To share questions or comments, please contact John Loughman, NSF Grant Administrator or Julie Ambrose, Grant Research and Evaluation Specialist.
Unique Features
Use of ePortfolios
The ePortfolio became a repository for each student’s goals, academic achievements and continued reflection on their experiences and progress in creating their personal brand. Students were encouraged to consider their personal brand within the context of the LCCC STEM Scholar brand. By starting with a STEM Scholar portfolio template, we could guide students' portfolio development with monthly expectations. Over the course of two semesters, students complete program expectations that lead to the developmet of each section of the ePortfolio. Students who are in the program more than two semesters revisit, reconsider and further develop each portfolio section.
During the first semester of the program, Fall 2012, a paper-based tracking system formed the basis of students' record keeping and reflections.
ePortfolio Showcase Competition
This video, What's in it for me?, was created to attract student interest in the Lehigh Carbon Community College ePortfolio Showcase event. STEM Scholars successfully competed with other LCCC students in showcasing their accomplishments and goals using the ePortfolio.
Personal/Professional Branding and ePortfolios
Beginning in 2015, we introduced the concept of Personal/Professional Branding to students coordinated with their ePortfolio development. Watch the video below for an overview of this effort.
Intrusive Mentoring
Intrusive faculty mentoring was initiated and bolstered to include twice per month sessions. The only requirement of the mentoring sessions was that the student had to sit in the mentor’s guest chair. This not a particularly burdensome requirement but the goal was to allow the student to become comfortable interacting with faculty. This experience was consistent whether the session content included serious matters or was a “drop in” status report. Absent the requirement, students generally did not seek out individual meetings with faculty. However, most rated the individual mentoring as highly valuable.
The scholar's personal interaction in and outside of meetings combined with short, scripted exercises in public speaking offered growth and maturation opportunities in interpersonal communication and practice in articulating thoughts and ideas. Many of the scripted exercises were based on developing an outward professional brand.
Cohort Structure
The makeup of the scholar cohort was unique in its inclusivity. Students from all STEM fields representing up to 30 majors were included in the STEM cohort. The interaction and community formed by the scholars broke through the previously conceived departmental silos. The socialization of the varied majors built a sense of community that previously had not existed in the commuter school.
Professional Interview Preparation and Practice
During the second semester of the grant all scholars were interviewed by a representative from Lutron Inc.. Scholars also benefited from employer presentations by St. Luke’s Health Care Systems, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Victaulic. Students are expected to attend the on-campus job fair each semester to explore career options, engage in networking, and practice presenting themselves in a professional environment.
Opportunities to continue toward a bachelors degree were presented by Bloomsburg University, the Community College Scholars Program at Bucknell University and the Nano-technology program at Penn State University. Individual transfer research is encouraged at the Transfer Fair each semester. Also, a scripted “interview” exercise specifically aimed at developing an outward professional brand through interpersonal interaction, skills awareness and thinking on their feet was introduced in Spring 2015.
View the Outcomes page.
To share questions or comments, please contact John Loughman, NSF Grant Administrator or Julie Ambrose, Grant Research and Evaluation Specialist.