Undergraduate Scholar Education and Research: Program To Usher Scholars Into Success in Computer Science

该项目将通过支持在弗雷斯诺加州州立大学（CSU-F）有经济需要的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为全国对受过良好教育的计算机科学家的需求做出贡献。加州州立大学弗雷斯诺分校是一所为西班牙裔美国人服务的机构，也是一所为亚裔美国人、美国原住民太平洋岛民服务的机构。本科学者教育和研究（USHER）项目为期五年，每年将向28名全日制学生提供1万美元的奖学金。17名新生将获得为期4年的奖学金，11名转学生将获得为期2年的奖学金。USHER提供了一系列活动来支持从入学到毕业的学者，包括密集的教师和同伴指导以及计算和算法思维的25个挑战（C2ATs），让学生接触计算机科学的各个领域，并让他们了解现实世界的问题以及如何解决这些问题。教师将指导学生起草一份职业生涯的STEM影响身份蓝图，让学者们看到通过研究项目回馈家乡社区的途径。STEM Impact Identity过程使更广泛的影响成为USHER的核心特征，创造了具有强烈服务导向身份的新一代计算机科学家。项目智力价值包括解决研究中的三个差距：衡量指导的有效性、有意的活动和定制的学术支持服务。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率，并证明有经济需求，以成功提高计算机科学学位完成率。有必要阐明与这些学生的保留、坚持和及时毕业有关的独特因素。USHER研究项目探讨了这些学生的动机和期望。本研究将有助于填补在记录影响学生坚持学习的各种因素方面的空白，包括增强学生在计算机科学领域的归属感。一名独立的外部评估人员还将收集有关USHER项目在提供一系列活动方面的有效性的数据，以支持学者的需求和兴趣，并确定USHER学者和匹配样本中的参与者之间在学科兴趣和熟练程度上是否存在差异。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 computer scientists by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at California State University, Fresno (CSU-F). California State University, Fresno is both a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American, Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. Over its five-year duration, the Undergraduate Scholar Education and Research (USHER) project will fund $10,000 annual scholarships to 28 unique full-time students. Seventeen freshmen will receive scholarships for four years and 11 transfer students will receive scholarships for two years. USHER provides a suite of activities to support Scholars from matriculation to graduation, including intensive faculty and peer mentoring and 25 Challenges for Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (C2ATs) that expose students to various fields in Computer Science and give them a glimpse of real-world problems and how to solve them. Faculty will mentor students to draft a blueprint for career-long STEM Impact Identity that allows the Scholars to see a path to giving back to their home communities through research projects. The STEM Impact Identity process makes broader impacts a core feature of USHER, creating a new generation of computer scientists who have strong service-oriented identity. The project intellectual merit consists of addressing three gaps in the research: measuring the effectiveness of mentorship, intentional activities, and customized academic support services.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need to succeed in increasing Computer Science degree completion. It is essential to shed light on the unique factors related to the retention, persistence, and timely graduation of these students. The USHER research project explores the motivations and expectations of these students. This research will help fill the gap in documenting the various factors that contribute to the persistence of students, including enhancing the student’s sense of belonging in the field of computer science. An independent external evaluator will also gather data on the effectiveness of the USHER program in delivering the suite of activities to support Scholars’ needs and interests and to ascertain whether there is a difference in disciplinary interest and sense of proficiency between USHER Scholars and participants in the matched sample. 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.