Fostering a Diverse Community of Future Chemists through Scholarship Support, Peer Instruction, Mentoring, and Professional Development

该项目将支持国家对高技能和多样化的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）劳动力的需求。它将通过增加中阿肯色大学化学专业的留校率和毕业率来实现这一目标。在第二学年开始之前，超过一半的大学一年级化学专业的学生已经换了专业或离开了学校。机构数据表明，一年级学生离开校园的主要原因是经济需求，对大学的严格要求准备不足，以及与校园社区的联系有限。为了满足经济需求，该项目将向至少10名学业成绩优异的低收入家庭学生提供奖学金。这些奖学金将为攻读化学学士学位的学生提供长达四年的资助。为了支持学业成功，该项目将为所有参加基础化学课程的学生提供同伴指导。为了支持他们的校园联系感，学者们还将获得指导和专业发展机会。这些支持有望提高化学专业学生的保留率和毕业率，缩小学生群体之间的成就差距，并为化学专业毕业生进入研究生院和从事STEM职业做好准备。该项目将通过确定项目活动中最能支持来自代表性不足群体的低收入农村学生取得成功的方面来产生知识。从这项工作中获得的见解可以应用于其他机构和其他STEM专业，从而扩大该项目对国家STEM劳动力的贡献。该项目的总体目标是提高化学专业本科学生的学位完成率，这些学生是低收入、成绩优异、经济需求未得到满足的学生。为了实现这一目标，该项目将开发和评估以证据为基础的课程和课外规划，包括补充指导、新的指导计划和改编自迈耶霍夫学者计划的元素。预计这些支持将提高中阿肯色大学化学专业的留校率和毕业率。中阿肯色大学是一所主要的本科院校，有大量来自农村高中的学生。混合方法分析将用于评估程序组成部分。数据将包括课程完成率、调查结果、焦点小组对话、领导反思、留校率和毕业率。项目评估将确定减少学生群体之间成绩差距的具体战略。项目活动的影响，包括meyerhoff风格的元素和指导，将被评估，以确定它们在多大程度上促进了科学社区，提高了学生的科学自我效能和素养。该项目的成果有可能增加化学毕业生进入STEM劳动力的多样性。此外，项目成果可以为其他机构或其他STEM领域的实践设计、实施和评估提供信息，以提高STEM本科学生的成功。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。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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 support the Nation’s need for a highly skilled and diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. It will do so by increasing retention and graduation of chemistry majors at the University of Central Arkansas. Before the start of their second year, more than half of the first-year students at the University who declare a chemistry major have changed their major or left the university. Institutional data suggest that the primary reasons that first year students leave campus are financial needs, inadequate preparation for the rigor of college, and limited connection to the campus community. To address financial needs, the project will provide scholarships to at least ten academically high-achieving, low-income students. These scholarships will support students for up to four years as they pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. To support academic success, the project will provide peer instruction to all students who are enrolled in foundational chemistry courses. To support their sense of campus connection, Scholars will also receive mentoring and opportunities for professional development. These supports are expected to increase the retention and graduation rates of chemistry students, reduce the achievement gap among student populations, and prepare chemistry graduates for graduate school and STEM careers. The project will generate knowledge by identifying aspects of the project activities that best support the success of low-income, rural students from underrepresented groups. Insights gained from this work can be applied to other institutions and to other STEM majors, thus broadening the project’s contributions to the national STEM workforce.The overall goal of the project is to increase degree completion of undergraduate chemistry majors who are low-income, high-achieving students with unmet financial need. To achieve this goal, the project will develop and evaluate evidenced-based curricular and co-curricular programming that includes supplemental instruction, a novel mentorship program, and elements adapted from the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. It is expected that this combination of supports will improve retention and graduation rates of chemistry majors at the University of Central Arkansas, a primarily undergraduate institution with a large population of students from rural high schools. A mixed-methods analysis will be used to evaluate program components. Data will include course completion rates, survey responses, focus group conversations, leader reflections, and retention and graduation rates. Project evaluation will identify specific strategies that reduce the achievement gap among student populations. The impact of project activities, including the Meyerhoff-style elements and mentorship, will be evaluated to determine how well they foster a science community and improve students' science self-efficacy and literacy. Outcomes of this project have the potential to increase the diversity of chemistry graduates entering the STEM workforce. In addition, project outcomes can inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of practices at other institutions or in other STEM fields to increase the success of undergraduate STEM students. 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.