Building Institutional Capacity to Support STEM Scholars Through Pedagogy of Real Talk

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，方法是支持菲茨堡州立大学(FSU)留住并毕业有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生。在为期五年的时间里，该项目将为17名不同专业的学生提供奖学金，这些学生主修生物、化学、计算机科学、计算机信息系统、工程技术或数学。一年级学生将获得四年奖学金，转校生将获得两年奖学金。项目团队将在真实对话(PRT)教学的基础上，通过每两周一次的STEM研讨会，进一步支持这些学生的学业成功、职业准备和STEM职业安置。PRT是一种以证据为基础的教学方法，侧重于通过共享的个人叙述(Real Talk)和以学生的生活经验为基础的指导活动(替代课程)来参与、教学和与学生建立联系。同行、教师和专业导师将利用PRT原则。这种方法有助于创造一个包容的、以学生为中心的学习环境，让所有学生在他们选择的学术和职业道路上感到安全、知名和受重视。作为仅有的同时为教职员工和支持人员提供PRT培训的四年制院校之一，FSU处于有利地位，能够为有效应用PRT指导的干预措施提供有价值的见解。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。该项目将通过以下方式增加对STEM学者的支持：(A)为国内、低收入、有学业天赋的学生提供奖学金，以攻读STEM项目；(B)在一年级经验(FYE)课程的基础上每两周举办一次STEM研讨会，利用PRT实践创建学者社区；(C)暑期实习和本科生研究经验；以及(D)在整个计划期间利用教师、同行和专业导师为每个参与者提供PRT信息的导师阶梯模式。这些干预措施旨在支持3个项目目标：1)提高学生的招生、留住、毕业和升入STEM职业和/或进修的能力；2)支持学生在其选定的STEM专业范围内的归属感、学业成功和职业发展；3)建立机构能力，为所有学生建立这个由PRT指导的STEM职业发展计划。该项目还将调查由PRT指导的STEM研讨会的特点，这些研讨会有助于STEM学者的成长，PRT知情的导师和研讨会对研究和实习准备的影响，以及对学生归属感、学术成功和职业发展最有贡献的教职员工、专业和同行导师计划的关键特点。研究结果将与更广泛的学术界分享，以加强集体努力，支持学生在STEM取得成功。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 Fitchburg State University (FSU). Over its five-year duration, the project will fund scholarships to 17 unique students majoring in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Computer Information System, Engineering Technology, or Mathematics. First-year students will receive four-year scholarships and transfer students will receive two-year scholarships. The project team will further support these students’ academic success, career readiness, and STEM career placement through bi-weekly STEM seminars, building on the Pedagogy of Real-Talk (PRT). PRT is an evidence-based pedagogy focused on engaging, teaching, and connecting with students through shared personal narratives (Real Talks) and guided activities that build on students’ lived experiences (Alternative Lessons). Peer, faculty, and professional mentors will utilize PRT principles. This approach helps create an inclusive and student-centered learning environment that allows all students to feel safe, known, and valued within their chosen academic and career pathway. As one of the only 4-year institutions to have adopted PRT training for both faculty and support staff, FSU is well-positioned to yield valuable insights into the effective application of PRT-guided interventions. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project will increase support for STEM Scholars by offering: (a) scholarships for domestic, low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need pursuing STEM programs (b) bi-weekly STEM seminars that build on a First Year Experience (FYE) course using PRT practices to create a community of scholars; (c) summer internships and undergraduate research experiences; and (d) a PRT-informed mentorship ladder model that utilizes faculty, peer, and professional mentors for each participant throughout the program. These interventions have been developed to support 3 project goals: 1) Improve student recruitment, retention, graduation and progression into STEM careers and/or advanced study 2) Support student sense of belonging, academic success, and career development within their selected STEM discipline 3) Build institutional capacity to establish this PRT-guided STEM career development program for all students. The project will also investigate research questions about the characteristics of the PRT-guided STEM seminars that contribute to the growth of STEM Scholars, the impact of PRT-informed mentorship and seminars on research and internship preparation, and the key characteristics of faculty, professional, and peer mentorship programs that most contribute to student sense of belonging, academic success and career progression. Findings will be shared with the broader academic community to enhance the collective efforts to support student success in STEM. 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.