Research on Innovation and Creativity in Higher education in Engineering and Science (RICHES) for Community Colleges

迫切需要更多工程和理科专业的学生进入、坚持并从大专院校毕业。增加工程和科学的多样性也是一项深刻的公认需求。根据国家统计数据，在美国的S公立高等教育机构，尤其是社区学院就读的少数族裔学生中，人数最多的是工程和理科学生。最近的研究表明，来自这些群体的学生如果善于解决问题，并且知道如何寻求帮助和适应大学校园，那么他们最有可能坚持完成学位学业。因此，工程教育研究(REE)项目名为：社区学院工程和科学高等教育的创新和创造力研究(RICES)，旨在研究城市社区学院理工科专业的非传统大学生样本，以确定：(A)他们使用的支持实践的类型和频率，(B)这些实践如何影响他们的成就、持久性和向四年制学院和大学的转移状况，以及(C)他们的创新倾向和创造性解决问题的倾向如何反过来影响这种选择和坚持。本研究项目的智力价值是：(1)探索社区学院中非传统学生使用的非正式和正式的教学和支持做法，以培养他们的坚持性，(2)了解这些做法是否有效，为非传统学生提供一个使他们能够留在工程和科学专业并转到四年制学院或大学的课程，以及(3)确定学生是否可以继续学习工程和理科专业，并转到四年制学院或大学，以及(3)确定学生是否可以继续学习。创新解决问题的倾向会影响教学实践的使用，并最终转移坚持性。财富研究了历史上一直被忽视的一个领域和一群学生，社区学院的工程和科学学生，并建立在研究人员的基础上？STEM途径和学生的最新研究？创新倾向，这两个研究领域都被认为是工程教育必须培养学生的领域。这个项目有广泛的影响，因为它有很大的潜力来改变非传统学生和那些在工程和科学领域通常代表性不足的学生的教学和支助实践。它有助于发展和改善教育机会，培养新一代科学家和工程师，他们将在保持美国的领导地位方面发挥关键作用。

There is a critical need for more students with engineering and science majors to enter into, persist, and graduate from postsecondary institutions. Increasing the diversity in engineering and science is also a profound identified need. According to national statistics, the largest groups of underrepresented minority students in engineering and science attend America?s public higher education institutions and in particular the community colleges. Recent research has indicated that students from these populations who are strong problem solvers, and who understand how to seek assistance and navigate college campuses, are most likely to persist to degree completion. Accordingly, this Research in Engineering Education (REE) project entitled: Research on Innovation and Creativity in Higher education in Engineering and Science (RICHES) for Community Colleges, intends to study a sample of non-traditional college students enrolled in science and engineering programs in urban community colleges to determine: (a) the types and frequency of support practices they utilize, (b) how such practices influence their achievement, persistence and transfer status to four year colleges and universities, and (c) how in turn their propensity for innovation and creative problem solving affect such choices and persistence.The intellectual merits of this research project are: (1) to explore the informal and formal instructional and support practices used with non-traditional students in community colleges to inform persistence, (2) to understand whether such practices are effective in offering non-traditional students a program that enables them to stay in engineering and science majors and to transfer to a four year college or university, and (3) to determine if students? propensity for innovative problem solving influences use of pedagogical practices and ultimately, transfer persistence. RICHES studies an area and group of students that have been historically understudied, community college students in engineering and science, and builds upon the researchers? current studies of STEM pathways and students? propensity for innovation, both of which are research areas recognized as areas that engineering education must cultivate in students. This project has broad impacts because it has great potential to transform instructional and support practice for non-traditional students and those who are typically underrepresented in engineering and science. It contributes to the development and improvement of educational opportunities for the preparation of a new generation of scientists and engineers who will play a critical role in maintaining U.S. leadership.