Creating a Path to Achieving Success and Sense of Belonging in Computer Science

该项目将通过支持表现出经济需要的成绩优异的低收入家庭学生的保留和毕业，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。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将向28名在马萨诸塞州伍斯特伍斯特理工学院（WPI）攻读计算机科学学位的有才华、有经济需求的本科生颁发总计112份奖学金。该项目将为即将入学的学生提供学术准备，并基于以往对弱势和边缘学生经历的研究，为队列学术经历提供以学生为中心的支持。该项目将有助于缩小符合佩尔资格和非佩尔资格的学生在计算机科学方面的留校率和毕业率之间的差距，并为学生在研究生院和最终的职业生涯中取得成功做好准备。该项目的目标包括1)缩小低收入（佩尔）学者和非佩尔计算机学生之间的保留率和毕业率差距，2)为获得计算机科学学士学位的学生提供相互关联的支持机会，以提高学习成绩和归属感。为了实现这些目标，该项目将研究、开发和实施一个基于证据的网络模型，在这个模型中，同辈的同龄人相互联系、共同学习，并在他们的大学教育中建立他们的计算机科学身份。这些活动将根据低收入学生在计算机专业的成功、保留和毕业情况进行评估。该项目将促进我们对最佳实践和经验教训的理解，这将有助于其他教育工作者改善STEM教育。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。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. Over its six-year duration, this project will award a total of 112 scholarships to 28 talented undergraduate students, with a demonstrated financial need, who are pursuing degrees in computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts. The project will provide academic preparation for incoming students and create student-centered support for cohort academic experiences based on previous studies of the experiences of disadvantaged and marginalized students. This project will help to close the gap between Pell-eligible and non-Pell-eligible students in their retention and graduation rates in computer science, and prepare students for success in graduate school and ultimately their professional careers. The goals of this project include 1) closing the retention and graduation rate gap between the low-income (Pell) scholars and non-Pell computing students, and 2) providing interconnected support opportunities to enhance the academic performance and sense of belonging for students earning a B.S. degree in computer science. To meet these goals the project will study, develop, and implement an evidence-based network model where cohort peers connect, study together, and build their computer science identity throughout their college education. These activities will be evaluated based on the success, retention, and graduation of low-income students in computing. This project will advance our understanding of best practices and lessons that will assist other educators to improve STEM education. 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.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.