STEM-MING THE GAP BETWEEN MAJORS AND GENERAL EDUCATION, LESSONS LEARNED FROM AN NSF S-STEM GRANT

Waubonsee Community College is currently in the third year of a National Science Foundation funded STEM scholarship grant. Although this scholarship is not given to General Education students, components of the grant can be applied to most General Education geoscience students and classes. In addition to the distribution of scholarship monies, our NSF STEM Scholars participate in a variety of activities and have access to a variety of resources that are designed to ensure that they complete their Associates degree and transfer to a Baccalaureate institution. The most effective component is likely the mentoring of the student by an assigned faculty member; there is also additional mentoring between the STEM Scholars themselves. We also ask our STEM scholars to participate in activities on and off-campus to be exposed to other STEM disciplines. Scholars are also asked to give a presentation to their fellow STEM scholars at one of our monthly meetings, as if it were a professional meeting in their discipline, such as GSA. Three case studies will be presented as demonstration of the success of these activities.

Components of this scholarship program have been applied in my General Education geoscience classes offered at Waubonsee. Specifically, the mentoring of students has been implemented relatively easily using a quick survey quiz administered through a course management system, such as Blackboard. This syllabus quiz is administered early in the semester, and can open a dialogue with students, which can mature into a mentoring relationship. Although the presentation on student research has not been implemented, a research component has implemented using Honors classes that involve mini-research projects, as well as half-day problem-based learning exercises to students not eligible for Honors projects. Many of the other components can be implemented through the development of an Earth Science club or study hall.