Unlimited pathways to biology & mathematics in southcentral kentucky

The National Science Foundation awarded Lindsey Wilson College, Inc. $749,407 under the STEM Education (47.076) federal grant program to support scholarships and student support services for low-income students pursuing biology and mathematics degrees. Through this Project Grant, the college will provide 15 students with four-year scholarships totaling $749k to complete bachelor's degrees in biology or mathematics. Recipients will receive supplemental academic and career supports including peer and faculty mentoring, a summer bridge program, and internship or research experiences to promote student success. The goal is to increase degree attainment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields among high-achieving, financially needy students from rural counties in Kentucky. Evaluation will assess the impact of implemented supports on retention, graduation, and development of self-directed learning among participants through 2029. Findings may inform strategies to advance undergraduate success in STEM for similarly situated students nationally.

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 lindsey wilson college. This private college located in a small, rural town in south central kentucky serves economically distressed and at-risk counties in appalachia. Over its 6-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 15 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor?s degrees in biology or mathematics. Three cohorts of five first-year students will receive scholarships for four-years. The project aims to build student ownership of learning with the supports of peer mentors, faculty mentors, supplemental instruction, and internship or research experiences. Low-income and first-generation students who could benefit from additional preparation make up more than half of the student population at lindsey wilson college. This project has the potential to assess the impact of supports designed to overcome shortfalls in pre-college preparation for promising, rural stem students. The overall goal of this project is to increase stem degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Student ownership of learning is known to be a key component of college and career readiness and success. Self-directed, lifelong learners are advantageous to the stem workforce. The project will investigate the impacts of a summer bridge program, peer and faculty mentorship, supplemental instruction, and cohort experiences such as field trips and a lecture series, as measured by retention and graduation rates as well as other data. The project will seek to identify the various factors that contribute to student ownership of learning and improved self-direction. Through the evaluation of collected data, and dissemination of key elements and lessons learned, the project has the potential to advance the understanding of how high-potential, rural, low-income, underprepared students can become life-long learners in stem fields. 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.