Workshops to Increase Capacity for Competitive S-STEM Proposals

Rochester Institute Of Tech, Rochester NY

Investigators

Abstract

Many low-income students attend institutions of higher education that do not have the infrastructure to support writing and submitting successful proposals to the federal government. This project will conduct a series of workshops and webinars to help 40 institutions of higher education to prepare and submit effective proposals to the NSF Scholarships in STEM program. The proposed workshops address the need to support STEM faculty in designing support systems to meet the diverse needs of talented low-income students. Faculty members in direct contact with students frequently have keen awareness of the challenges faced by talented low-income students in completing STEM degrees. This awareness is especially true for faculty at two-year colleges, teaching intensive institutions, and university branch campuses. Despite their familiarity with student needs, these faculty are often unfamiliar with current effective practices in curricular and co-curricular activities that support student success. Such practices include: active learning in gateway courses; tutoring, study-groups, and supplemental instruction programs; effective incorporation of industry experiences, internship opportunities, and research participation; and the role community building and peer support in promoting retention and degree completion. The workshops will help faculty to identify critical areas in which their students need support and develop a project plan that unites local institutional needs and opportunities. In addition, the workshops will emphasize projects that both support students and generate knowledge to advance the understanding of factors that affect the success, retention, transfer, and graduation in STEM of low-income students. The project will implement a workshop model that uses an asset-based approach to the professional development of STEM faculty members. The workshop's asset-based perspective acknowledges the faculty's awareness and insights into the challenges faced by talented low-income students at their institutions. Workshop activities will then seek to align existing faculty insights with effective evidence-based practices in STEM education and the requirements of the S-STEM funding program. The workshops will also provide faculty with guidance from a network of educators with experience in the NSF S-STEM program and in supporting academically talented low-income students. The workshops will utilize a regional focus will help to maximize participation by reducing transportation time and costs. This series of workshops and webinars aims to improve the quality of student support structures in proposals submitted to the NSF S-STEM program. They also aim to advance the S-STEM program goals of increasing the number of academically talented low-income students who complete STEM degrees and enter the workforce, and to generate and disseminate new knowledge about effective practices in STEM education. This project is funded by the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, 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.