Rocky Mountain Scholars Program: Determining the Impact of Cohort-Based Undergraduate Research

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

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 Colorado State University, a public, Land Grant Institution. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund two-year scholarships to 60 students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and/or Biology. These students will participate in research experiences under the direction of faculty mentors to solve engaging, real-world problems. The project includes a research study that will examine how different approaches to faculty-mentored research experiences affect student performance, graduation rates, and career goals. The broader impacts of this project include further developing the pipeline of high-ability community college students who transition into leadership roles in their fields. The research findings of this program will be widely disseminated for the broad benefit of college educators throughout the nation. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The Rocky Mountain Scholars Project will work with an alliance of community colleges to: 1) Recruit four cohorts of 15 transfer students who meet the financial need, high-ability criteria; 2) Provide the Scholars with scholarship funding; 3) Engage Scholars in faculty-mentored research assistantships; and 4) Provide Scholars with a support program centered on student engagement. The project research plan includes an efficacy study examining whether cohort-based mentored research experiences are more effective than individual mentored-research experiences, with regard academic performance, retention, STEM persistence, decision to enter graduate school, and decision to enter STEM careers. Moreover, it will investigate how the quality and quantity of student interactions with cohort mates and faculty mentors influence these outcomes. The research will consist of a mixed methods approach including: 1) statistical analyses using data obtained from program-generated variables as well as data from Institutional Research and the Analytics Section of the Career Center; 2) surveys and self-efficacy analyses to elicit a holistic picture of students' perceptions of the program's efficacy. Results of this project will be published in STEM education journals, posted on the program web site, and presented at conferences. 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.