Growing STEM Student Success through Scholarship and Community Building with Experiential Learning and Data Science

榆树圣母学院（榆树学院）将通过社区参与的体验式学习，结合数据科学和支持性的学生学习环境，提高有经济需求的学术天赋的STEM学生的保留率和成功率。Elms将为至少40名独特的低收入学生（10名一年级学生和30名转学生）提供奖学金和教育支持，这些学生的专业包括生物学、生物技术、化学、计算机科学、计算机信息技术和安全以及数学。所有STEM学者都将获得社区参与的体验式学习活动和机会，以在每年的学习中培养数据科学技能，最终获得实习或研究经验。通过STEM外展活动招募和留住STEM学生，该项目将成为两年制和四年制学院之间合作的典范。Elms College将实施一项创新的高影响力S-STEM计划，涉及社区参与的体验式学习和数据科学技能培养，以提高学术天赋，低收入STEM学者的保留，成功和职业成果。这一举措的更广泛的影响是通过消除低收入学生的成功障碍来增加STEM劳动力的数量和多样性，这些学生迄今为止在追求STEM研究领域方面仍然代表性不足。这一举措将加强STEM转移途径，提高转移和学位完成率。该项目的调查结果将产生关于参与社区参与体验式学习和数据科学技能建设如何积极影响低收入STEM学生的保留，毕业和成功的知识。社区参与的体验式学习将被纳入STEM创新挑战赛等队列活动，以及数据科学/分析、实习和科学研究等课程。这些机会将允许学生探索与他们的职业目标直接相关的实践项目，并获得和实践他们所选择的STEM职业所需的技能。这一举措将建立从社区学院到文理学院的途径，并提高国家需要的STEM领域的保留率和毕业率。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，并产生有关低收入学生的学术成功，保留，转移，毕业和学术/职业途径的知识。

The College of Our Lady of the Elms (Elms College) will increase the retention and success of academically-talented STEM students with financial need through community-engaged experiential learning incorporating data science and supportive student learning environments. Elms will provide scholarships and educational support for at least 40 unique low-income students (10 first-year students and 30 transfer students) in the STEM majors of Biology, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Computer Information Technology and Security, and Mathematics. All STEM scholars will be provided community-engaged experiential learning activities and opportunities to build data science skills in each year of their studies, culminating in an internship or research experience. With STEM outreach events to recruit and retain STEM students, this project will serve as a model for cooperation between two-year and four-year colleges.Elms College will implement an innovative high-impact S-STEM program involving community-engaged experiential learning and data science skill-building to increase the retention, success, and career outcomes of academically talented, low-income STEM scholars. The broader impact of this initiative is to increase the number and diversity of the STEM workforce by removing the barriers to success for low-income students who have thus far remained underrepresented in their pursuit of STEM fields of study. This initiative will strengthen STEM transfer pathways and improve transfer and degree completion rates. Findings from this project will generate knowledge on how participation in community-engaged experiential learning and data science skill-building positively impacts the retention, graduation, and success of low-income STEM students. Community engaged experiential learning will be built into cohort activities, such as the STEM Innovation Challenge, and courses, such as Data Science/Analytics, internships, and scientific research. These opportunities will allow students to explore hands-on projects directly related to their career goals and to acquire and practice skills needed in their chosen STEM careers. This initiative will build pathways from community colleges to liberal arts colleges and increase retention and graduation rates in STEM areas of national need. 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 studentsThis 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.