S8 Program Activities and Interventions

S8 Program Scholars will participate in the following activities and trainings.

Active learning classrooms and inquiry-based labs
  1. To improve the quality of teaching and learning in our introductory chemistry and physics courses, our department is currently implementing the student-centered active learning with upside-down pedagogies (SCALE-UP) in studio classrooms.
  2. Additionally, to properly prepare our students, we plan to replace our “cookbook style" experiments in introductory chemistry laboratories with inquiry-based experiments and those in foundation laboratories (i.e., analytical, bio-, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry) with research-based experiments.
  3. Through the successful implementation of active learning in our studio classrooms and inquiry and research-based laboratories, we work to provide high-quality education, increase their success, and thereby increase the graduation rates of our S-STEM scholars.
Attendance at scientific conferences.
  1. By attending and presenting at scientific conferences, scholars will get face-to-face interactions with lead scientists, gain valuable mentoring, increase their knowledge, and develop networking. They will also increase their self-efficacy, social skills, sense of belonging to sciences, and understanding of potential career opportunities.
Cohort course scheduling
  1. With cohort scheduling, scholars will experience common class sections, socialize together, study together, and help each other.
  2. As a result of working and interacting together, we expect that scholars’ confidence, sense of becoming part of a community, sense of responsibility, communication skills, and successes will be strongly enhanced.
Computational thinking activities
  1. Another goal of the bridge program is to introduce Computational Thinking (CT), one of the eight science and engineering practices, to scholars to improve their CT skills, an interrelated set of skills and practices for solving complex problems.
  2. The CT practices will continue during the regular semesters in FSU Makerspace. Scholars will get involved in the CT activities once or twice in a month under supervision of Joseph Kabbes (Co-PI and Makerspace Manager).
  3. The BBC micro:bits will be utilized as tools to explore the interaction of computers and the physical world. Scholars will construct several do-it-yourself laboratory tools using BBC micro:bits and employ them to measure absorption, pH, dissolved O2, turbidity, and heavy metal content of water samples taken from the Cape Fear River passing through Fayetteville.
Faculty and peer mentoring
  1. Having a mentor will improve scholars’ connection with our department and institution, improve their persistence in STEM, promote their engagement, decrease unexcused absences, reach their full potential, increase their college satisfaction and retention, improve their GPA, and timely complete their degrees.
  2. Faculty mentors will meet with their mentees monthly to discuss their academic performance. If declines in their academic performance are noticed, mentors will advise scholars to re-evaluate their study strategies.
  3. Scholars will meet twice in a month with their peer mentors for at least one hour.
  4. Peer Mentors will be hired at a rate of $15/hr.
Field trips to graduate schools and chemical industries
  1. The lack of connection between chemical concepts taught in schools and their real-world applications has been found to have an impact on significant declines in enrollment in post-secondary chemistry programs. Therefore, field trips can be a great tool for student retention.
  2. Scholars will be provided with the opportunity to take field trips to STEM-related companies at Research Triangle Park (RTP).
  3. Scholars will be taken to nearby major research universities (e.g., NCSU, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, etc.) to get to know about the graduate programs in STEM fields, to interact and network with faculty and graduate students, visit their research facilities, and learn about their research capabilities.
Active learning classrooms and inquiry-based labs
  1. The value of undergraduate research experience cannot be overstated. Scholars will improve their confidence in their ability, increase their soft skills, gain a deeper understanding of their major, better integrate into academic and college life, remain in sciences, have a stronger motivation for academic success, and, most importantly, finish college on time. Undergraduate research is an effective recruiting tool for high-performing students.
  2. Students will be strongly encouraged to present their research findings at local, regional and/or national scientific meetings and conferences such as the American Chemical Society (ACS, national and regional), the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), Materials Research Society (MRS), Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference (M&M), Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (PITTCON).
  3. Scholars will receive $750 per year for getting involved in undergraduate research.
Participation in student clubs
  1. There are three active student science clubs in our department: the American Chemical Society (ACS) Student Chapter, the Materials Research Society (MRS) student chapter, and Pre-Pharmacy Club.
  2. The S-STEM scholars will be encouraged to take on leadership roles in these clubs to improve their leadership, teamwork, communication, and self-management skills.
Peer tutoring
  1. Peer instruction provides significant gains in academic achievements; improves students’ attitudes towards their courses, class attendance, and students’ conceptual understanding; reduces student attrition rates and failure rates.
  2. Students (preferably scholars) in the upper classes who had successfully completed the course with a grade of B or higher will be hired (and trained) as Peer Leaders.
  3. Peer instruction will be done in the study hall that is located near the studio classroom and is equipped with chairs, round tables, whiteboards, and computers, and can accommodate up to 20 students.
  4. The Peer Leaders will hold weekly study sessions in the study hall.
  5. The Peer Leaders will act as facilitators in the study hall and assist scholars as needed.
  6. Peer Tutors will be hired at a rate of $15/hr.
Professional and personal enrichment seminars
  1. Some major barriers that prevent FSU students from going to doctoral programs and joining the STEM workforce are noncompetitive GRE scores and limited information about graduate programs and STEM career opportunities.
  2. S8 Scholars will overcome this by participating in frequent activities such as seminars/workshops on personal enrichment, professional development, skills development, and capacity building.
  3. The professional and personal enrichment seminars/workshops will be organized in collaboration with the Career Services at FSU and FTCC.
Summer bridge program
  1. One of the goals of the Summer Bridge Program is to immerse incoming freshmen in STEM activities to motivate and educate them. During this program, the scholars will get to know each other and meet with the S8 Program team members. The summer bridge program will involve:
    1. a comprehensive orientation to college life and resources at FSU and FTCC,
    2. academic advising and mentoring,
    3. equipping the scholars with skills necessary for their college success (e.g., time management, study skills, teamwork, problem-solving, etc.), and
    4. accelerated academic coursework.
  2. Scholars will take two accelerated courses in this program: NSCI 100 - Calculations in Sciences and UNIV101 - Freshman Seminar. They will earn 2 credit hours by completing this program.
  3. Students enrolled in the four-week Summer Bridge Program will receive a stipend of $1,800 as part of their participation.
Summer internships
  1. The S8 Program will seek to find summer internship opportunities for scholars and place them in universities, chemical industries, or federal/state agencies that match their career or educational goals.
  2. Scholars will be encouraged to have at least one summer internship experience at or outside of FSU before graduating.
  3. If they choose to have an internship at FSU, up to 8 scholars (over 6 years) will receive $2,000 for summer internships at FSU.
Technical skills building workshops
  1. To equip our scholars with the appropriate lab skills and thus increase their chances of finding jobs in the sciences or entering graduate programs after graduation, we will develop a series of two-hour workshops that will be delivered on Fridays each week.
  2. Scholars will be given $200 per semester for attending these workshops.
  3. Scholars at both FTCC and FSU will attend these weekly workshops on FSU campus. Topics/techniques will include but not limited to:
    1. keeping a lab notebook
    2. complying with lab safety and ethics
    3. pipetting liquids
    4. Preparing solutions
    5. determining pH of solutions
    6. operating analytical instruments (UV-vis, FTIR, GC-MS, LC-MS, NMR, etc.)
    7. collecting, analyzing, and reporting data
    8. and quality assurance and quality control