- Year 2019
- NSF Noyce Award # 1660690
- First Name Larry
- Last Name Medsker
- Discipline Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Math, Physics
- Co-PI(s)
LaKeisha McClary, GWU, mcclary@gwu.edu; Dan Ullman, GWU, dullman@gwu.edu; Jonathon Grooms, GWU, jgrooms@gwu.edu; Tiffany-Rose Sikorski, GWU, tsikorski@gwu.edu
- Presenters
Larry Medsker, George Washington University, lrm@gwu.edu
Need
Recruitment of Noyce scholars is difficult at most universities. Not many students are interested in STEM teaching in any kind of school, much less high need. Anecdotal information is available about various recruitment strategies, but the lack of detailed data about the particular environments in which the methods took place makes it difficult for new Noyce programs to choose the appropriate approach for their situation. A particular opportunity, and challenge, is developing a productive partnership with a local community college.
Goals
The question in this research is how to engage students in our local 2-year partner school in ways that will lead to a strong pool of applicants for Noyce scholarships when they are second year students. A goal is to share our experiences with enough detail for other schools to implement in their environments.
Approach
After frustrating attempts to reach out at the student level, we decided to try a network model approach. NVCC has six campuses, and we experimented with have dedicated points of contact at each one to identify and nurture students who might apply to the GW Noyce program. A key is assuring quality applicants who clearly understand the purpose and requirements of the Noyce program.
Outcomes
Through a series of attempts, we identified champions who shared our goals: a dean and a head of teacher education. They were eager to apply the network model and identified and recruited math and science faculty who agreed to participate. The initial network has identified students who are participating and the next step is to expand the network so that all campuses are involved in a pipelines of students applying for admissions to GW and for GW Noyce Scholarships.
Broader Impacts
Larger goals of the network model are to enhance awareness of the Noyce program among community college faculty and therefore the students. Indications are that a benefit to GW is increased diversity among STEM students and engagement of new high quality STEM majors into the GW environment. At NVCC, we envision more awareness by their faculty and students of the advantages of STEM careers.
