Promoting Student Success by Establishing a Community of Learners at a Two-year Commuter College

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，方法是支持高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生留校并毕业于西班牙裔服务机构诺沃克社区学院(NCC)。在为期5年的时间里，该项目将为21名至少半工半读并攻读工程科学副学士学位的独特学生提供奖学金。符合条件的学生将获得长达三年的支持。该项目打算包括支持服务，以增加学生的社会融合。该项目团队计划在一所为非传统学生提供服务的两年制通勤学院研究学生支持服务的有效性。这个项目有可能增进我们对奖学金和支持活动将如何促进在HSI创建一个学习者社区的理解。由于NCC是一所HSI，该项目有可能扩大STEM的参与。该项目的总体目标是增加低收入、高成就、有经济需求的本科生完成STEM学位，并满足对多样化、高质量STEM劳动力的需求。它有三个目标：(1)通过实施高影响力的外联战略，加强申请者群体的性别多样性；(2)通过提供奖学金，缓解学生的经济困难；(3)通过实施循证支助服务，促进学习者群体。该项目将通过循证活动支持学者，如学习小组、教师和同行指导、学术建议、本科生研究体验，以及涉及学生、教师和学生家庭的特殊活动，以增加社交互动。这个项目将调查这些支持服务在一所通勤大学的有效性。这一结果可以为其他社区大学提供转学项目，帮助他们找出取得学生成功的最佳实践。将使用包括定性和定量方法的混合方法设计对该项目进行评估。评估将由严格的形成性、总结性和过程部分组成，由评估标准指导，评估标准包括项目效用、可行性、准确性和评估责任的衡量标准。项目成果将在STEM-Central上传播，在康涅狄格州立大学学院和大学年会以及美国工程教育学会年会上提交，并提交给具有开放获取选项的同行评议期刊发表。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 and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Norwalk Community College (NCC), a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Over its 5-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 21 unique students enrolled at least half-time and pursuing associate’s degrees in Engineering Science. Eligible students will receive up to three years of support. This project intends to include support services to increase the social integration of students. The project team plans to study the effectiveness of student support services at a two-year commuter college serving non-traditional students. The project has the potential to advance our understanding of how scholarships and supporting activities will promote to create a community of learners at an HSI. As NCC is an HSI, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need and to answer the need for a diverse, quality STEM workforce. There are three objectives: (1) enhancing the gender diversity of the pool of applicants by implementing high-impact outreach strategies; (2) easing the financial hardship of students by providing scholarships; (3) promoting a community of learners by implementing evidence-based support services. The project will support scholars through evidence-based activities such as study groups, faculty and peer mentoring, academic advising, undergraduate research experiences, and special events that involve students, the faculty, and students’ families to increase social interaction. This project will investigate the effectiveness of these support services in a commuter college. The results can inform other community colleges with transfer programs in identifying best practices to achieve student success. The project will be evaluated using a mixed-method design that includes qualitative and quantitative methods. The evaluation will consist of rigorous formative, summative, and process components guided by evaluation standards that include measures for project utility, feasibility propriety, accuracy, and evaluation accountability. The project results will be disseminated on STEM-Central, presented at Connecticut State Colleges and University's Annual Conference as well as the American Society for Engineering Education annual conference, and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal with an open access option. 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.