Supporting Science, Mathematics, and Statistics Majors for University Success and Beyond

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，方法是支持詹姆斯·麦迪逊大学留住并毕业有经济需求的高成就、低收入学生。詹姆斯·麦迪逊大学主要是一所本科院校。该项目将为22名攻读生物、生物技术、化学、生物物理化学、地质学、数学、物理和/或统计学学士学位的学生提供奖学金或每年1万美元的奖学金，为期四年。该项目将使用一个全面的支持结构来提高学生留校率和毕业率。这一结构将由几对相互关联的共同课程支持组成。首先是为即将入学的一年级学生提供的暑期过渡计划，该计划将通过以学期为基础的综合研讨会来利用，强调队列建设。其次是一个由教师和学生导师组成的网络，该网络将与早期和持续的研究机会捆绑在一起，并得到教师的指导。最后，STEM职业探索和准备将与增强的学术和非学术支持服务相结合。此外，该项目将开展与支持计划相关的外联活动，并探讨其对公众科学素养的影响。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的STEM学位毕业率。该项目的目标是在两组11名学生中招收22名学者；留住85%的学者直到他们的第二年；在四年内至少毕业70%；并将90%的毕业生安排在与STEM相关的职业或研究生院。该项目将包括围绕支持结构建立的为期四年的综合学生体验，包括夏季桥梁项目；教师指导；研究经验；学术和职业建议；同行辅导；以及专注于完善学术成功所需技能的研讨会。该项目将确定这些结构是否以及如何改善学生的归属感、自我效能感、参与度，并最终提高留住、毕业和就业。该项目有可能确定哪些支持结构在留住和毕业STEM专业方面最有效。将使用与项目活动和目标相一致的形成性和总结性混合方法对项目进行评估。定量和定性数据来源将包括现有数据、文件审查、在线调查和访谈。为了评估项目目标(形成目的)的进展，评估将监测实施的忠诚度、在实现目标方面的成功、学者的进展以及学生和教职员工对活动的满意度。总结性评价将包括对项目目标总体实现情况和项目活动影响的评估。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 James Madison University, a primarily undergraduate institution. The project will fund scholarships or $10,000 each year for up to four years to 22 students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, biophysical chemistry, geology, mathematics, physics, and/or statistics. The project will use a comprehensive support structure to improve student retention and graduation rates. That structure will consist of several pairs of linked co-curricular supports. First is a summer transition program for incoming first-year students which will be leveraged by integrated semester-based seminars emphasizing cohort building. Second is a network of faculty and student mentors which will tie into early and continuing research opportunities with faculty mentorship. Finally, STEM career exploration and preparation will pair with enhanced academic and non-academic support services. Additionally, the project will conduct outreach activities linked to the support program and explore their impact on public scientific literacy. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The objectives of the project are to enroll 22 Scholars in two cohorts of 11 students; retain 85% of the scholars until their second year; graduate at least 70% of them in four years; and place 90% of the graduates in STEM-related careers or graduate school. This project will encompass a four-year, integrated student experience built around support structures, including summer bridge programs; faculty mentoring; research experiences; academic and career advising; peer tutoring; and seminars focused on refining skills needed for academic success. The project will determine if and how these structures improve a student’s sense of belonging, self-efficacy, engagement, and ultimately, retention, graduation, and employment. This project has the potential to determine which support structures are most effective in retaining and graduating STEM majors. The project will be evaluated using formative and summative mixed methods that will be aligned to project activities and objectives. Quantitative and qualitative data sources will include extant data, document review, online surveys, and interviews. To assess progress towards project goals (formative purposes), the evaluation will monitor implementation fidelity, success in meeting objectives, scholar progress, and student and faculty satisfaction with activities. The summative evaluation will include an assessment of overall attainment of project goals and the impacts of the project activities. 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.