Scholarships and a Learning Community Approach to Support Success of Undergraduates in Mathematics and Biology

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 Eastern Connecticut State University, a primarily undergraduate, public liberal arts institution. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 10 unique full-time undergraduate students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Biology or Mathematics.

Scholars will be selected in two annual cohorts and first year Scholars will receive up to four years of scholarship support. The project aims to increase student persistence in STEM through a learning community that provides advising and mentoring and fosters strong relationships among Scholars and faculty. Scholars will be mentored by faculty and peers as they develop a road map to achieve their career goals.

The Scholars will also have access to a comprehensive range of supportive activities including undergraduate research experiences, preparation for STEM graduate studies and careers, STEM-focused seminars, and site visits to STEM-related academic institutions and industries. In addition to developing the Scholar learning community, the project also plans to revise STEM curricula to better support retention of all first-year STEM students.

The project has the potential to increase the persistence of low-income, academically talented students in STEM, as well as to help reduce the national shortfall of STEM graduates. The effectiveness of the project activities on STEM persistence will be studied and shared publicly.

The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project aims to transition students into the STEM workforce or graduate studies and to learn which practices during their undergraduate careers facilitated their confidence and persistence in STEM.

Low-income students, especially first-generation college students, typically enter college lacking the confidence to view themselves as belonging to the STEM field. This project is designed to add new knowledge about developing students' STEM identities. The project includes a research investigation of a cohort-based, interdisciplinary learning community that integrates students pursuing biology and mathematics majors.

The study will examine how Scholars’ STEM identity is affected by engaging in a cohort-based learning community that promotes robust relationships among students and faculty. The project also will identify the activities that support STEM identity development and STEM persistence. The working hypothesis is that a cohort-based learning community that helps Scholars build strong relationships with faculty and peers will increase STEM identity, leading to increased retention and success in STEM.

Research methods include a mixed methods approach to answer the research questions, using information from surveys, observations, and interviews with student participants, peer and faculty mentors. Results from this project will be made available on the University website, at regional and national meetings, and via published manuscripts in science education 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.