Faculty-Mentored Experiences for Improving Undergraduate Biology Student Outcomes

美国国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金（S-STEM）计划将支持犹他谷大学表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业。在五年的时间里，该项目将为37名攻读生物学、生物技术或植物学学士学位的学生提供全额奖学金。该项目旨在通过解决几个流失因素来提高这些学生的保留率和毕业率，这些因素包括完成时间过长、兼职工作过多和孤独感。该项目将通过创建一个本科生研究项目来解决这些因素，该项目支持教师指导的奖学金学生的研究。该项目旨在为低收入、有学术天赋的学生准备工作和研究生院。该项目旨在提高对基于证据的实践对学生自我效能感、兴趣和毅力的影响的认识。该项目的主要目标是：1)在传统上STEM入学率较低的开放招生教学机构中促进学生在STEM方面的成功和学位完成；2)提供教师指导的研究和其他经验，丰富学生的教育，为就业和研究生学习做好准备；3)进一步了解自我效能感、教师即时性和教师指导在支持学生成功中的作用。这个项目将有助于培养生物系学生和教师之间的社区意识。该项目的一个关键组成部分是介绍性课程，第一学期的奖学金获得者将了解由教师/学生团队进行的研究。该项目的一个重要方面是培训和评估提供给教员研究导师的指导。奖学金获得者将在他们感兴趣的研究实验室中参加为期两周的轮岗。随后，学生将与他们选择的教师指导的研究团队一起工作。代替研究，学生将能够参加其他类型的教师指导的项目，助教和实习。所有奖学金获得者的丰富活动包括每月两次的会议，多层次的指导网络，以及包括参加会议和演讲在内的专业发展机会。这个项目将有助于奖学金学生之间的专业合作精神，可以支持他们为研究生院和生物科学事业做准备。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。

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program will support the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Utah Valley University. Over a five-year period, this project will fund full-tuition scholarships to 37 students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in biology, biotechnology, or botany. This project aims to improve the retention and graduation rates of these students by addressing several attrition factors, including lengthy time to completion, excessive part-time work, and feelings of isolation. The project will address these factors by creating an undergraduate research program that supports faculty-mentored research for scholarship students. This project aims to prepare low-income, academically talented students for the workforce and graduate school. The project seeks to advance knowledge about the impact of evidence-based practices on student self-efficacy, interest, and persistence. The primary goals of the project are to: 1) promote student success and degree completion in STEM at an open-enrollment teaching institution with traditionally low STEM enrollments; 2) provide faculty-mentored research and other experiences that enrich students' education and increase their preparation for the workforce and graduate school; and 3) advance knowledge about the roles of self-efficacy, teacher immediacy, and faculty mentoring in supporting student success. This project will help cultivate a sense of community among the biology students and faculty. A key component of the project is an orientation course where first-semester scholarship recipients will learn about research conducted by faculty/student teams. An important aspect of the project is the training and evaluation of mentoring provided to faculty research mentors. The scholarship recipients will participate in two-week rotations among research laboratories that interest them. Subsequently, the students will work with their choice of faculty-mentored research team. In lieu of research, students will be able to participate in other types of faculty-mentored projects, teaching assistantships, and internships. Enrichment activities for all scholarship recipients include twice-monthly meetings, a multi-level mentoring network, and professional development opportunities that include conference attendance and presentation. This project will contribute to a professional cooperative spirit among the scholarship students that can support their preparation for graduate school and careers in the biological sciences.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.