Integrating Meaningful Practices with Access to Computational Thinking: Towards Increasing the Academic and Career Success of STEM Students

Rhodes College, Memphis TN

Investigators

Abstract

The Integrating Meaningful Practices with Access to Computational Thinking (IMPACT) project at Rhodes College aims to increase the academic and career success of low-income, academically talented students pursuing STEM majors. This project will recruit and award scholarships to STEM-interested low-income students. In addition to the scholarships, IMPACT will foster an environment that promotes academic success, social inclusion, and professional community-building through a suite of program components, including a first-semester course on computational thinking and a first-year writing seminar tailored to effective science writing. Computational thinking and scientific writing skills are unique and broadly applicable skills that are in high demand in the STEM workforce and are also highly transferable and broadly applicable to all STEM fields. Many high school students, particularly those who are from underrepresented communities, do not have access to computer science learning opportunities. IMPACT seeks to bridge this gap and generate new knowledge by determining whether computational thinking skills and training in scientific writing early in the college career will influence STEM motivational beliefs, retention rates, persistence in STEM, and post-graduation job placement success. We expect that the insights gained from the IMPACT program will inform institutions of higher education across the U.S. about the value of implementing STEM writing and computational training in their STEM curricula. The IMPACT project will recruit and provide scholarships to eighteen undergraduate students and promote STEM success through academic coursework and experiences. In addition, the project will build on best practices, including peer mentoring, tutoring support, living in designated residential housing, undergraduate research experiences that incorporate computational thinking, networking events with potential employers, personalized STEM faculty advisors who use computation in their research, and a variety of other activities designed to facilitate cohort-building. The aim is to create a learning community of academically talented students, primarily drawn from the large pool of low-income, underrepresented high school students in the Memphis, Tennessee area. IMPACT Scholars will be targeted for recruitment through multiple creative and engaging outreach events. IMPACT will strengthen the connection between Scholars and regional employers while exposing them to career options and opportunities. IMPACT will also provide a replicable, comprehensive, and supportive network of activities and services aimed at improving academic achievement, self-efficacy, retention, completion, and employment of students who traditionally face significant barriers to academic success. 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.