Leveraging Citizen Science to Grow and Diversify the Science, Engineering, and Technology Workforce of the Future

该项目将有助于对受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员的国家需要，通过支持高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业，证明在马里兰大学，一个私人的，天主教机构在阿灵顿，弗吉尼亚州，这是最近被指定为西班牙裔服务机构的经济需要。在6年的时间里，该项目将为22名攻读生物学、生物化学或信息技术学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。一年级学生将获得长达4年的奖学金支持。通过有针对性的沟通和强有力的营销，在玛丽蒙特的STEM项目注册和保留的学生人数预计将增加。学者们将参加旨在向他们介绍公民科学的合作活动，使他们能够通过大使计划在当地社区推广STEM，并通过举办公民科学研讨会，让他们与其他STEM专业人士接触。学者们将通过面向过程的、主题性的公民科学项目获得STEM基本技能，并利用这些技能为当地社区服务。学者将制定多阶段的职业规划，并在整个计划中接受教师和校友的指导。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入，高成就的本科生与证明财政需要完成STEM学位。以下目标将得到解决（1）招募和招收22名独特的学者在三个队列;（2）保留和研究生课程的学者在四年内;和（3）放置所有学者在干工作或研究生课程毕业后一年内。此外，该项目旨在探索参与公民科学如何影响学生的STEM技能，包括创造性思维，批判性地分析数据，在团队中有效工作，表现出自信，并以批判的眼光审视自己的看法。参与公民科学的假设是增加本科生的参与度，使STEM更容易获得。将探索在玛丽蒙特大学STEM项目本科课程中嵌入公民科学的最佳实践，并将创建其他大学公民科学实施的模式。该项目旨在加强STEM技能，这将导致更大的学生成功和保留，并促进STEM职业生涯。在整个项目中发展的技能将使参与者继续取得成功和专业流动。该项目还将使学者参与的社区受益，展示如何将科学用作当地社区的服务工具。将使用混合方法评估方法，包括入学，保留，毕业和职业安置数据，除了定性调查，书面反映和焦点小组。该项目的成果将通过介绍和出版物向广大受众公布。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 technologists by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Marymount University, a private, Catholic institution in Arlington, VA, that was recently designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 22 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, biochemistry, or information technology. First year students will receive up to 4 years of scholarship support. Through targeted communication and robust marketing, the number of students enrolled and retained in STEM programs at Marymount is expected to increase. Scholars will participate in collaborative activities designed to introduce them to citizen science, empower them to promote STEM in their local communities through an ambassador program, and allow them to engage with other STEM professionals by hosting a citizen science symposium. Scholars will gain STEM-essential skills through process-oriented, topical citizen science projects and use those skills to serve their local communities. Scholars will develop multi-stage career plans and receive mentoring throughout the program from faculty and alumni. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The following aims will be addressed (1) recruit and enroll 22 unique scholars across three cohorts; (2) retain and graduate program scholars within four years; and (3) place all scholars in STEM jobs or graduate programs within 1 year of graduation. In addition the project aims to explore how engaging in citizen science affects students’ STEM skills including their ability to think creatively, analyze data critically, work effectively in a team, exhibit self-confidence, and lend a critical eye to examine their own perceptions. Participation in citizen science is hypothesized to increase undergraduate student engagement and make STEM more accessible. Best practices for embedding citizen science in the undergraduate curriculum of STEM programs at Marymount will be explored, and a model for citizen science implementation at other universities will be created. This project aims to strengthen STEM skills, which will result in greater student success and retention and promote STEM careers. The skills developed throughout the project will allow for continued success and the professional mobility of participants. The project will also benefit the communities with which scholars engage, demonstrating how science can be used as an instrument of service in local communities. A mixed methods evaluation approach will be used, including enrollment, retention, graduation, and career placement data, in addition to qualitative surveys, written reflections, and focus groups. Results of the project will be made available through presentations and publications to a wide audience. 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.