Innovative Scholarship Supports for STEM Pre-Professionals: Identity, Research, and Education

该项目将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，方法是支持高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生留校并毕业于约翰·卡罗尔大学，约翰·卡罗尔大学是一个耶稣会机构。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为33-36名正在攻读生物、化学、计算机科学、数据科学、数学、物理和/或心理学学士学位的全日制一年级学生提供长达4年的奖学金，每年最高可达15,000美元。该项目旨在通过为学生提供建立STEM认同感和自我效能感的具体机会，特别是在他们大学生涯的早期，来提高STEM专业的坚持性和成功。除奖学金资助外，学者还将获得密集的咨询和支持，以显著提高他们成功完成STEM学位和填补区域劳动力严重缺口的能力。支持包括参加夏季桥梁计划、生活在STEM生活学习社区(LLC)、研究和实习机会，以及旨在加强向STEM劳动力过渡的课程。生物技术、医疗保健和其他以科学为基础的行业的新兴区域市场推动了对学术人才的需求。该项目将以高比率招收、支持、教育和毕业。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率。为此，项目团队将追求三个具体目标。首先，提高一年级学生的平均绩点，使其至少与非低收入同龄人持平，并使持久率和毕业率至少与院校平均水平相当。第二是以循证课程和共同课程活动为基础并加以调整，以最大限度地支持基于早期第一轨道项目(截止日期1741814)的学者。第三，也是最后一点，是通过提高STEM教职员工对影响低收入学生的问题的认识和敏感性，鼓励机构文化转变。对学者的干预和支持将包括为期两周的暑期过渡计划，用于进入一年级学者，在STEM生活学习社区生活长达两年；提供三门关于研究、STEM劳动力和STEM创业的课程；研究和实习机会；以及在他们的四年中提供结构化的队列建议。该项目将考察旨在支持STEM学生并培养他们的认同感、归属感和自我效能感的多种干预措施的效果，这些都是已知的促进STEM坚持的心理社会因素。该项目还将促进人们对在STEM LLC生活一年和两年对学习习惯、对学位完成的坚持和归属感的影响的理解。STEM教师将在该项目的头三年参加关于包容性教育学的研讨会，以培养围绕影响低收入学生的问题的文化意识和体制变革。结果将在校园内和相关专业会议上分享，并发表在同行评议的教育期刊上，供更大的STEM教育界使用。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 well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at John Carroll University, a Jesuit institution. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships of up to $15,000 per year for up to 4 years to 33-36 unique full-time, first-year students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, and/or Psychology. This project aims to increase persistence and success in STEM majors by offering students concrete opportunities to build a sense of STEM identity and self-efficacy, particularly early in their college careers. Scholars will receive intensive advising and supports in addition to scholarship funding to significantly enhance their ability to successfully complete STEM degrees and fill critical gaps in the regional workforce. Supports include participation in a Summer Bridge Program, living in a STEM Living-Learning Community (LLC), research and internship opportunities, and coursework designed to augment the transition to the STEM workforce. Emerging regional markets in biotechnology, healthcare, and other science-based industries fuel demand for the academically-talented students this project will recruit, support, educate, and graduate at high rates.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Toward this end the project team will pursue three specific aims. First is to increase the GPAs of first-year scholars to be at least equivalent to non-low-income peers, and achieve persistence and graduation rates at least equivalent to institutional averages. Second is to build on and adapt evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities to best support scholars based on an earlier Track 1 project (DUE #1741814). Third, and finally, is to encourage an institutional culture shift by increasing knowledge and sensitivity about issues affecting low-income students among STEM faculty. Interventions and supports for scholars will include a two-week summer bridge program for entering first-year scholars, living in a STEM Living-Learning Community for up to two years; offering three courses on research, STEM workforce, and STEM Entrepreneurship; research and internship opportunities; and structured cohort advising throughout their four years. This project will examine the effect of multiple interventions aimed at supporting STEM students and fostering their sense of identity, belonging, and self-efficacy, which are psychosocial factors known to promote persistence in STEM. The project also will advance understanding of the effect of one versus two years of living in a STEM LLC on study habits, persistence to degree completion, and sense of belonging. STEM faculty will participate in workshops on inclusive pedagogy in the first three years of the project to cultivate cultural awareness and institutional change surrounding issues affecting low-income students. Results will be shared on-campus and at relevant professional meetings and published in peer-reviewed education journals for the greater STEM education community. 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.