Multi-tiered Peer Mentoring and Experiential Learning for Academically Talented, Low-Income STEM Students

为有学术才华的低收入 STEM 学生提供多层次的同伴辅导和体验式学习

• 批准号: 2220835
• 负责人: Terrence Boyle
• 金额: $ 73.5万
• 依托单位: McMurry University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2029-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2220835&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Multi; tiered; Peer; Mentoring; Experiential

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 McMurry University. McMurry University, a four-year Hispanic Serving Institution, provides a small campus environment for students who come primarily from economically disadvantaged areas of rural West Texas. Over its 6-year duration, this project will provide scholarship support to 15 students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, or Computer Science. This project will provide a comprehensive program of academic advising, peer assisted learning support, academic coaching, leadership development, career preparation, and access to other high impact practices. This set of supports is designed to increase students' retention, sense of belonging, professional identity, and college and career success. A cornerstone of the project will be an innovative “near peer” mentoring program pairing students in their first two years of study with peer mentors in their third and fourth years of study, and those in their third and fourth years with peer mentors who are recent McMurry University alumni. Another key facet is leadership development through service projects.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. This project leverages an array of student support programs, including “near peer” mentoring; peer assisted learning for attrition hot spots; engagement in experiential learning through research and/or professional internships; a first-year seminar focused on STEM identity and career exploration; and STEM fun days and service projects. Collectively, these support programs are intended to foster a sense of belonging and professional identity that in turn will increase resilience and persistence. Predicted outcomes are an increase in freshman to sophomore retention to 75%, an increase in 4-year graduation rates to 60%, and a minimum of 90% of graduating seniors securing employment in a STEM career or admission into graduate or professional schools within one year of graduation. Broader impacts include: potential expansion and institutionalization of the “near peer” mentoring program for all McMurry STEM students; enhancement of pedagogical competencies of McMurry STEM faculty aimed at better supporting first-generation and other historically excluded students; and expansion of servant leadership opportunities and STEM engagement opportunities across the McMurry campus. Formative and summative evaluation will include collecting data related to retention rates, graduation rates, and post-graduation behavior as well as surveys on the effectiveness of activities on sense of identity and belonging. Successful and promising elements of the project will be disseminated at state, regional, and national conferences, such as meetings of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) or the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institution Educators (AHSIE). 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.

该项目将支持有经济需要的成绩优异的低收入学生在麦克默里大学（四年制）的保留和毕业，从而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。西班牙裔服务机构为主要来自德克萨斯州西部农村经济贫困地区的学生提供小型校园环境，该项目为期 6 年，将为 15 名攻读物理学、学士学位的学生提供奖学金支持。化学、生物学、数学或计算机科学 该项目将提供全面的学术咨询、同伴辅助学习支持、学术辅导、领导力发展、职业准备以及其他高影响力实践的机会。提高学生的保留率、归属感、职业认同感以及大学和职业成功，该项目的基石将是一个创新的“近同伴”计划，将学生在头两年的学习与第三年和第四年的同伴导师配对。的学习，以及另一个关键方面是通过服务项目培养领导力。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、成绩优异的本科生的 STEM 学位完成率。该项目利用一系列学生支持计划，包括针对损耗热点的“近同伴”辅导；通过研究和/或专业实习参与体验式学习；总的来说，这些支持计划旨在培养归属感和职业认同感，从而提高新生的适应力和毅力，将新生的保留率提高到 75%。 ，四年毕业率提高到 60%，至少 90% 的应届毕业生在毕业一年内找到 STEM 职业或进入研究生或专业学校。更广泛的影响包括： 潜在的扩张和制度化。这为所有 McMurry STEM 学生提供“近同伴”辅导计划；增强 McMurry STEM 教师的教学能力，旨在更好地支持第一代和其他历史上被排斥的学生；以及扩大 McMurry 校园的仆人式领导机会和 STEM 参与机会。总结性评估将包括收集与保留率、毕业率和毕业后行为有关的数据，以及对身份和归属感活动的有效性进行调查。在州、地区和国家会议上传播，例如本科生研究理事会 (CUR) 或西班牙服务机构教育工作者联盟 (AHSIE) 的会议。该项目由 NSF 科学、技术、工程和领域奖学金资助。数学项目旨在增加有经济需要的低收入学术天才学生获得 STEM 领域学位的数量，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。