GSE/RES: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Effects of First-Year Project Pedagogies on the Retention and Career Plans of Women in Engineering

GSE/RES：第一年项目教学法对工程领域女性保留和职业规划影响的混合方法研究

• 批准号: 0936704
• 负责人: Marie Paretti
• 金额: $ 49.26万
• 依托单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-11-01 至 2014-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0936704&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GSE; RES; Mixed; Methods; Study

Intellectual Merit:This project will examine first-year project pedagogies in engineering in order to identify approaches that enhance the likelihood of women continuing in engineering majors and entering engineering careers. Specifically, the study will investigate the problem-based learning (PBL) model to identify elements of the model most likely to better support the persistence of women in engineering. The PBL model employed in a single-major program will be compared to a more general project-based approach centered on the engineering design process in a course serving multiple engineering disciplines. The proposed project integrates multiple approaches to motivation (the participation-identification model, the expectancy-value model, and self-efficacy theory) and the application of those approaches to a specific pedagogy (problem-based learning) that shows promise for first-year design courses. Each of the motivation frameworks has been shown to be significant in predicting students' choices, effort, persistence, and achievement in schooling, but little is known about how these approaches generalize to women in first-year engineering courses, especially when considered in combination with one another. At the same time, studies of first-year experiences tend to examine curricular impacts broadly, but little rigorous pedagogical research on specific approaches to first-year (cornerstone design) and the effects of those approaches on women. The proposed study bridges these gaps.Broader Impact:There is a growing importance of cornerstone design in engineering, but a distinct lack of research on concrete pedagogical models appropriate for such courses. This project moves beyond the general application of "design projects" to first-year courses to identify how specific, transferable elements of a pedagogical framework such as PBL affect women's beliefs, performance, retention, and career persistence. In doing so, it will provide future engineering faculty with principles of course design and implementation that can have measurable effects on women in first-year engineering programs across the nation. By addressing a widespread curricular phenomenon and moving research into practice through targeted outreach and communication efforts, the project seeks to have a transformative impact on first-year engineering curricula nationwide.

智力优势：该项目将审查工程学第一年的项目体系，以确定提高妇女继续攻读工程专业和进入工程职业的可能性的方法。具体而言，这项研究将调查基于问题的学习（PBL）模式，以确定最有可能更好地支持妇女在工程的持久性的模型的元素。在一个单一的主要程序中采用的PBL模型将被比较到一个更一般的基于项目的方法集中在工程设计过程中的一个过程中服务于多个工程学科。该项目整合了多种激励方法（参与识别模型，期望值模型和自我效能理论），并将这些方法应用于一个特定的教学法（基于问题的学习），显示了对第一年设计课程的承诺。每一个动机框架已被证明是重要的预测学生的选择，努力，坚持和学业成绩，但很少有人知道这些方法如何推广到妇女在第一年的工程课程，特别是当考虑到彼此相结合。与此同时，对第一年经验的研究往往广泛地审查课程的影响，但很少对第一年的具体方法（基石设计）以及这些方法对妇女的影响进行严格的教学研究。建议的研究桥梁这些gaps.Broader影响：有一个工程基石设计的重要性越来越大，但明显缺乏对具体的教学模式适合这些课程的研究。该项目超越了“设计项目”的一般应用到第一年的课程，以确定具体的，可转移的教学框架，如PBL的元素如何影响妇女的信念，业绩，保留和职业生涯的持久性。在这样做的过程中，它将为未来的工程教师提供课程设计和实施的原则，可以在全国范围内的第一年工程项目中对女性产生可衡量的影响。通过解决广泛的课程现象，并通过有针对性的外联和沟通努力将研究付诸实践，该项目力求对全国一年级的工程课程产生变革性影响。