Pathways to Academic Student Success for Biology Majors

该项目将通过支持在波托马克州立学院留住、转学和毕业的高成就、低收入学生做出贡献，以满足全国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。波托马克州立学院是一所位于西弗吉尼亚州农村的公立开放式大学，主要是两年制大学。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为30名攻读生物学副学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。该项目旨在通过将奖学金与有效的支持活动联系起来，如以生物学为重点的新生迎新课程和教师指导，来提高学生对生物的坚持性。学者们还将有机会通过与西弗吉尼亚大学的教职员工和研究生进行新颖的在线合作，获得早期研究经验。该项目还将研究在留住、转学和毕业方面的改进。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位毕业率。该项目将增加低收入农村学生在阿巴拉契亚农村地区从事与生物相关的职业。为了实现这一目标，该项目正在实施循证支持。这些支持包括提供奖学金、侵入性咨询、生物学指导课程，以及在毕业/转学期间持续的教师/学生课外互动。学者还将有机会获得职业建议、研讨会、大学访问和实地考察、教师指导和有针对性的辅导。每名学者将有一名生物学教员作为他们的学术顾问。研究证据表明，缺乏有关课时安排的信息通常会导致推迟转学，因此学者们也会收到侵入性的建议；建议课程将涉及课程安排、职业信息、转学援助和转介到适当的部门，如学业成功中心辅导、咨询服务和多元化服务。虽然有几项研究考察了资助信息和奖学金对低收入学生完成学位的影响，但对农村和农村少数民族学生和家庭如何驾驭奖学金和资助过程，或者即使他们因为工作或家庭承诺而能够做到这一点，我们知道的要少得多。因此，这个项目将评估为学者提供资助信息和奖学金如何提高波托马克州立学院生物学的学术成就。形成性和终结性评价将促进人们对提供这些支持在提高农村和农村少数民族学生在生物专业的参与度和成就率方面的作用的理解。结果将分发给波托马克州立大学保留咨询委员会、校长领导团队和教务委员会，以及指导顾问、高中生和家长，以提高对STEM教育途径的认识。结果还将通过波托马克州立学院的教师发展计划和西弗吉尼亚州高等教育政策委员会分享。在全国范围内，成果将通过会议和STEM教育期刊传播，以接触到尽可能广泛的受众。该项目由NSF的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加在STEM领域获得学位的低收入学术天才学生的数量。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业成功、留住、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 project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention, transfer, and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Potomac State College, a public, open-door admission, primarily two-year college in rural West Virginia. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships for 30 full-time students pursuing associate’s degrees in biology. The project aims to increase student persistence in biology by linking scholarships with effective supporting activities, such as a biology-focused freshman orientation course and faculty mentoring. Scholars will also be given the opportunity for early research experiences through a novel online collaboration with faculty and graduate students at West Virginia University. The project will also study improvements in the retention, transfer, and graduation of this student population.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project will increase the participation of low-income rural students in biology-related careers in rural Appalachia. To reach this goal, the project is implementing evidence-based supports. These supports include providing scholarships, intrusive advising, a biology orientation course, and out-of-class faculty/student interactions that continue through graduation/transfer. Scholars will also have access to career advising, seminars, college visits and field trips, faculty mentoring, and targeted tutoring. Each scholar will have a biology faculty member as their academic advisor. Research evidence shows that lack of information about scheduling often results in deferred transfer, so scholars will also receive intrusive advising; advising sessions will address course scheduling, career information, transfer assistance, and referrals to appropriate departments such as the Academic Success Center for tutoring, Counseling Services, and Diversity Services. While several studies have examined the impact of financial aid information and scholarships on low-income students’ degree completion, much less is known about how rural and rural minority students and families navigate the scholarship and financial aid process, or even if they can do so due to work or family commitments. Therefore, this project will evaluate how providing scholars with financial aid information and scholarships increases academic success in biology at Potomac State College. Formative and summative evaluation will advance understanding of the role of providing these supports on increasing participation and success of rural and rural minority students in biology majors. Results will be disseminated to the Potomac State College Retention Advisory Board, President's Leadership Team, and Faculty Senate, as well as to guidance counselors, high school students, and parents to create awareness of STEM education pathways. Results will also be shared via Potomac State College faculty development programs and with the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. Nationally, results will be disseminated via conferences and STEM education journals to reach the broadest possible audience. 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.