Supporting Transportation Scholars through Scholarships, Mentoring, and Cohort Building

该项目将通过支持宾夕法尼亚理工学院（宾夕法尼亚学院）表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生（交通学者）的保留和毕业，为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做出贡献。宾夕法尼亚学院是一所开放招生的公立四年制学院，隶属于宾夕法尼亚州立大学。学院提供一系列的学术课程，重点是应用技术。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为45名攻读航空维修、汽车、碰撞修理和柴油技术副学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。交通学者将受益于众多的学术和社会支持，包括在他们第一天上课之前为期三天的预适应桥梁项目；共同参加由PI教授的一年级共同体验课程；每月一次的职业研讨会；在他们的整个大学生活中，包括夏季，由教师提供专门的建议、指导和职业指导；还有一个系列视频将这些领域的数学背景化。这个项目的智力价值来自于将交通学者项目的成功与宾夕法尼亚大学没有从同样的财政、学术和社会支持中受益的类似学生群体进行比较。宾夕法尼亚大学将吸引、教育、留住45名低收入、成绩优异的学生，并让他们毕业，加入未来交通运输行业关键领域的劳动力队伍。交通学者项目还寻求使这些关键领域的学生人数多样化，并通过扩展，为交通行业多样化劳动力的发展做出贡献。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。在项目期间，该项目将满足以下五个具体目标：1)50%的交通学者将以B级或更高的成绩完成所需的数学序列；2) 90%的交通学者将保留至第二年；3) 75%的交通学者将在三年内完成AAS学位；4) 95%的毕业生将在获得AAS学位后的6个月内全职就业或继续学习；5) 33%的奖学金申请将来自女性和/或STEM领域代表性不足的学生。项目评估将检查项目实施和学生成果，以确定每个组成部分满足参与者期望的程度，并帮助实现项目成果。对评估的投入将通过对学生、教师和管理人员的调查和访谈，以及现有的课程成绩、留校率和毕业率的数据来收集。将编写项目调查结果，以便在同行评议的杂志和贸易杂志以及商业和工业杂志上发表。宾夕法尼亚大学将举办专业发展研讨会，向校园、同行机构和整个社区传播知识。精心策划的数学背景视频和相关课程材料，以及对其有效性的评估，将通过一个公开平台（YouTube、SlideShare等）在宾夕法尼亚大学以外的地方传播。pi、项目团队和数学教师将在相关的会议和研讨会上展示这些结果，并将通过他们的专业和社交网络宣布这些视频的可用性。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 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 (Transportation Scholars) with demonstrated financial need at Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College). Penn College is an open-enrollment, public, four-year college affiliated with Pennsylvania State University. The college offers an array of academic programs with a strong emphasis on applied technology. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 45 unique full-time students who are pursuing Associate’s degrees in Aviation Maintenance, Automotive, Collision Repair, and Diesel Technologies. Transportation Scholars will benefit from numerous academic and social supports, including a three-day pre-orientation bridge program before their first day of class; co-seating in a common First-Year Experience course taught by the PI; a monthly Career Seminar; dedicated advising, mentoring, and career coaching by faculty throughout their college experience, including the summer months; and a video series that will contextualize mathematics for these fields. The intellectual merit of this project comes from measuring the success of the Transportation Scholars Program in comparison to similar student populations at Penn College that do not benefit from the same financial, academic, and social supports. Penn College will attract, educate, retain, and graduate 45 low-income, high-achieving students to join the workforce of the future in critical areas surrounding the transportation industry. The Transportation Scholars program also seeks to diversify the student population in these critical fields and, by extension, contribute to the development of a diverse workforce in the transportation industry. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Over the course of the project period, the project will meet the following five specific aims: 1) 50% of the Transportation Scholars will complete the required math sequences with a grade of B or better; 2) 90% of Transportation Scholars entering as freshmen will be retained until their second year; 3) 75% of Transportation Scholars will complete an AAS degree within three years; 4) 95% of graduating scholars will be employed full-time in their field or continue their education within six months of completion of the AAS degree; and 5) 33% of scholarship applications will be from females and/or underrepresented students in STEM. Project evaluation will examine both program implementation and student outcomes to determine how well each component meets participant expectations and helps achieve program outcomes. Input to the evaluation will be collected through surveys and interviews of students, faculty, and administrators, as well as through extant data on course grades, and retention and graduation rates. Project findings will be prepared for publication in peer-reviewed and trade magazines, as well as business and industry magazines. Penn College will offer professional development workshops to disseminate knowledge to the campus, peer institutions, and the community at large. The curated contextualizing mathematics videos and associated curricular materials, along with the evaluation of their effectiveness, will be made available for dissemination beyond Penn College via hosting on a publicly available platform (YouTube, SlideShare, etc.). The PIs, project team, and mathematics faculty will present these results at relevant conferences and workshops and will announce the availability of these videos through their professional and social network. 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.