Living Learning Communities and Experiential Learning Activities for Enhancing Low-Income Academically Talented Undergraduate STEM Student Success

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 the University of Saint Mary (USM), a private institution in Leavenworth, Kansas. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships for 21 full-time undergraduate students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in STEM disciplines such as Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Engineering.

First-year students will receive renewable scholarships annually for up to four years based on academic performance and continued financial need. The project aims to enhance student success through the implementation and integration of Living Learning Communities (LLCs) and Experiential Learning Activities (ELAs). Specific project activities include cohort-based mentoring programs, hands-on research experiences, and professional development workshops designed to equip students with essential skills and knowledge for their future careers.

The Kansas City metropolitan area has recently emerged as a hub for biological technology, generating a need to increase the regional STEM workforce. Importantly, this project plays a crucial role in addressing this need by preparing low-income students to contribute effectively to the workforce in this growing sector. This project also seeks to generate critical insights into the effectiveness of combining LLCs and ELAs on student success.

These findings are anticipated to enhance understanding of how to best support and optimize STEM academic pathways and career success.

The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion among low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Living Learning Communities and Experiential Learning Activities are considered high-impact practices in STEM. However, little is known about the effect of pairing these high impact practices on student outcomes.

This project will investigate the impact of integrating Living Learning Communities in years 1-2 and Experiential Learning Activities in years 3-4 on enhancing student learning and retention in STEM disciplines. Specifically, this project aims to measure the impact of strategically pairing LLCs and ELAs on student success, and compare outcomes against control groups and existing data.

The hypothesis is that combining these high- impact practices will yield greater positive effects than implementing each independently or in an unstructured sequence. The project will employ a mixed-methods data collection approach, combining quantitative analysis of academic performance metrics with qualitative assessments through surveys, interviews, and focus groups to gauge outcomes.

Anticipated results include increased graduation rates, enhanced STEM literacy, and improved career readiness among participating students. Project findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and outreach to STEM education stakeholders, aiming to inform best practices and influence educational policies and programs.

This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S- STEM) program, which aims to increase the number of academically talented, low-income students earning 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.