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

该项目将有助于对受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员的国家需求，通过支持在诺沃克社区学院（NCC），西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）表现出经济需求的高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业。在其5年的时间里，该项目将资助奖学金，以21个独特的学生就读至少一半的时间，并追求副学士学位的工程科学。符合条件的学生将获得长达三年的支持。该项目打算包括支助服务，以促进学生的社会融合。该项目小组计划在一所为非传统学生服务的两年制通勤大学研究学生支助服务的有效性。该项目有可能促进我们对奖学金和支持活动如何促进在HSI创建学习者社区的理解。由于NCC是一个HSI，这个项目有可能扩大STEM的参与。这个项目的总体目标是增加低收入，高成就的本科生的STEM学位完成与证明经济需要，并回答了多样化的，高质量的STEM劳动力的需求。有三个目标：（1）通过实施影响力大的外联战略，加强申请人的性别多样性;（2）通过提供奖学金，缓解学生的经济困难;（3）通过实施循证支持服务，促进学习者社区。该项目将通过基于证据的活动支持学者，如研究小组，教师和同行指导，学术咨询，本科生研究经验，以及涉及学生，教师和学生家庭的特殊活动，以增加社会互动。本研究将探讨这些支援服务在一间通勤大学的成效。研究结果可以告知其他社区学院与转让计划，以确定最佳做法，以实现学生的成功。该项目将采用包括定性和定量方法的混合方法设计进行评估。评价将由严格的形成性、总结性和过程性组成部分组成，并以评价标准为指导，包括项目效用、可行性适当性、准确性和评价问责制的措施。项目成果将在STEM-Central上传播，在康涅狄格州立学院和大学的年度会议以及美国工程教育学会年度会议上发表，并提交在同行评审期刊上发表，并提供开放获取选项。该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。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术成功，保留，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 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.