The Science of Success: Addressing Workforce Needs in North Dakota

该项目将通过支持北达科他州立科学学院（NDSCS）表现出经济需求的优秀低收入学生的保留和毕业，为满足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。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为至少70名全日制和非全日制学生提供奖学金，这些学生正在攻读11个职业技术教育（CTE）和5个文科转学课程的副学士学位。根据入学趋势，大约85%的奖学金获得者预计将是CTE学生。该项目通过为每位STEM学者提供个性化的财务、学术和专业成功支持，解决了保留、毕业和参与问题。这包括体验式学习，如课堂项目、实习、研究项目、课外活动和专业发展活动。该项目还支持一项专业发展活动，该活动将培养STEM意识，理解STEM学科之间关系的能力，并利用科学，技术，工程和数学领域协同解决问题。该项目将通过毕业学生解决全州和地区的需求劳动力，这些学生不仅拥有行业和大学所需的技术技能，而且还将拥有职业成功的关键职业技能，并了解他们的专业对STEM社区的重要性。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、成绩优异的本科生的学位完成率。该项目的具体目标是(1)招收有学术天赋且有经济需要的STEM学生，(2)在第一至第二学年保留100%的STEM学者，并在两年内毕业90%的STEM学者，以及(3)在整个学习计划中融入专业技能。留住员工的努力将集中在教师和同伴指导、学生成功倡议和体验式学习上。该项目将通过为教师和学生提供专业发展活动，包括个性化成长计划和职业成功研讨会，以及课外活动形式的领导机会，解决大学教育与行业期望之间的脱节问题。每个STEM项目的学生都认为自己的项目与其他项目是隔离的。该项目将通过在整个职业成功研讨会中纳入STEM意识活动，安排参观每个校园实验室以了解每个项目的相似之处，并鼓励学生团体之间的项目合作，来解决这种误解。该项目将为学生提供必要的知识和技能，为他们的职业生涯做出贡献，并了解他们对地区和国家STEM需求的个人贡献。该项目将使用学生调查、结构化访谈、焦点小组和学生作业和工件清单分析的混合方法进行评估。调查结果将向公众、CTE和STEM社区公布。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 North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS). Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to a minimum of 70 unique full- and part-time students who are pursuing associate’s degrees in 11 career and technical education (CTE) and 5 liberal arts transfer programs. Based on enrollment trends, approximately 85% of the scholarship recipients are expected to be CTE students. The project addresses retention, graduation and engagement by providing financial, academic, and professional success support personalized to each STEM Scholar. This includes experiential learning such as class projects, internships, research projects, co-curricular activities, and professional development activities. This project also supports a professional development activity that will develop STEM awareness, the ability to understand the relationship between STEM disciplines, and use the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics collaboratively to solve a problem. The project will address the statewide and regional in-demand workforce by graduating students who not only possess the technical skills required by industry and universities but will also possess the career-ready skills critical for professional success, and understand the importance of their profession to the STEM community.The overall goal of this project is to increase degree completion rates for low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The specific objectives of the project are to (1) recruit academically-talented STEM students with demonstrated financial need, (2) retain 100% of the STEM Scholars from their first to second year of study and graduate 90% of STEM Scholars within two years, and (3) integrate professional skills throughout their plan of study. Retention efforts will focus on faculty and peer mentoring, student success initiatives, and experiential learning. This project will address the disconnect between college education and industry expectations by including professional development activities for faculty and students that include individualized growth plans and career success seminars as well as leadership opportunities in the form of co-curricular activities. Students in each STEM program view their program as being isolated from the others. The project will address this misconception by incorporating STEM awareness activities throughout the career success seminars, arranging tours of each campus laboratory to learn how each program is similar, and by encouraging collaboration on projects between student groups. The project will provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to their career, and to understand their individual contribution to regional and national STEM needs. The project will be evaluated using a mixed-method approach of student surveys, structured interviews, focus groups, and inventory analyses of student work and artifacts. The results will be disseminated to the public, and CTE and STEM communities. 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.