Research Initiation Grant: how collaborative PBL and community inquiry affect self-efficacy of minority groups in engineering

这项工程教育研究启动基金将在工程学院和工程教育研究人员之间建立伙伴关系，以探索来自广泛的代表性不足的群体和第一代大学生的电气工程学生自我效能感的发展。研究人员计划开发一个概念框架，让他们探索协作学习对自我效能感的影响，然后为课程设计和开发设计内部政策。这个项目更广泛的意义和重要性在于，它有可能广泛地为实践提供信息，从而提高代表性不足的第一代学生的保留率。该项目与NSF的战略目标重叠，即通过培养具有新能力和专业知识的工程人才来改变前沿。此外，NSF的社会创新目标是通过建设国家公民通过工程解决社会挑战的能力来实现的。

This engineering education research initiation grant will create a partnership between engineering faculty and engineering education researchers to explore development of self-efficacy in electrical engineering students from a broad range of under-represented groups and first generation college students. The researchers plan to develop a conceptual framework that will let them explore the effect of collaborative learning on self-efficacy then design internal policies for course design and development. The broader significance and importance of this project arises from the potential of the project to broadly inform practice that can lead to improved retention of under-represented and first generation students. This project overlaps with NSF's strategic goals of transforming the frontiers through preparation of an engineering workforce with new capabilities and expertise. Additionally NSF's goal of innovating for society is enabled by building the capacity of the nation's citizenry for addressing societal challenges through engineering.