Promoting Engagement in Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Sciences

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，低收入的学生在犹他州谷大学（UVU）证明经济需要的保留和毕业。UVU是犹他州最大的高等教育机构，犹他州是美国发展最快的州。UVU也是一个开放式招生机构，拥有多样化的学生群体。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为至少40名正在攻读物理科学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金，包括化学，地球科学和物理学。奖学金高达$7，500长达4年将被授予，由资金支持原创性研究和专业发展的补充。教师指导，本科生研究机会和重要的职业准备将提高整个奖学金期间学者的保留和准备。与导师合作，学者将创建一个个人发展计划，映射他们的职业目标和实现这些目标所需的步骤。一个重点也将放在队列建设活动，这将促进物理科学学者在UVU的支持性社区的扩大。该项目将提供资源和支持，以扩大多样性，容量和UVU的物理科学课程的能力，使该机构能够更好地满足犹他州及其他地区对训练有素的STEM毕业生日益增长的需求。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入，高成就的本科生的STEM学位完成证明经济需要。有三个具体目标：1）促进学生在物理科学方面的学业有前途的低收入学生的成功; 2）为学生的研究生教育和职业做好准备; 3）增加STEM入学率。在UVU已经确定了几个损耗点，并且已知会阻碍学生在STEM途径中的进步。至关重要的是，干预措施继续得到完善，该项目的重点是评估战略，以改善学生的成果，从群体一直在STEM领域代表性不足，特别是因为它涉及到毕业和未来的就业。该项目将分析学生的成果，当与调查和采访的反应相结合时，将告知教育干预措施的有效性，如奖学金计划，导师制和本科生研究。通过纵向评估，该项目还旨在促进对开放式大学基于导师的奖学金计划的整体功效的理解。该项目的成果将通过社交媒体，专业会议和STEM教育期刊上的出版物提供给STEM社区。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 Utah Valley University (UVU). UVU is the largest institution of higher education in Utah, the fastest growing state in the union. UVU is also an open-admissions institution with a diverse student population. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to at least 40 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in the physical sciences, including Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics. Scholarships of up to $7,500 for up to 4 years will be awarded, supplemented by funding to support original research and professional development. Faculty mentoring, undergraduate research opportunities and significant career preparation will enhance the retention and preparation of scholars throughout the scholarship duration. In collaboration with mentors, scholars will create an individual development plan mapping their career goals and the steps needed to achieve those goals. An emphasis will also be placed on cohort-building activities, which will foster the expansion of a supportive community of physical science scholars at UVU. This project will provide the resources and support to expand the diversity, capacity, and capability of the physical science programs at UVU, placing the institution in a better position to address the increasing need for highly trained STEM graduates in Utah and beyond.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. There are three specific objectives: 1) promote student success for academically promising low-income students in the physical sciences; 2) prepare students for post-graduate education and careers; and 3) increase STEM enrollment. Several attrition points have been identified at UVU and are known to hinder student progress in STEM pathways. It is essential that interventions continue to be refined and critical that the project focus on evaluating strategies that improve outcomes for students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in STEM fields, especially as it pertains to graduation and future employment. This project will analyze student outcomes which, when combined with survey and interview responses, will inform the efficacy of educational interventions like scholarship programs, mentorship, and undergraduate research. Through longitudinal evaluation, the project also aims to advance understanding of the overall efficacy of a mentor-based scholarship program at an open-admission university. Results of this project will be made available to the STEM community through social media, professional conferences, and publications in STEM education journals. 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.