Physical Sciences Scholars (PSS) Program

在美国国家科学基金会科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金（S-STEM）计划的资助下，物理科学学者（PSS）计划正在为低收入学生提供支持，这些学生表现出经济需求和学术承诺，以在巴克内尔大学的STEM学科中取得成功。该项目在5年内为攻读物理科学（物理学和天文学、化学、地质学、环境地球科学）学士学位的学生提供84个奖学金。PSS计划将提供课堂外学术丰富的机会，以帮助低收入学生通过增强他们作为科学家的自我认同，成功过渡到STEM学科的奖励职业。有五个主要的策略来实现PSS计划的目标：提供奖学金;创建一个学生的队列，开始在探索住宿学院共享生活;提供专门和持续的教师指导;鼓励参与学生教师研究和相关的学术活动;并通过与职业发展中心密切合作，促进职业安置。因此，预计PSS学者将更好地准备在STEM专业取得成功，作为本科生，并更好地为毕业后的STEM职业做好准备。这个S-STEM轨道2项目将研究从自我决定理论和内在动机的促进确定的需求重点出现的问题。特别是，它将有助于新的知识，什么是已知的干预措施对经济困难的学生获得STEM学位的影响。巴克内尔大学的PSS计划还旨在更好地了解教师指导和队列动态对学术天赋低收入学生的学术成功的影响，这些学生通常也是代表性不足的少数民族，在一个专注于STEM的私立文科四年制机构主修STEM学科。计划评估活动将侧重于PSS学者的保留和成功，并探索哪些活动对这些学生在这种环境中的学术成功最重要。本研究将探讨以下三个研究问题：（1）社会经济地位较低的私立农村文科院校物理科学专业学生就业与学业成绩之间的关系。(2)学生作为科学家的自我认同如何随着时间的推移而变化？(3)内在动机和好奇心如何随着时间的推移而变化，并与学生作为科学家的自我认同有关？ 该奖项反映了NSF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。

With funding from the National Science Foundation's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the Physical Sciences Scholars (PSS) Program is providing support to low-income students with demonstrated financial need and academic promise to succeed in STEM disciplines at Bucknell University. The project is funding 84 scholarships over 5 years for students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in the physical sciences (Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology & Environmental Geosciences). The PSS program will provide opportunities for academic enrichment outside the classroom to help low-income students make successful transitions into rewarding careers in STEM disciplines by enhancing their self-identification as scientists. There are five primary tactics to accomplish the PSS Program objectives: provide scholarships; create a cohort of students that starts with shared living at the Discovery Residential College; provide dedicated and sustained faculty mentorship; encourage participation in student-faculty research and associated scholarly activities; and facilitate career placement by working closely with the Career Development Center. As a result, it is expected that PSS scholars will be better prepared to succeed in STEM majors as undergraduates and better equipped for careers in STEM after graduation. This S-STEM Track 2 project will research questions emerging from a focus on needs identified by Self-Determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation. In particular, it will contribute new knowledge to what is known about the effects of interventions on the STEM degree attainment of economically disadvantaged students. Bucknell University's PSS program also seeks to better understand the impact of faculty mentoring and cohort dynamics on the academic success of academically talented low-income students, who often are also underrepresented minorities, majoring in STEM disciplines at a private, liberal arts four-year institution focused on STEM. Program assessment activities will focus on the retention and success of the PSS scholars and explore which activities are most important for academic success of these students in this environment. The following three Research Questions will be explored: (1) What is the relationship between student employment and academic performance among low socioeconomic status physical science majors at a private rural liberal arts institution? (2) How will students' self-identification as scientists vary over time as a result of programming provided by this grant? (3) How do intrinsic motivation and curiosity vary over time and relate to students' self-identification as scientists? The results will be widely disseminated at STEM education conferences and journals.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.