Increasing the Recruitment, Retention, and Graduation of STEM Undergraduate Student, with Emphasis on First-Generation College Students

增加 STEM 本科生的招生、保留和毕业，重点关注第一代大学生

• 批准号: 2028340
• 负责人: Cassandra Birrenkott
• 金额: $ 99.88万
• 依托单位: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-01-15 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2028340&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Increasing; Recruitment; Retention; Graduation; STEM

This project will contribute to the national need for skilled scientists, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students at South Dakota School of Mines. About a third of first-year students enrolled in the South Dakota School of Mines are first-generation college students. On average, these first-generation students persist at a much lower rate than students whose parents have had successful experiences in higher education. Although, on average, about 50% of the School’s undergraduate students earn bachelor’s degrees within five years, only about 24% of first-generation students do so. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide scholarships to at least 35 different full- or part-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in engineering, science, or technology. The Scholars will be admitted in two cohorts and receive up to four years of scholarship support. The project intends to help the Scholars successfully navigate the higher education system from admission to graduation. Academic and social support will begin at recruitment and include mentoring by trained mentors. The project expects that, reflecting demographics of the student body, at least a third of the Scholars will be first-generation students. The project will test the hypothesis that the success of first-generation STEM undergraduates is not limited by their interests or ability, but by the complex higher education system itself. Furthermore, the project predicts that supporting Scholar’s ability to navigate their college experience will increase their persistence and graduation. Many first-generation undergraduates are from low income, diverse backgrounds. As a result, a significant broader impact of the project arises from its potential to help increase the diversity of talent in the STEM workforce. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project has three specific aims: 1) connect existing campus academic resources to enhance student success, particularly of first-generation students; 2) bolster Scholars’ social connectivity to campus by creating a network of students, faculty, and staff that Scholars trust; and 3) provide need-based scholarships to relieve financial burden and allow Scholars to prioritize their education. The project activities are designed to support Scholars’ development of greater emotional intelligence, which will be assessed by a scientifically validated instrument that examines an individual’s social and emotional strengths and weaknesses (EQ-i2.0). Using evidence-based resiliency research, the project will implement supports that are particularly relevant to first-generation students. It is predicted that the project’s research findings will demonstrate a positive correlation between increases in emotional intelligence and retention/graduation rates. Project findings will be disseminated nationally through publications, conference presentations, NSF S-STEM meetings, and a project specific webpage. A plan is included for formative and summative project evaluation by a private consulting firm. 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.

该项目将通过支持南达科他州矿业学院大约三分之一的一年级学生留住和毕业，满足国家对熟练科学家、工程师和技术人员的需求。达科他矿业学院是第一代大学生，平均而言，这些第一代学生的坚持率比其父母有过成功高等教育经历的学生要低得多，尽管平均而言，大约有 50% 的本科生。五年内获得学士学位多年来，只有约 24% 的第一代学生这样做。在五年期间，该项目将为至少 35 名正在攻读工程、科学或技术学士学位的不同全日制或非全日制学生提供奖学金。学者们将分两批入学，并获得长达四年的奖学金支持，该项目旨在帮助学者们成功地适应高等教育系统从入学到毕业的过程，并包括受过培训的指导。该项目的导师。预计，根据学生群体的人口统计数据，至少有三分之一的学者将是第一代学生，该项目将检验这样一个假设：第一代 STEM 本科生的成功不受其兴趣或能力的限制，而是受其兴趣或能力的限制。此外，该项目预测，支持学者们驾驭大学经历的能力将提高他们的毅力和毕业率，因此，许多第一代本科生都来自低收入、多样化的背景。该项目源于其潜力该项目的总体目标是提高具有经济需求的低收入、成绩优异的本科生的 STEM 学位完成率。该项目有三个具体目标：1) 连接现有校园学术。提高学生（特别是第一代学生）成功的资源；2）通过创建学者信任的学生、教师和工作人员网络，增强学者与校园的社交联系；3）提供基于需求的奖学金，以减轻经济负担和允许学者优先考虑他们的该项目活动旨在支持学者发展更高的情商，将通过科学验证的工具来评估个人的社交和情感优势和劣势（EQ-i2.0）。 ，该项目将实施与第一代学生特别相关的支持，预计该项目的研究结果将证明情商的提高和保留/毕业率之间存在正相关性。项目研究结果将通过出版物、会议在全国范围内传播。演示文稿、NSF S-STEM 会议以及一个由私人咨询公司进行形成性和总结性项目评估的计划。该项目由 NSF 科学、技术、工程和数学项目奖学金资助。增加获得 STEM 领域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，并产生有关学术成功、保留、转学、毕业和学习的知识。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。

项目成果

First-generation student success and the SD-FIRST program

第一代学生的成功和 SD-FIRST 计划

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: ASEE Annual Conference proceedings
• 作者: Birrenkott, Cassandra M.;Jensen, Alycia;Kellar, Jon J.;West, Michael;Carlson, Lisa;Herrera, Jesse;Moore, Molly E.
• 通讯作者: Moore, Molly E.

The SD-FIRST Program – Impact on First-Generation Students

SD-FIRST 计划 — 对第一代学生的影响

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: American Society of Engineering Education
• 作者: Birrenkott, Cassandra M.;Kellar, Jon J.;West, Michael;Jensen, Alycia;Carlson, Lisa;Moore, Molly
• 通讯作者: Moore, Molly