Scholarships and a Learning Community Approach to Support Success of Undergraduates in Mathematics and Biology

支持本科生在数学和生物学方面取得成功的奖学金和学习社区方法

• 批准号: 2030582
• 负责人: Barbara Murdoch
• 金额: $ 65万
• 依托单位: Eastern Connecticut State University
• 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: 2021-02-01 至 2026-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2030582&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Scholarships; Learning; Community; Approach; Support

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 Eastern Connecticut State University, a primarily undergraduate, public liberal arts institution. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 10 unique full-time undergraduate students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology or Mathematics. Scholars will be selected in two annual cohorts and first year Scholars will receive up to four years of scholarship support. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM through a learning community that provides advising and mentoring and fosters strong relationships among Scholars and faculty. Scholars will be mentored by faculty and peers as they develop a road map to achieve their career goals. The Scholars will also have access to a comprehensive range of supportive activities including undergraduate research experiences, preparation for STEM graduate studies and careers, STEM-focused seminars, and site visits to STEM-related academic institutions and industries. In addition to developing the Scholar learning community, the project also plans to revise STEM curricula to better support retention of all first-year STEM students. The project has the potential to increase the persistence of low-income, academically talented students in STEM, as well as to help reduce the national shortfall of STEM graduates. The effectiveness of the project activities on STEM persistence will be studied and shared publicly. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project aims to transition students into the STEM workforce or graduate studies and to learn which practices during their undergraduate careers facilitated their confidence and persistence in STEM. Low-income students, especially first-generation college students, typically enter college lacking the confidence to view themselves as belonging to the STEM field. This project is designed to add new knowledge about developing students' STEM identities. The project includes a research investigation of a cohort-based, interdisciplinary learning community that integrates students pursuing biology and mathematics majors. The study will examine how Scholars’ STEM identity is affected by engaging in a cohort-based learning community that promotes robust relationships among students and faculty. The project also will identify the activities that support STEM identity development and STEM persistence. The working hypothesis is that a cohort-based learning community that helps Scholars build strong relationships with faculty and peers will increase STEM identity, leading to increased retention and success in STEM. Research methods include a mixed methods approach to answer the research questions, using information from surveys, observations, and interviews with student participants, peer and faculty mentors. Results from this project will be made available on the University website, at regional and national meetings, and via published manuscripts in science education journals. 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.

该项目将通过支持东康涅狄格州立大学 (Eastern Connecticut State University) 保留和毕业那些表现出经济需求的成绩优异、低收入的学生，满足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。东康涅狄格州立大学主要是本科、公立大学。在为期五年的时间里，该项目将为 10 名正在攻读生物学或数学学士学位的独特全日制本科生提供奖学金。学者将分两批每年选出，第一年的学者将获得奖学金。该项目旨在通过提供建议和指导的学习社区来提高学生对 STEM 的坚持，并在学者和教师之间建立牢固的关系，并在制定路线图时得到教师和同行的指导。此外，学者们还将获得一系列全面的支持活动，包括本科生研究经验、STEM 研究生学习和职业准备、以 STEM 为重点的研讨会以及对 STEM 相关学术机构和行业的实地考察。发展学者学习该项目还计划修订 STEM 课程，以更好地支持所有一年级 STEM 学生的保留。该项目有可能提高低收入、学术才华横溢的学生在 STEM 上的坚持，并帮助减少全国性的影响。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、成绩优异的本科生的 STEM 学位完成率。过渡低收入学生，尤其是第一代大学生，通常在进入大学时缺乏自信，认为自己属于 STEM。 STEM 领域。该项目旨在增加有关培养学生 STEM 身份的新知识。该项目包括对一个将生物学和数学专业的学生整合在一起的跨学科学习社区的研究调查。身份受到参与的影响基于队列的学习社区，促进学生和教师之间的牢固关系。该项目还将确定支持 STEM 身份发展和 STEM 持久性的活动。工作假设是，基于队列的学习社区可以帮助学者与教师和教师建立牢固的关系。同行将提高 STEM 认同感，从而提高 STEM 的保留率和成功率。 研究方法包括使用来自调查、观察以及对学生参与者、同行和教师导师的访谈的信息来回答研究问题。将在大学网站、地区该项目由美国国家科学基金会科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加有经济需要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，并提供有关低收入学生的学业成功、保留、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并具有被视为值得通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。