Increasing Undergraduate Success in Science through Learning Cohorts Focused on Career Readiness

该项目将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，方法是支持南卡罗来纳州立大学--一所地区性综合性大学--留住并毕业有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生。在为期5年的时间里，该项目将为14名正在攻读生物和化学学士学位的学生提供奖学金。一年级学生将获得为期4年的奖学金。该项目以职业准备为主题，强调全国大学和雇主协会的职业管理能力。学生将进入生物和化学专业的同学学习队列；共同参加入门课程的相同部分；并参加为期五天的大学前暑期指导课程、关于如何建立与STEM职业相关的社会、文化和心理资本的课程，以及职业准备研讨会系列。学生还将接受教师和行业导师的多层次指导，以及促进研究和实习经验。该项目将定制大学现有的一系列基于证据的高影响力做法，并将其整合到学者队列的活动中。整个南卡罗来纳州北部都将感受到该项目更广泛的意义，该地区的许多生命科学、先进材料和化学公司都需要生物学家和化学家。该项目将通过增加学生的社会流动性和对STEM职业的信心，对他们的生活产生积极影响。该项目的成功要素将在项目完成后纳入普通课程，以保持在学生职业准备、保留和STEM学生的劳动力安置方面的成果。该项目将促进对STEM学习队列的影响的了解，该队列侧重于四个关键领域的职业准备：STEM动机、学术经验、毕业率和劳动力准备。该项目的总体目标是招收、留住和毕业对生物和化学感兴趣的有学术天赋的低收入学生。该项目将向本科生介绍STEM职业选择，促进职业管理技能的发展，并解决大学生物和化学专业的自然减员问题。该项目的目标是在项目的头两年每年招聘7名学者，提高生物和化学专业的留校率和毕业率，并确保学者拥有必要的职业技能，为STEM劳动力做出宝贵贡献。研究问题将考察与职业相关的高影响力活动在多大程度上有助于留住学生、提高STEM动机、社会、文化和心理资本的发展，以及为低收入、有学术天赋的学生做好劳动力准备。将产生新的知识，描述课程组成部分的作用，以及协调一致地关注职业准备对STEM保留率、学位完成率和职业准备的成功。评估将基于混合方法，包括与方案和与导师互动的接触点的计分；衡量参与度、方案满意度和职业准备情况的参与者调查；以及定性数据，包括对开放式调查问题和采访的回答。项目成果将在该大学的跨学科会议、整个南卡罗来纳大学系统以及其他区域和国家会议上传播。传播将突出该计划的战略、计划要素的有效性、通过修改和新的干预措施所取得的进展，以及评估和研究结果如何应用于其他STEM专业。研究结果将通过同行评议的期刊和学术教育媒体上的文章传播。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领域获得学位的有学术天赋、有经济需求的低收入学生的数量。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、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 and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of South Carolina Upstate, a regional comprehensive university. Over its 5-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 14 unique students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology and chemistry. First-year students will receive 4-year scholarships. The project is centered on the theme of career readiness, emphasizing the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ career management competencies. Students will enter a learning cohort of fellow biology and chemistry majors; be co-enrolled in the same sections of introductory courses; and participate in a five-day pre-college summer orientation, a course on how to build social, cultural, and psychological capital relevant to STEM careers, and a career readiness workshop series. Students will also receive multi-level mentoring by faculty and industry mentors, as well as facilitation of research and internship experiences. The project will customize and integrate the existing array of evidence-based high impact practices at the university into the activities for the scholar cohorts. The broader significance of the project will be felt across Upstate South Carolina, where biologists and chemists are needed by the many life sciences, advanced materials, and chemical companies in the region. The project will positively affect the students’ lives by increasing their social mobility and confidence in STEM careers. Successful elements of the project will be incorporated into the general curriculum after project completion to maintain gains in student career preparedness, retention, and workforce placement for STEM students. The project will advance knowledge of the impact of a STEM learning cohort focused on career preparedness in four key areas: STEM motivation, academic experience, graduation rate, and workforce preparation.The overall goal of this project is to recruit, retain, and graduate academically talented and low-income students who are interested in biology and chemistry. The project will introduce the undergraduate scholars to STEM career options, facilitate development of career management skills, and address attrition of biology and chemistry major from the university. The scope of the project’s aims are to recruit seven scholars during each of the first two years of the project, increase the retention and graduation rates of biology and chemistry majors, and ensure that scholars have the necessary career skills to make valuable contributions to the STEM workforce. A research question will examine to what extent do career-relevant, high-impact activities contribute to student retention, gains in STEM motivation, social, cultural, and psychological capital development, and workforce preparedness for low-income, academically talented students. New knowledge will be generated that describes the role of program components and a concerted focus on career readiness on success in STEM retention, degree completion, and career readiness. Evaluation will be based on mixed methods, including tallies of touchpoints with programming and interactions with mentors; participant surveys measuring engagement, program satisfaction and career readiness; and qualitative data, including responses to open ended survey questions and interviews. Project results will be disseminated at interdisciplinary meetings at the university, across the University of South Carolina system, and through other regional and national conferences. Dissemination will highlight the program’s strategies, effectiveness of program elements, progress achieved with modified and new interventions, and how evaluation and research findings could be applied to other STEM majors. Findings will be disseminated through articles in peer-reviewed journals and in scholarly educational media. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of academically talented low-income 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, 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.