Step Up to Physical Science and Engineering at Randolph(SUPER) is a recruitment and retention program for natural science and mathematics majors at Randolph College, a small liberal arts college in central Virginia. Begun as a pilot program in 2010, and then funded by two National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology,…

A critical evaluation was performed comparing final course grades earned by dual-degree STEM students with their peers in the corresponding single-degree programs. The goal was to understand if students in a dual-degree STEM program can obtain grades comparable to their single program peers. There is no published analysis on how the final course…

A curricular approach to supporting low-income STEM Scholars is outlined and initial associations with retention, social and cultural capital, perception of science, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations are examined. Details are provided for the curricular support program based on interdisciplinary research, service learning, and an explicit…

The present study focuses on the results of a four-year study that examined a Harmony Public School (HPS) high school students' STEM major selection patterns. We utilize 626 12th grade students who were common participants in each year of the 4-year study. We used quantitative method for the question 1 and 2 and a mainly qualitative focus for the…

STEM has one of the largest job fields, providing competitive salaries and opportunities for advancement. Despite this potential, enrollment in STEM majors is low and attrition at the collegiate level is high. This affects economic development and diversity within the scientific community. This warrants an analysis of the major selection process…

An integrative introduction to the sciences and an introduction to scientific writing can provide a strong foundation for broadly trained STEM majors to explore the interconnectedness of STEM disciplines and prepare them for scientific research. These goals have been accomplished through a sequence of two first-year courses, STEM 101: Integrative…

St. Lawrence University received a five-year Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create the multidisciplinary Liberal Arts Science Scholars program (award #1458712), which makes a high quality science and mathematics education accessible to high achieving,…

Motivated by assessment of externally awarded grants and internal programmatic practices, we used transcript and demographic data for students entering a highly selective residential liberal arts college between 2002-2015 to answer institutional-level questions about course taking patterns and pathways relevant to Science, Technology, Engineering,…

Consistent with national trends, only about ½ of students who intend to major in STEM disciplines at Maryville College (MC) complete bachelor's degrees in these fields. The Scots Science Scholars (S[superscript 3] ) program was funded through the National Science Foundation's STEM Talent Extension Program to increase the number of students…

St. Olaf College recently restructured its Summer Bridge Program (SBP) course for incoming low-income (LI) and first-generation (FG) college students from a non-major biology course, "Issues in Biology," to an interdisciplinary "Explorations in Science" course. Two significant changes were made with the intention of giving…

The St. Mary's University Jump Start summer bridge program for precalculus was implemented for the first time in August 2014 and completed its third iteration in August 2016. This 12-day summer bridge program occurred immediately before the beginning of the fall semester. The primary intent of this program was to effectively provide prerequisite…

Wesley College secured a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) S-STEM (scholarships in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) grant (1355554) to provide affordability and access to its robust STEM programs. With these funds, the college initiated a freshman to senior level, mixed-cohort, Cannon Scholar (CS) learning community…

Non research-intensive institutions of higher education are effective at narrowing STEM gender gaps in major selection and persistence to degree completion, yet the decision to attend such a setting is likely seen as counterintuitive when such institutions typically have lower levels of research, financial resources, and total student enrollments…

In 2012, Cleveland State University implemented a comprehensive program, called Operation STEM (OpSTEM), funded by two National Science Foundation grants, federal work study, and Cleveland State University. Its goal is to increase retention and graduation rates among Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students by helping them…

The Tech Valley Scholars (TVS) program included 38 students who joined this program over the course of three academic years, from 2009 to 2012. These students comprise the experimental group for this study to determine if participating in the NSF-funded Tech Valley Scholars program improved academic outcomes. The experimental group was compared to…