| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 2, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | April 2, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1741954 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Christine Delahanty
cdelahan@nsf.gov (703)292-8492 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | April 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | March 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $999,350.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $999,350.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 UTSA CIR SAN ANTONIO TX US 78249-1644 (210)458-4340 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
One UTSA Circle San Antonio TX US 78249-1644 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | S-STEM-Schlr Sci Tech Eng&Math |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will support high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at university of Texas San Antonio (UTSA). Throughout its five years, this project will fund 62 scholarships for students who are first-year and upper division students majoring in computer science. Increasing the diversity of perspectives in the nation's pool of computer science graduates is strategically important to the nation's prosperity and welfare. Engagement of underrepresented female and minority students in the computer science workforce is needed to help eliminate implicit bias in the systems developed. A lack of role models and mentors, failure to connect with other students and faculty, and low use of campus resources pose challenges for students who are the first in their families to pursue higher education. Difficulty with the transition to large, impersonal, rigorous courses and financial stress pose added challenges. UTSA is the largest minority-serving institution in South Texas and has a large first-generation enrollment. The project will investigate the integration of evidence-based and experience-based activities over multiple years, taking into account the needs of the individual participants.
The goal of this S-STEM Track 2 project is to increase the number of high-achieving, low-income students majoring in computer science at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) who join the workforce or pursue advanced studies in computer science. The project objectives include (a) developing new methods and surveys to better identify the academic needs of individual students, (b) monitoring the academic progress of each participant, and (c) integrating multiple activities based upon the learning needs and progress of individual participants. Through research-based and experience-based, student-centered educational activities, UTSA aims to increase the retention of students majoring in computer science from 70% to 90%. It also aims to improve the student graduation rate from 60% to 80%. Personalized faculty and peer mentoring, individual tutoring, a week-long orientation "jump start" program, biweekly group meetings, conference attendance, and involvement in research projects will complement other high-impact practices to support student engagement and success. The progress of each student will be tracked. Individualized, early interventions will be initiated to keep all scholars on track to complete their degrees and proceed to the technical workforce or pursue advanced studies in computer science. Scholars will be encouraged to participate in recruiting and outreach events to share their own stories and provide role models for others. This combination of activities has the potential to significantly improve the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students, and provide sustainable solutions to advancing STEM education.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Project Overview: Supporting Student Success and Increasing Diversity in Computer Science (called I-FOCUS-CS) project was designed to enhance retention and graduation rates of academically talented, but low-income students in Computer Science (CS) at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) while ultimately guiding them to join the scientific workforce or pursue advanced studies in CS.
Intellectual Merit: The project demonstrated that combining financial aid with evidence-based and experience-based targeted educational activities significantly improved student success. Key strategies and activities included (a) Signing, Learning Contracts and tracking individual student progress, (b) One-on-one tutoring, (c) Increasing contact time with faculty and peer mentors, (d) Bi-weekly Meetings to address academic issues, study skills, while also solving advanced programming problems, and (e) Encouraging students to attend career fairs, internships, and company visits to learn about industry jobs while also interacting with faculty and grad student to learn more about graduate school options. These efforts were integrated with existing support mechanisms at UTSA, leading to improved retention and graduation rates.
Broader Impact: The program supported 59 unique academically talented but low-income students with notable diversity (approximately 40% were female and 50% were Hispanic minorities). Each scholar received up to $10,000 scholarship annually, which enabled students to focus more on their educational activities instead of looking for hourly employment. The program enriched the learning experience for all students and contributed to diversifying the field of Computer Science. The increase in well-trained, diverse graduates positively impacts the national computing infrastructure and economy. As of the end of the project, 48 students (83%) had graduated and joined the workforce or graduate school, 1 student is about to graduate, while 10 students (17%) left the program for various reasons (only two were due to poor academic performance while the other eight changed major or lost financial eligibility). The early findings and the final lessons learned in the project have been shared with research community through workshop presentations at AAAS S-STEM (Sept 2019), AAAS S-STEM Forum (Sept 2021), and Illinois Computer Science Summer Teaching Workshop (June 2024).
Conclusions: The I-FOCUS-CS S-STEM program at UTSA demonstrated significant success in recruiting, retaining, and graduating low-income students in CS. The scholarship, combined with strong mentorship and community-building activities, motivated scholars to pursue and complete their degrees. The program not only enhanced their academic experience but also provided valuable professional development opportunities, leading to positive post-graduation outcomes.
Last Modified: 07/16/2024
Modified by: Turgay Korkmaz
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