STEM Community Building to Support Academic Success and Retention of Low-Income Students

伊萨卡学院的S-STEM Track 1项目将为14名有经济需要的学生--两批7人--提供奖学金支持，他们主修计算机科学、数学或物理/天文学。像伊萨卡这样的文科学院在教育低收入、农村、第一代和少数民族学生方面发挥着重要作用。伊萨卡学院的项目旨在为他们创造一个欢迎和包容的环境，并改善他们的学术和社会经历以及归属感。项目教师将从周围地区招募学者；通过奖学金减少他们的经济需求；并在学者队列中创造一种改善教师和同行关系和社区的文化。活动包括生活/学习社区、同行辅导和辅导、教师指导、研究和实习，以及旨在改善软技能和人际关系的研讨会。这些支持将有助于该项目的目标，即减少自然减员；提高STEM职业目标的实现；以及加强学者们为地方、区域和国家高需求领域的STEM劳动力做出贡献的准备。一项旨在研究改善师生关系、学生同伴关系和队列支持的研究将使其他服务于类似农村学生群体的文科院校受益。伊萨卡学院S-STEM项目的目标是招收低收入、在学术上有天赋的计算机科学、数学或物理/天文学专业的学生进入学院；实施学术和社会支持，以改善学生与教职员工以及学生与同行的互动，培养对学院和专业的归属感；提高专业发展和软技能(沟通、解决问题、团队合作、个人学习、动力和主动性)；并留住进入STEM劳动力或STEM研究生项目的学生。基于证据的计划要素包括STEM生活/学习社区、通过同伴辅导和第一年STEM研讨会提供的学术支持、通过教员指导和同伴成功教练提供的个性化支持、软技能和职业发展研讨会、研究和实习机会以及队列活动。该项目将评估最佳做法，从而改善学生与教职员工和学生与同龄人的关系，更多地利用学术支持资源，并促进专业发展。具体的研究问题是(1)师生互动的增加在多大程度上增加了低收入学生的数量？与学院、他们的STEM专业和他们的导师的联系？(2)学生与同伴的互动在多大程度上增加了学生与学院、他们的STEM专业和他们的同龄人的联系？(3)低收入学者在多大程度上感到教师和课堂上的其他学生重视他们，并相信教师准确地感知他们的能力？这项研究的影响与学院在机构层面的承诺一致，即调查和实施基于证据的方法，以促进学生的成功和留住。项目评估将产生可用于支持持续规划以及可转移到类似机构的证据。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 S-STEM Track 1 project at Ithaca College will provide scholarship support to fourteen students with financial need -- two cohorts of seven -- who are majoring in computer science, mathematics, or physics/astronomy. Liberal arts colleges such as Ithaca play a significant role in educating low-income, rural, first-generation, and minority students. Ithaca College's project is designed to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for them and to improve their academic and social experience and feelings of belonging. Project faculty will recruit Scholars from the surrounding area; reduce their financial need through scholarships; and create a culture of improved faculty and peer relationships and community in the scholar cohorts. Activities include a living/learning community, peer tutoring and mentoring, faculty mentoring, research and internships, and workshops designed to improve soft skills and interpersonal relationships. These supports will contribute to the project's goals of reducing attrition; increasing attainment of STEM career goals; and increasing Scholar preparedness to contribute to the STEM workforce in high-demand fields locally, regionally, and nationally. A research study that examines the benefits of improved student-faculty and student-peer relationships and cohort supports will benefit other liberal arts institutions that serve similar populations of rural students.The goals of Ithaca College's S-STEM project are to recruit low-income, academically talented computer science, mathematics, or physics/astronomy students to the college; implement academic and social supports to improve student-faculty and student-peer interactions and foster a sense of belonging to the college and major; improve professional development and soft skills (communication, problem-solving, teamwork, personal learning, motivation, and initiative); and retain and graduate students who enter the STEM workforce or STEM graduate programs. Evidence-based program elements include a STEM living/learning community, academic support through peer tutoring and a first-year STEM seminar, individualized support through faculty mentoring and a peer success coach; soft skills and career development workshops; research and internship opportunities; and cohort activities. The project will evaluate best practices leading to improved student-faculty and student-peer relationships, greater use of academic support resources, and professional development. Specific research questions are (1) To what extent do increased student-faculty interactions increase low-income students? connectedness to the college, their STEM major, and their instructors? (2) To what extent do student-peer interactions increase student connectedness to the college, their STEM major, and their peers? (3) To what extent do low-income scholars feel valued by faculty and other students in the classroom and believe that faculty accurately perceive their abilities? The impacts of this study are aligned with the college's institutional-level commitment to investigate and implement evidence-based approaches to foster student success and retention. The project evaluation will generate evidence that can be used to support sustained programming as well as transferability to similar institutions.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.