Supporting Engineering and Computing Studies Scholars through Experiential Learning, Personal Development, and Community Service

该项目将通过支持甘农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。甘农大学是一所私立的四年制本科大学，位于宾夕法尼亚州伊利市。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为大约85名攻读工程和计算机研究学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金，包括机械、电气、软件、环境、生物医学和工业工程。将为入选的新生提供为期一年的奖学金（最多可续签四年）。该计划提供专业和个人发展活动，以支持毕业留校，并帮助学生在毕业后茁壮成长。这些活动包括旨在培养学生工作能力、体验式学习、个人发展和社区建设活动的课程。该项目通过积极的学生建议、同伴指导以及与教师建立密切的个人关系，有助于学生的学业成功。项目更广泛的影响体现在体验方面，帮助当地有需要的慈善组织开发低成本的工程解决方案来解决专业问题，从而提高大学社区（位于美国最贫穷的邮政编码之一）的宜居性，并鼓励学生从事社区服务。该项目的智力价值在于建立了留住学生的额外最佳做法，并获得了有关为在基础数学和物理课程中挣扎的学生提供学术援助所采取行动的有效性的知识。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。工程与计算研究卓越学者（SEECS）计划的目标是：(1)增加低收入、有学术天赋、有经济需求的学生的数量，特别是女性（一个代表性不足的群体），他们参加并从甘农大学的工程和计算机研究项目中毕业；(2)通过提供奖学金和严格的学术支持来促进学生的学位获得；(3)促进专业发展，帮助学生进入STEM领域的职业生涯和/或研究生教育。(4)以摩擦点课程为重点，研究和交流有针对性的干预措施对学业成绩优秀生留存率的影响。为了实现这些目标，该项目旨在：(1)平均每年为符合条件的学生提供25个奖学金，(2)实现SEECS学者平均90%的大一至大二保留率，(3)为学者提供学术和专业发展，为他们在STEM领域和/或研究生院就业做好准备，(4)制定和维护招聘策略，以实现30%的女性申请者比例，以及(5)为关键路径课程提供学术支持。SEECS的基本理念是通过增加低收入学生的机会来帮助增加工程研究的多样性。此外，根据过去对损耗的研究，已经注意到有两门特殊的课程会引起学术问题，即微积分和物理。该项目利用同伴指导和多层次的学术建议来提供额外的支持，以促进学生在这些课程中的成功。因此，SEECS的目标既促进了多样性，又通过为毕业生提供学术和经济援助来支持强大劳动力的发展。结果将通过会议论文集和期刊的出版物传播，并将通过大学网站提供。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 Gannon University. Gannon is a private, four-year, primarily undergraduate university located in Erie, Pennsylvania. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to approximately 85 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in engineering and computing studies, including mechanical, electrical, software, environmental, biomedical, and industrial engineering. One-year scholarships (renewable for up to four years) will be offered to selected incoming freshman students. The program provides professional and personal development activities chosen to support retention to graduation and help students thrive post-graduation. These activities include sessions geared towards building student competence in the workplace, experiential learning, personal development, and community-building activities. The project contributes to student academic success through active advising of students, peer mentoring, and development of close, personal ties to faculty members. The broader impact of the project is found in the experiential aspect, wherein local in-need charitable organizations are assisted in development of low-cost engineered solutions to specialized problems, thereby enhancing livability in the university neighborhood (which is situated in one of the poorest zip codes in the USA) and encouraging students towards community service. Intellectual merit of the project is to be found in the establishment of additional best practices in student retention and in knowledge gained about the efficacy of actions taken to provide academic aid to students struggling in fundamental math and physics courses.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The goals of the Scholars of Excellence in Engineering and Computing Studies (SEECS) program are to: (1) increase the number of low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need, especially women (an under-represented group), enrolled in and graduating from Gannon University’s engineering and computing studies programs, (2) facilitate students’ degree attainment by providing scholarships and rigorous academic support, (3) foster professional development and assist students’ entry into careers in STEM fields and/or graduate education, and (4) study and communicate the impact of targeted interventions on retention of high academic performing students, focusing on attrition-point courses. To realize these goals, this project aims to: (1) provide 25 scholarships per year on average for eligible students, (2) achieve an average 90% freshman to sophomore retention rate for SEECS scholars, (3) provide scholars with academic and professional development preparing them for employment in a STEM field and/or graduate school, (4) develop and maintain recruitment strategies to achieve a 30% rate of women applicants, and (5) provide academic support for critical path courses. The underlying philosophy of SEECS is to help increase diversity in engineering studies by increasing access to low-income students. Further, based upon past study of attrition, it has been noted that there are two particular courses that cause academic problems, namely Calculus and Physics. This project utilizes peer mentoring and multi-level academic advising to provide additional support to bolster student success in these courses. Thus, SEECS goals both foster diversity, and support development of a strong work force by providing academic and financial assistance towards graduation. Results will be disseminated through publications in conference proceedings and journals and will be made available through the university website. 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.