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ASCENT - A Program Designed to Support STEM Students through Undergraduate Research and Mentoring
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Das, Kumer Pial Daniel, Basil David Andrei, Stefan Osborne, Lawrence |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | This study introduces Lamar University’s AddreSsing the Gulf Coast REgion’s GraduatioN RaTe Crisis in Mathematics and Computer Science (ASCENT). The main goal of ASCENT is the rapid graduation of outstanding mathematicians and computer scientists by providing scholarships and extensive academic support to community college students who transfer to Lamar University (LU) and to current upper level LU students to complete bachelor’s degrees in mathematics or computer science in a timely manner. The academic support includes Summer Bridge and Enrichment program, undergraduate research, multi-level mentoring, and postgraduate placement. The ASCENT program targets talented “at risk” students who face social and economic hardship and provides them support to graduate on time. These “at risk” categories include women and minorities, community college students, first generation students and military veterans. Since the beginning of ASCENT in May 2012, the program has been successful in terms of recruitment, retention, and graduation. Moreover, ASCENT is responsible for institutionalizing undergraduate research at Lamar University. ASCENT's most significant contribution to LU is in the area of undergraduate research. Our ASCENT scholars conduct undergraduate research under the supervision of faculty mentors during the second summer of their program. The student scholars get control over their education in ways that are almost impossible to replicate in regular courses. They present their work at various conferences including the Texas STEM Conference in October. This undergraduate research initiative has increased the awareness of undergraduate research throughout the campus. As a result of this awareness Lamar University has established the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) in 2013 and the PI of ASCENT is serving as the OUR’s Founding Director. OUR hosts undergraduate research expo, conference, talks, workshops etc. It also offers research and travel grants to students. One of the other significant achievements of the ASCENT program is the introduction of a conference for S-STEM scholarship recipients in the state of Texas and Louisiana. We recently hosted the 3 Texas STEM Conference on October 3, 2015 on the campus of LU. Over 120 students and faculty attended sessions created to emphasize improving STEM education. College and university faculty members, administrators, and peers involved in STEM education, or interested in getting involved, were invited to share and explore research, best practices, and ideas with their colleagues around the states of Texas and Louisiana. The conference was also attended by eight S-STEM PI or co-PIs. This paper describes the ASCENT approach, its structure and its expected results. KeywordsBridge program, undergraduate research, STEM retention, timely graduation |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.18260/p.26282 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://peer.asee.org/ascent-a-program-designed-to-support-stem-students-through-undergraduate-research-and-mentoring.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.18260/p.26282 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
