STEMing the Flow: Connecting Undergraduates with Applied Science

STEMing the Flow：将本科生与应用科学联系起来

• 批准号: 0525440
• 负责人: Edward Zovinka
• 金额: $ 39.28万
• 依托单位: Saint Francis University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0525440&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STEMing; Flow; Connecting; Undergraduates; Applied

As part of the institution's continuing effort to increase the number of students majoring in STEM fields, a collaborative team is promoting recruitment and retention of STEM majors by using a multi-faceted approach. The goal is to surround the incoming students with support and involve them early in the research efforts of the departments through faculty and peer mentoring. The activities are expected to facilitate an increase in the number of STEM majors incrementally, 10% each year, to reach new highs in STEM retention, ultimately leading to graduation rates of 58%, the institution's average for all majors. The majors most affected are biology, chemistry, and computer science, as differentiated from the mathematics, engineering, and physics disciplines that are mainly service-oriented at the institution.Intellectual MeritUndergraduate research is being enhanced in a variety of disciplines including information assurance, genetics, ecology, analytical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and physical chemistry. Undergraduates become involved in research projects at the very beginning of their university career so that faculty can play an important role in mentoring STEM students. As these students progress, they become peer mentors to assist the following STEM majors. The research experiences along with cooperative learning laboratories are promoting student understanding of how science is conducted. To retain these students, the Supplemental Instructor (SI) method is being integrated into the introductory science classrooms. SI has been successfully used nationwide and on this campus to improve student performance. By providing SI instruction in the introductory science courses, all of the STEM majors are being reached, not just the group involved in the undergraduate research component. The students recruited into the program also gain a broader perspective of science by exploring the careers of successful scientists from a variety of disciplines through discussions of biographies/autobiographies. The reading forum allows for a broader discussion of the science world, ethics, and career guidance not normally allotted time in an undergraduate curriculum.Broader ImpactThe extrinsic merits of the STEM reform are 1) educating the public of the many merits of a science career, 2) providing an opportunity for students to become involved in independent and multidisciplinary research projects and to present their findings; and 3) instilling an understanding of the possibilities that the field of science can provide for STEM majors. A Summer Science Open House encompassing not only the traditional high school juniors but also Saint Francis University admissions counselors and high school guidance counselors is designed to impact STEM recruitment in the geographical area. Exposing and educating high school guidance counselors on the many merits of a science career enables them to pass this knowledge on to students and to better nurture their talents. The hiring of a graduate assistant for STEM recruitment is expected to have a large impact on the ability of the institution to increase the overall number of STEM graduates by 60% (from 45 to 75 STEM students). To broaden the reach across the region, a week-long one-credit summer science course for high school juniors is being implemented.

作为该机构不断努力增加STEM领域学生人数的一部分，合作团队正在使用多方面的方法来促进STEM专业的招聘和保留。目的是通过支持将来到的学生围绕新来的学生，并通过教师和同伴指导使他们参与部门的研究工作。预计这些活动将促进STEM专业人数逐渐增加，每年10％，以达到STEM保留的新高点，最终导致毕业率为58％，这是该机构所有专业的平均水平。受影响最大的专业是生物学，化学和计算机科学，与主要针对机构服务的数学，工程和物理学学科有所不同。 ，生态学，分析化学，无机化学，有机化学和物理化学。本科生在大学职业生涯的一开始就参与了研究项目，因此教师可以在指导STEM学生中发挥重要作用。随着这些学生的进步，他们成为同伴导师，以协助以下STEM专业。研究经验以及合作学习实验室正在促进学生对如何进行科学的理解。为了保留这些学生，补充教练（SI）方法正在整合到入门科学课堂中。 SI已在全国和该校园中成功使用，以提高学生的表现。通过在入门科学课程中提供SI教学，所有的STEM专业都将达到本科研究组成部分。参加该计划的学生还通过讨论传记/自传的讨论来探索来自各个学科的成功科学家的职业，从而获得更广泛的科学观点。阅读论坛允许对科学界，道德和职业指导进行更广泛的讨论，通常在本科课程中分配时间。 2）为学生提供机会参与独立和多学科研究项目并提出他们的发现； 3）灌输对科学领域可以为STEM专业提供的可能性的理解。 夏季科学开放日不仅包括传统的高中大三学生，还包括圣弗朗西斯大学的招生顾问和高中指导辅导员，旨在影响地理区域的STEM招聘。揭露和教育高中指导辅导员，以了解科学职业的许多优点，使他们能够将这些知识传递给学生并更好地培养自己的才能。 预计招聘STEM招聘研究生助理的聘用将对机构将STEM毕业生总数增加60％（从45名提高到75名STEM学生）的能力产生很大的影响。为了扩大整个地区的覆盖范围，正在实施为期一周的高中夏季科学课程。