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1. Analysis of Panel Summaries of Proposals Submitted to the S-STEM Program

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--34145  

   Boyle, Samara; Pearson, Yvette; Beier, Margaret; Gilberto, Jacqueline; Mattingly, Stephen; Saterbak, Ann; Shethia, Anila (June 2020, 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   This research paper describes a preliminary analysis of panel summaries of proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Scholarships for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. S-STEM provides awards to institutions to fund scholarships and to implement evidence-based strategies to recruit, retain, and graduate students from low-income backgrounds who have the academic potential to succeed in eligible STEM disciplines. The ultimate goal of the program is to build the US STEM workforce. In 2017, Rice University received funding from NSF to support teams of principal investigators and their co- investigators, who were experts in educational or related research areas, to attend a two-day workshop that was developed to help them prepare more competitive proposals to the S-STEM program. The emphasis was on investigators from predominantly undergraduate institutions, primarily those located in Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) jurisdictions and/or designated as Minority-Serving Institutions. One of the workshop’s aims was to investigate factors that impact the success (or lack thereof) of proposals to the S-STEM program. We began with examining the feedback participants received from review panels on their proposal submissions. In this case study, we compare panel summaries for five S-STEM proposals submitted from five different institutions, exploring the similarities and differences in the overall reviews, as well as the strengths and weaknesses cited for both awarded and declined proposals that were awarded and declined in the context of their alignment with NSF’s merit review criteria. This is submitted for consideration as a traditional paper presentation. 

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2. Encouraging Confidence: The Impact of an Online Peer Mentoring Program on Women Peer Mentees in STEM at Two HBCUs

   https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu4010003  

   Jones, Vivian O; Wendt, Jillian L (March 2025, Trends in Higher Education)

   The purpose of this project was to examine the impact of participation in an online peer mentoring program on peer mentees in an effort to broaden participation of racially and ethnically minoritized women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs. A total of 22 students identifying as women who were enrolled in STEM degree programs at one of two participating historically Black institutions participated in the program. After participating in an online peer mentee training program and engaging in peer mentoring relationships over the course of one academic year, interviews and focus groups were conducted to determine the impact of participation in the program on mentees’ STEM self-efficacy, sense of community, STEM identity, and intent to persist in their STEM degree programs. Following a case study approach, findings demonstrated that peer mentees reported overall positive outcomes from participation in the program to include increased STEM self-efficacy, increased sense of belonging, increased STEM identity, and increased intent to persist. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. 

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3. STEM Bridge Program Participation Predicts First- and Second-Semester Math Performance

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--32296  

   Bradford, Brittany; Beier, Margaret; Wolf, Michael; McSpedon, Megan; Taylor, Matthew (July 2019, American Society for Engineering Education)

   To combat math underperformance among incoming STEM majors, Rice University designed a summer bridge program with National Science Foundation (NSF) S-STEM funding that included an intensive calculus course. Students invited to participate in the program were identified as being underprepared for STEM classes based on their standardized test scores, high school STEM coursework, and socioeconomic status. One of the program’s goals is to improve students’ preparation for the advanced math courses required for all STEM majors at Rice. The bridge program is designed to teach the material that has historically been most challenging for underprepared students, meaning the math content covered primarily second-semester calculus topics. We explored the impact of bridge program participation on math performance in first and second-semester math. First, we examined group differences in math preparation. Though program administrators attempt to create equivalent bridge and comparison groups, the bridge program is optional, meaning group assignment is not completely random. Bridge students were less prepared than comparison students on number of high school calculus AP (or equivalent) credits received. We analyzed group differences in final class grades from 2012-2017 among the comparison group, the bridge group, and the rest of the class (i.e. non-comparison and nonbridge), standardizing grades using Z-scores. Planned contrasts found that bridge students performed slightly better than, but not significantly different from, comparison students in first semester math. Conversely, planned contrasts found that the bridge group significantly outperformed the comparison group in second-semester math. These results suggest that bridge program exposure to calculus may improve performance relative to a comparison group, which is especially noteworthy because bridge students are the least math-prepared STEM students entering the university. Future research will analyze outcomes in more advanced math classes. We will use these findings to refine the bridge program’s approach to teaching students how to succeed at collegiate-level math classes and, ultimately, as STEM majors at Rice. 

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4. STEM Graduation Outcomes of the Rice University Emerging Scholars STEM Intervention and Summer Bridge Program

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--35204  

   Bradford, Brittany; Beier, Margaret; McSpedon, Megan; Wolf, Michael; Taylor, Matthew (June 2020, American Society for Engineering Education)

   STEM graduation rates, cumulative GPAs, and final GPA distributions of years 2016 to 2019 graduates were evaluated for students who participated in Rice University’s STEM intervention (the Rice Emerging Scholars Program, or RESP, which is partly funded through an NSF SSTEM grant), which begins with a pre-freshman STEM summer bridge program. RESP participants (n=89) and a comparison category of students (n=81) were identified as being underprepared for STEM coursework. Outcomes from the rest of the graduating classes were also assessed (i.e., non-comparison, non-RESP students). Incoming high school AP and IB credits were a moderate predictor of cumulative graduation GPA. After controlling for test credits, student status predicted cumulative graduation GPA, with higher GPAs in the noncomparison, non-RESP condition. Seventy-two RESP students graduated with a STEM major (81% STEM retention) compared with 62% of comparison students and 87% of non-comparison, non-RESP students. A chi-square test found a significant difference in favor of higher STEM retention among RESP students than the comparison students. Of RESP STEM graduates, 94% graduated with at least a B- GPA, compared with 86% of the comparison students, and 97% of the non-comparison, non-RESP students. A chi-square test approached significance in favor of more B- and above GPAs among RESP students than the comparison students. Overall, we found that high school preparation predicted STEM students’ graduation GPAs. Further, although RESP participation did not predict the cumulative GPAs of STEM majors, the program may: 1) improve STEM degree persistence and 2) ensure that more of the program’s STEM graduates achieve at least a B- cumulative graduation GPA. The number of RESP and comparison students is relatively small, yet these findings nevertheless offer preliminary evidence that the intervention may be effective at improving STEM outcomes for students who would otherwise struggle the most with their coursework. As more students graduate from the university, we will be able to make stronger conclusions about the effectiveness of RESP in improving outcomes of underprepared STEM students. 

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5. Differential effects of bridge program participation on perceived belonging and peer support for STEM degree seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic

   McSpedon, M. R. (January 2021, Zone 1 Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education)

   This NSF S-STEM Grantee poster examines the impact of participation in the Rice Emerging Scholars Program (RESP), Rice University’s comprehensive undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) summer bridge program, on student perceptions of university belongingness within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within a quasiexperimental design, the researchers examined whether RESP participants experienced different levels of belongingness utilizing two measures: The Psychological Sense of School Membership Scale, as well as a measure of perceived peer support. Additionally, the researchers examined whether family income impacted students, regardless of RESP program participation. Finally, researchers examined whether family income moderated the relationship between belongingness outcomes and program participation. Results did not support the hypotheses; there were no significant relationships found between RESP participation and sense of school membership (r = -.02, p > .05), RESP participation and perceived peer support (r = .05, p > .05), family income and sense of school membership (r = -.05, p > .05), or family income and perceived peer support ( r = -.06, p > .05), nor was evidence found for family income moderating the relationship between belongingness outcomes and RESP participation. Implications for future work in this area are discussed. 

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