的内容将在州、地区和国家会议上传播，例如本科生研究理事会(CUR)或西班牙裔服务机构教育工作者联盟(AHSIE)的会议。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 at McMurry University. McMurry University, a four-year Hispanic Serving Institution, provides a small campus environment for students who come primarily from economically disadvantaged areas of rural West Texas. Over its 6-year duration, this project will provide scholarship support to 15 students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, or Computer Science. This project will provide a comprehensive program of academic advising, peer assisted learning support, academic coaching, leadership development, career preparation, and access to other high impact practices. This set of supports is designed to increase students' retention, sense of belonging, professional identity, and college and career success. A cornerstone of the project will be an innovative “near peer” mentoring program pairing students in their first two years of study with peer mentors in their third and fourth years of study, and those in their third and fourth years with peer mentors who are recent McMurry University alumni. Another key facet is leadership development through service projects.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project leverages an array of student support programs, including “near peer” mentoring; peer assisted learning for attrition hot spots; engagement in experiential learning through research and/or professional internships; a first-year seminar focused on STEM identity and career exploration; and STEM fun days and service projects. Collectively, these support programs are intended to foster a sense of belonging and professional identity that in turn will increase resilience and persistence. Predicted outcomes are an increase in freshman to sophomore retention to 75%, an increase in 4-year graduation rates to 60%, and a minimum of 90% of graduating seniors securing employment in a STEM career or admission into graduate or professional schools within one year of graduation. Broader impacts include: potential expansion and institutionalization of the “near peer” mentoring program for all McMurry STEM students; enhancement of pedagogical competencies of McMurry STEM faculty aimed at better supporting first-generation and other historically excluded students; and expansion of servant leadership opportunities and STEM engagement opportunities across the McMurry campus. Formative and summative evaluation will include collecting data related to retention rates, graduation rates, and post-graduation behavior as well as surveys on the effectiveness of activities on sense of identity and belonging. Successful and promising elements of the project will be disseminated at state, regional, and national conferences, such as meetings of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) or the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institution Educators (AHSIE). 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.