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

该项目将有助于国家需要受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员通过支持高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业，证明在麦克默里大学的经济需要。麦克默里大学是一所为期四年的西班牙裔服务机构，为主要来自德克萨斯州西部农村经济落后地区的学生提供小型校园环境。在6年的时间里，该项目将为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。该项目将提供一个全面的学术咨询计划，同行协助学习支持，学术辅导，领导力发展，职业准备，并获得其他高影响力的做法。这套支持旨在提高学生的保留，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“近同行”辅导计划配对学生在他们的头两年的研究与同行导师在他们的第三和第四年的研究，以及那些在他们的第三和第四年与同行导师谁是最近的麦克默里大学校友。另一个关键方面是通过服务项目培养领导力。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“近同行”辅导;摩擦热点的同行辅助学习;通过研究和/或专业实习参与体验式学习;专注于STEM身份和职业探索的第一年研讨会;和STEM有趣的日子和服务项目。总的来说，这些支持计划旨在培养归属感和职业认同感，从而提高弹性和持久性。预计结果是在大一到大二的保留增加到75%，在4年毕业率增加到60%，并在毕业后一年内获得就业的STEM职业或进入研究生或专业学校的毕业生的最低90%。更广泛的影响包括：潜在的扩展和制度化的“近同行”辅导计划为所有麦克默里干学生;麦克默里干教师的教学能力的增强，旨在更好地支持第一代和其他历史上被排斥的学生;和仆人的领导机会和扩大整个麦克默里校园干参与的机会。形成性和总结性评估将包括收集与保留率、毕业率和毕业后行为有关的数据，以及关于身份感和归属感活动有效性的调查。该项目的成功和有前途的元素将在州，地区和国家会议上传播，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，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。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术成功，保留，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 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.