Building Resilience and Engaging in Achievement through Collaborative, Holistic Programming in STEM

该项目旨在满足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，支持高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生留校和毕业。在为期六年的时间里，该项目将为21名正在攻读生物学、神经科学和应用数学科学学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金。一年级学生，特别是在该地区农村高中就读的学生，将获得为期四年的奖学金。第一年的奖学金起步价为6,500美元，第四年根据经济需要逐步增加到8,000美元。此外，学生将在2-4年级获得2,000美元的暑期奖学金，用于那些选择在暑期课程中选择6个学分的学生，以促进学业进步或恢复学业。根据研究文献、机构数据和学生调查数据，课程和联合课程支持包括通过共同必修的微积分预科课程在早期入门STEM课程中实施数学支持；暑期桥计划；学者发展和支持正念练习，包括自我可视化；强有力的教师指导；同伴辅导；微证书；网络；本科生研究经验和实习；以及学生队列安置。认识到财政支持以及强大的学术和共同课程支持系统和群体的重要性，项目活动和战略的设计应对“新冠肺炎”对中学和中学后教育的影响。该项目的总体目标是增加卫斯理学院低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生的STEM学位完成率，卫斯理学院是一所小型文科女子学院。四个目标为项目实现其目标提供了框架。一是招收21名在生物学、神经科学和应用数学科学领域有学术天赋的低收入女性本科生。第二，STEM专业留住了71%的学者，从一年级到二年级。第三是达到67%的STEM学者毕业目标，并确保79%的毕业生进入STEM劳动力或在STEM攻读研究生课程。第四，也是最后，是对所提出的影响学生成功的策略和活动的有效性以及正念练习在总体上特别是在入门数学课程中减轻压力的影响的调查。为了支持和告知项目实施，并有助于深入了解影响学生成功的心理社会因素，将使用定量和定性研究方法进行混合方法评估和研究，以改进项目(形成性评估)、问责制(终结性评估)和知识生成。该项目的成果将在卫斯理学院社区、全州数学教师会议、地方、地区、州和国家会议上传播，这些会议侧重于课程和共同课程的创新(例如，第一年的经验、本科生的研究经验、女学生的教育)；以及教育研究会议。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 aims to answer 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. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 21 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, neuroscience, and applied mathematical science. First-year students, particularly students who attend rural high schools in the region, will receive scholarships for four years. Scholarships will begin at $6,500 in Year 1 and incrementally increase to $8,000 in Year 4 based on financial need. Additionally, students will receive summer scholarships of $2,000 during Years 2-4 for those scholars who opt to take six credits of summer courses for academic advancement or recovery. Informed by the research literature, institutional data, and student survey data, the curricular and co-curricular supports include implementation of mathematics support in early gateway STEM courses through co-requisite pre-calculus courses; a summer bridge program; development and support of mindfulness practices by scholars that include self-visualization; robust faculty mentoring; peer tutoring; micro-credentials; networking; undergraduate research experiences and internships; and placement into student cohorts. Recognizing the importance of financial support and a robust system of academic and co-curricular support and cohorts, the design of project activities and strategies respond to the impact of COVID-19 on secondary and post-secondary education. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need at Wesleyan College, a small liberal arts college for women. Four objectives provide a framework for the project to achieve its goal. First is the recruitment and enrollment of 21 low-income academically talented female undergraduate scholars in biology, neuroscience, and applied mathematical science. Second is the retention of 71% of the scholars in their STEM majors from their first to second year. Third is meeting a graduation target of 67% of scholars in STEM and ensuring that 79% of the graduating scholars enter into the STEM workforce or graduate studies in STEM. Fourth, and finally, is investigation into the efficacy of the proposed strategies and activities to influence student success and the influence of mindfulness practices in reducing stress overall and specifically in gateway mathematics courses. To support and inform project implementation and contribute to a deep understanding of psychosocial factors influencing student success, a mixed methods evaluation and research study will be conducted using quantitative and qualitative research methods for project improvement (formative evaluation), accountability (summative evaluation), and knowledge generation. Findings resulting from this project will be disseminated throughout the Wesleyan College community; statewide conferences for mathematics teachers; local, regional, state, and national conferences focused on curricular and co-curricular innovation (e.g., First Year Experience, undergraduate research experiences, education of women students); and research conferences on education. 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.