Scholarships, Community, and Peer Academic Support for Success of Undergraduates in Computer Science and Mathematics

该项目将通过支持有经济需要的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，促进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。具体而言，位于皮德拉斯的波多黎各大学的这一项目将为33名学生提供长达五年的奖学金支持，并提供有针对性的服务。 该项目的总体目标是改善招聘、留住攻读计算机科学或数学学士学位的本科生，并为他们就业或进入研究生院做好准备。该计划将增加进入计算机科学和数学高需求学科科学职业管道的波多黎各学生人数。因此，该项目可以帮助满足对这些专业人员不断扩大的需求，并增加当地和全国STEM相关部门劳动力的多样性。除了向成绩优异、经济困难的本科生提供奖学金外，该项目还将赞助以下活动：1）提高学者对进一步学习或行业职业的认识; 2）加强学者的学术和专业技能; 3）建立社区意识，发展科学身份; 4）突出计算机科学和数学的社会和应用方面;以及5）通过同侪顾问和指导来支持学生学习。该项目将通过以下方式扩大以往S-STEM奖的研究重点：（1）将学者纳入大学第二学期;（3）改善小组活动的协调性和一致性，并通过定期同行领导的协作干预支持学者参加障碍课程;（3）研究同行领导的团队学习模式对学者保留和学习成绩的影响。该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。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术成功，保留，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 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. Specifically, this project at the University of Puerto Rico in Piedras will provide 33 students with up to five years of scholarship support, together with targeted services. The overall project goal is to improve recruitment, retention of undergraduates pursuing bachelor’s degrees in computer science or mathematics and prepare them for employment or graduate school. This program will increase the number of Puerto Rican students who enter the scientific career pipeline in the high demand disciplines of computer science and mathematics. As a result, the project can help to meet the expanding need for these professionals and increase the diversity of the workforce in STEM-relevant sectors both locally and nationally. In addition to providing scholarships to high achieving, financially disadvantaged undergraduate students, the project will sponsor activities to: 1) increase the awareness of Scholars about further studies or industry careers; 2) strengthen the Scholars’ academic and professional skills; 3) build a sense of community and develop scientific identity; 4) highlight the social and applied aspects of computer science and mathematics; and 5) support student learning through peer advisors and mentoring. This project will expand the research focus of previous S-STEM awards by: (1) including Scholars as early as their second semester in college; (3) improving the coordination and coherence of group activities, and support Scholars in the barrier courses with periodic peer-led collaborative interventions; and (3) studying impact of the Peer-Led Team Learning model on Scholar retention and academic performance. 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.