Increasing Undergraduates' Success and Persistence in STEM by Combining Scholarship Support with a Growth Mindset Framework

Tallahassee Community College, Tallahassee FL

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 Tallahassee Community College. Tallahassee Community College is a public two-year community college where 41.8% students are classified as low-income students. Over its five-year duration, the project will fund two-year scholarships to 60 students who are pursuing Associate of Arts degrees in the disciplines of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Computer Science, all disciplines of Engineering, Mathematics, Physical Science, Physics, as well as Computer Information Science and Technology. The project aims to increase retention and degree completion for students through both academic and non-cognitive skills development. The project will advance knowledge on targeted effective practices including: (1) active learning and research experiences, (2) optimized individual advising, (3) faculty mentoring, (4) tutoring, (5) internships and career counseling, and (6) non-cognitive skill development that prepares students to pursue STEM careers. The project will use the "Growth Mindset" framework which posits that intelligence and academic success can be improved over time with effort, and with the development of particular skills. By deepening the understanding of the "Growth Mindset" in STEM, this project will advance a more nuanced framing of challenges and factors for success in low-income community college students pursuing STEM degrees. This approach will help students develop a determined mindset when facing academic challenges and will lead to an increase in the retention of students in STEM fields. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project seeks to improve educational opportunities, enhance student support services, and employ the "Growth Mindset" framework to increase retention and degree completion of students in the STEM fields. In addition, the project will create a predictive model which identifies factors that affect student success in STEM disciplines. The project aims to study the effect of the enhancement of non-cognitive and psycho-social skill development on increasing student success. Furthermore, the project will analyze if specific activities can be identified as influential factors for the increase in student success. The project will be evaluated by collecting student data on GPA, semester-by-semester grades earned, retention, and graduation rates. In addition, through non-cognitive surveys and questionnaires the project will seek to observe and understand how changes in the "Growth Mindset" of students occurs. Dissemination will be conducted through presentations on the findings of the project and the identified best practices will be shared through national conferences and publication 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.