The Science of Success: Addressing Workforce Needs in North Dakota

该项目将有助于国家需要受过良好教育的科学家，数学家，工程师和技术人员通过支持高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业，证明经济需要在北达科他州州立科学学院（NDSCS）。在为期6年的时间里，该项目将为至少70名在11个职业和技术教育（CTE）和5个文科转学课程中攻读副学士学位的全日制和非全日制学生提供奖学金。根据入学趋势，预计约85%的奖学金获得者将是CTE学生。该项目通过为每位STEM学者提供个性化的财务，学术和专业成功支持来解决保留，毕业和参与问题。 这包括体验式学习，如课堂项目，实习，研究项目，课外活动和专业发展活动。该项目还支持一项专业发展活动，该活动将培养STEM意识，理解STEM学科之间关系的能力，并协同使用科学，技术，工程和数学领域来解决问题。该项目将通过毕业生解决全州和地区需求的劳动力，这些毕业生不仅拥有行业和大学所需的技术技能，而且还拥有职业成功所需的职业准备技能，并了解他们的职业对STEM社区的重要性。有经济需求的优秀大学生。该项目的具体目标是：（1）招募有学术天赋的STEM学生，并证明他们有经济需求;（2）在第一至第二年的学习中保留100%的STEM学者，并在两年内毕业90%的STEM学者;（3）在整个学习计划中整合专业技能。保留工作将集中在教师和同行指导，学生成功的举措，和体验式学习。该项目将解决大学教育和行业期望之间的脱节，包括教师和学生的专业发展活动，包括个性化的成长计划和职业成功研讨会以及课外活动形式的领导机会。每个STEM项目的学生都认为他们的项目与其他项目是孤立的。该项目将通过在整个职业成功研讨会中纳入STEM意识活动来解决这种误解，安排每个校园实验室的图尔斯参观，以了解每个项目是如何相似的，并鼓励学生团体之间的项目合作。该项目将为学生提供必要的知识和技能，以促进他们的职业生涯，并了解他们对区域和国家STEM需求的个人贡献。该项目将使用学生调查，结构化访谈，焦点小组和学生工作和工件的库存分析的混合方法进行评估。 结果将向公众、CTE和STEM社区传播。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 North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS). Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to a minimum of 70 unique full- and part-time students who are pursuing associate’s degrees in 11 career and technical education (CTE) and 5 liberal arts transfer programs. Based on enrollment trends, approximately 85% of the scholarship recipients are expected to be CTE students. The project addresses retention, graduation and engagement by providing financial, academic, and professional success support personalized to each STEM Scholar. This includes experiential learning such as class projects, internships, research projects, co-curricular activities, and professional development activities. This project also supports a professional development activity that will develop STEM awareness, the ability to understand the relationship between STEM disciplines, and use the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics collaboratively to solve a problem. The project will address the statewide and regional in-demand workforce by graduating students who not only possess the technical skills required by industry and universities but will also possess the career-ready skills critical for professional success, and understand the importance of their profession to the STEM community.The overall goal of this project is to increase degree completion rates for low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The specific objectives of the project are to (1) recruit academically-talented STEM students with demonstrated financial need, (2) retain 100% of the STEM Scholars from their first to second year of study and graduate 90% of STEM Scholars within two years, and (3) integrate professional skills throughout their plan of study. Retention efforts will focus on faculty and peer mentoring, student success initiatives, and experiential learning. This project will address the disconnect between college education and industry expectations by including professional development activities for faculty and students that include individualized growth plans and career success seminars as well as leadership opportunities in the form of co-curricular activities. Students in each STEM program view their program as being isolated from the others. The project will address this misconception by incorporating STEM awareness activities throughout the career success seminars, arranging tours of each campus laboratory to learn how each program is similar, and by encouraging collaboration on projects between student groups. The project will provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to their career, and to understand their individual contribution to regional and national STEM needs. The project will be evaluated using a mixed-method approach of student surveys, structured interviews, focus groups, and inventory analyses of student work and artifacts. The results will be disseminated to the public, and CTE and STEM communities. 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.