Inclusion of Data Science and Research in a STEM Scholarship Program

New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas NM

Investigators

Abstract

With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the ?Inclusion of Data Science and Research in a STEM Scholarship Program? will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at New Mexico Highlands University. Throughout its five years, this project will fund 16 scholarships for junior and senior undergraduate students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, or Environmental Geology. The scholars will take an interdisciplinary data science course, where they will learn computational skills needed to analyze large data sets. This knowledge will prepare them to complete a bioinformatics internship at Los Alamos National Lab or the National Center for Genome Resources, work on a year-long independent research project, and to mentor local high school students in a summer computer science day-camp. New Mexico Highlands University is a public, Hispanic-Serving Institution in northern New Mexico, where many students struggle with barriers to graduation that are common in rural, high-poverty areas. This project seeks to support scholars to obtain a high-quality education, by providing financial aid and academic support. Because STEM disciplines use data science to analyze and solve complex problems, understanding data science may give scholars broader career opportunities in STEM. To help students develop data science skills, this project aims to incorporate both educational and research opportunities in data science. Scholars will have access to academic supports and enrichment opportunities, including receiving supplemental instruction and/or tutoring, working as a tutor and/or supplemental instruction leader, and participating in undergraduate research. This project will analyze the impact of these student supports on student engagement. The project will examine five scales of student engagement: academic engagement; intellectual engagement; peer engagement; student-faculty engagement; and beyond-class engagement. The project aims to determine how financial support, coupled with direct student supports, increases student engagement and successful degree completion. The ultimate project goal is to develop a program that best assists HSI students to achieve success in STEM. 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.