Fostering Interdisciplinary Community, Belonging, and Success of Low-Income, High-Achieving Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics Majors

该项目将通过支持密歇根大学安娜堡分校成绩优异的低收入学生的成功和留住，来促进国家对在量化领域接受过高度培训的科学家和专业人员的需求。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为三批攻读数学、计算机科学和统计学学士学位的学生(总共45名本科生)提供奖学金。进入该项目的二年级学生和转校生将在毕业时获得经济支持。该项目将通过几个关键活动和结构来支持学者完成他们的专业并进入他们毕业后的追求。其中包括一个以项目为基础的跨学科暑期学院；关键二年级课程中的小型学习社区；训练有素的长期教师导师；专注于项目的学术顾问；以及已建立的更广泛的STEM学者计划的资源。该项目将通过增加学生的归属感、学业成功和经济上的向上流动来支持他们，更广泛的机构和学科也将受益。作为该项目的一部分，教师将接受指导来自历史上被边缘化群体的学生的培训。该项目支持的与课程相邻的学习社区也将在赠款有效期后继续支持专业，特别是那些来自STEM传统上代表性较低的群体的专业。最广泛地说，这三个目标学科将受益于使从业者队伍多样化。虽然微积分作为STEM学科的看门人受到了极大的关注，但这个项目为微积分以外的课程的学生提供了一种新的有针对性的支持方法。该项目的总体目标是提高数学、计算机科学和统计学专业低收入、高成就本科生的学位完成成功率(以成绩、就业和研究生项目录取为衡量标准)。具体地说，该项目的目标包括让学者在有针对性的二年级课程中达到成绩基准，获得实习机会，与导师建立持久的关系，并在所选学科坚持相关的职业或研究生院。将使用以利用为重点的方法对项目持续时间进行形成性和总结性成果监测评价，以(1)记录项目目标和目的的实现情况，(2)通报实施过程中的改进，(3)记录学生成果实现情况，以及部门和机构影响，以及(4)获取经验教训，为知识传播产品提供信息。对于形成性评估，评估小组将收集书面和焦点小组形式的学者反馈，跟踪总体出勤率和参与情况，并比较不同的学习小组参与激励结构及其成功率。对于终结性评估，评估小组将收集几个经过验证的量表上的调查数据、年级数据、选课数据和职业规划/成就数据，并将这些结果与45名学生的准试验性、可比“等待名单”进行比较。评估小组还将跟踪部门、纪律和机构各级的结果。赠款小组将在相关国家会议、大学内部、同行评议出版物和项目网站上分享项目成果和关键经验教训。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。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业成功、留住、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优势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 scientists and professionals highly trained in quantitative fields by supporting the success and retention of high-achieving, low-income students at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Over its six year duration, the project will provide scholarships to three cohorts of students (45 unique undergraduate students total) who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics. Second-year students and transfer students entering the program will receive financial support through graduation. The project will support scholars through their major and into their post-graduation pursuits via several key activities and structures. These include a project-based, interdisciplinary, summer institute; small learning communities in key second year courses; trained, long-term faculty mentors; project-dedicated academic advisors; and the resources of an established broader STEM scholar program. The project will support students by increasing their sense of belonging, academic success, and financial upward mobility, and the institution and disciplines more broadly will also benefit. As part of the project, faculty will be trained in mentoring students from historically marginalized groups. The course-adjacent learning communities that the project supports will also continue to sustain majors, especially those from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM, beyond the lifetime of the grant. Most broadly, the three target disciplines will benefit from diversifying the pool of practitioners. While much attention has been paid to Calculus as a gatekeeper to STEM disciplines, this project offers a novel approach in its targeted support for students in courses beyond Calculus. The overall goal of the project is to increase degree completion success (as measured by grades, employment, and graduate program admissions) of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates in Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics. Specifically, goals of the project include having scholars achieve grade benchmarks in targeted second-year courses, obtain internships, build lasting relationships with mentors, and persist in relevant careers or graduate school in their chosen disciplines. A utilization-focused approach will be used to conduct a formative and summative outcome monitoring evaluation of the project’s duration to (1) document the attainment of project goals and objectives, (2) inform improvements in the implementation process, (3) document student outcome attainment, as well as departmental and institutional impacts, and (4) capture lessons learned to inform knowledge dissemination products. For formative evaluation, the evaluation team will collect scholar feedback in written and focus group format, track overall attendance and participation, and compare different incentive structures for study group participation and their success rates. For summative evaluation, the evaluation team will collect survey data on several validated scales, grade data, course-taking data, and career planning/attainment data, and compare these results with a quasi-experimental, comparable “waitlist” of 45 students. The evaluation team will also track outcomes at the department, discipline, and institutional levels. The grant team will share program results and key lessons at relevant national conferences, within the University, through peer-reviewed publications, and on a project 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.