Las Vegas Scholars Program: (Re)defining Academic Spaces of Belonging for Students and Families

PI: Dr. Sarah Harris

Co-PIs: Dr. Norma Marrun, Dr. Christine Clark, Dr. Edward Jorgensen, and Dr. Yingtao Jiang

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program (Award #: 1742607)

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program supports the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. Throughout its five years of funding, this project at University of Nevada, Las Vegas provides scholarships to 16 students who are pursuing bachelor's degrees in computer science and computer engineering. The project seeks to increase recruitment, retention, student success, and graduation through academic support and student support programs. In addition, the project aims to promote students' sense of belonging by offering a family engagement program.

Collaborative Research: Improving Undergraduate Student Success in Introductory STEM Courses Via Campus Data Systems and Targeted Support for Self-Regulated Learning

PI: Dr. Jonathan Hilpert

Co-PIs: Dr. Erin Windsor and Dr. Christy Strong

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Program (Award #: 1821601)

This collaborative project includes investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the College of Southern Nevada. College students who initially major in STEM cite the coursework as a major reason for leaving STEM to pursue other interests. Instructors who move away from lectures to more engaging kinds of instruction find that their students are more likely to stay in STEM majors, but only when the students know how to learn in these new environments. This project develops models to identify struggling students in introductory STEM courses (especially biology, anatomy, and physiology) and tests interventions to help these students gain the knowledge and skills they need to benefit from active-learning course formats.

Enhancing Critical Transitions in Civil Engineering Degree Education

PI: Dr. Haroon Stephen

Co-PIs: Dr. Jee Woong Park, Dr. Erica Marti, Dr. Eakalak Khan, Dr. Blanca Rincon, and Dr. Ryan Sherman

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program (Award #: 1928409)

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project aims to enhance critical transitions from lower- to upper-division undergraduate coursework for civil engineering majors. The project focuses on addressing low retention and graduation rates in civil engineering undergraduate degrees at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, which is a designated HSI, as well as a Native-American-Serving and an Asian-American- and Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. The project seeks to increase retention and graduation in civil engineering by:

  1. Increasing the sense of community among students and between students and faculty;
  2. Innovating the undergraduate curriculum through course creation and alignment of lower- and upper-division courses; and
  3. Assisting STEM faculty and graduate assistants to develop and implement culturally responsive teaching strategies.

Developing the Skill and Will to Succeed in STEM

PI: Dr. Jenifer Utz

Co-PIs: Dr. Christy Strong, Dr. Frank van Breukelen, and Dr. Kathryn Rafferty

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) Program (Award #: 1742185)

This project provides three years of scholarship support to a total of 25 academically talented undergraduate biology majors with documented financial need. A primary goal is to diversify and increase the number of students entering STEM professions. In addition to scholarship support, a number of curricular and co-curricular enhancements (active learning and digital learning resources) are being implemented to increase achievement and career readiness of program participants.

Enhancing the Transition of COVID-19 Disadvantaged Students from Undergraduate to Graduate Studies in STEM through Multi-Year Undergraduate Research Experiences

PI: Dr. Levent Atici

Co-PIs: Dr. Eduardo Robleto, Dr. Kurt Regner, and Dr. Sarah Harris

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Program (Award #: 2225755)

This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing the number of students completing undergraduate and graduate degrees and pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, which is critical to United States global competitiveness. The project is designed to mitigate challenges and barriers imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on students who have been the most affected in STEM disciplines, namely students from groups who have been historically underrepresented in STEM. The investigators will engage a cohort of twenty students who will be guided for four years from undergraduate studies to graduate school. The project will provide these students with onboarding, academic preparation, advising and educational planning, social and networking opportunities, and financial support to increase student retention, progression, and graduation rates.

Improving STEM Student Fundamental Math Skills with Tailored Activity-Based Instruction

PI: Dr. Monika Neda

Co-PIs: Dr. Jacimaria Batista, Dr. Vanessa Vongkulluksn, Dr. Daniel Sahl, and Alok Pandey (College of Southern Nevada)

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation HSI-Hispanic Serving Institutions Program (Award #: 2225226)

This project aims to increase mathematics preparation for STEM undergraduate students. The need for a stronger foundation of mathematical skills is a major contributing factor to STEM attrition. Therefore, interventions that bridge the math gap between high school preparation and STEM degrees within the first years of college are critical. Faculty of mathematics, engineering, education, and computer science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the College of Southern Nevada seek to develop motivating and conceptually rich mathematics exercises for students enrolled in pre-STEM and engineering. The exercises will target mathematical concepts that have been shown to be persistently misunderstood by students. The anticipated outcomes of this project are:

  • Decreased time to graduation,
  • Higher achievement,
  • Less STEM attrition,
  • Lower degree cost to students, and
  • Expanded opportunities for students who are underrepresented in STEM fields of study to pursue advanced degrees in STEM.

Collaborative Research: National Science IRES Track 1: International Research Experience for Students in Big Data Applications in Energy and Related Infrastructure

PI: Dr. Eakalak Khan

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation IRES Track I: IRES Sites (IS) Program (Award #: 1952497)

This project has three distinct goals:

  1. Prepare students with professional skills to join a diverse and global STEM/knowledge workforce in advanced data science and analytics;
  2. Increase enthusiasm and research skills of undergraduate students from underrepresented population groups who otherwise might not have an international opportunity for professional development; and
  3. Foster collaboration between the faculty and students from Asian (economically, one of the fastest growing regions in the world) and U.S. universities.

The project will support 27 undergraduate students (over a three-year period) for a six-week-long high quality research internship experience. These students will work on energy related real-world big data and machine learning projects at a reputed international research institute in Malaysia. Nine participants per year, three each from the participating institutions, Texas A&M University, North Dakota State University, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, will be recruited for this program.

Nuclear Security Science and Technology Consortium

PI: Dr. Alexander Barzilov

Funding Agency: National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (Award# DE-NA0004008)

The goal of the Consortium is to develop the NNSA’s next-generation world-class STEM workforce. The objectives include:

  1. Encouraging minority students to excel in STEM by providing them with practical experience and training in the area of nuclear security through applicable research projects and experiential learning, bringing a heightened awareness of DOE/NNSA laboratories to academic institutions with a common interest in STEM topics.
  2. Strengthening research and education capabilities of MSI's by providing opportunities for intellectual challenge and collaboration and promoting scientist-to-scientist interactions between the academic community and the DOE/NNSA laboratories and sites, and to enlarge the scientific and technical knowledge and resource base of MSI in the nuclear security area.
  3. Developing and maintaining a long-term pipeline between 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, UIC, UNM and DOE/NNSA sites and laboratories for recruitment and retention by increasing the visibility of the DOE/NNSA scientific activities to MSI universities, and to grow the number of minority students who graduate with STEM degrees and are hired in to DOE/NNSA’s workforce.