BOOST:Bridge Opportunities Offered for the Sophomore Transition

目前的教育研究表明，学生迫切需要发展他们的“工程身份”。这些文献指出了帮助学生探索工程学的解决方案，并鼓励同行和学生与教职员工的互动，以促进早日被工程学院同化。加州州立大学洛杉矶分校(CSULA)工程、计算机科学与技术学院(ECST)最近将从高中到新生的暑期过渡到ECST计划(STEP)制度化，以支持工程系新生，他们中的大多数是低收入、代表不足的少数族裔(URM)和第一代大学生。Step已经成功地提高了数学和英语的排名水平，然而，在全国范围内普遍存在的“二年级低迷”中，ecst大二学生也不例外。与典型的桥梁项目不同，为二年级过渡提供的桥梁机会(Boost)项目将针对在一年级和二年级之间过渡的工程学学生。Boost将很好地适应现有的大学资助的从一年级到二年级的桥梁项目，一年级的体验将在ECST创造，并由校长办公室提供新的资金，以缩小成绩差距，以及对二年级工程核心的基层改造。文献指出，大量URM学生离开科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)专业是潜在STEM专业人员的主要来源之一。Boost具有创造一种创新模式的潜力，以确保正在崛起的城市轨道交通工程二年级学生的成功。除了让学生预先体验工程学之外，Boost还将提供社区参与和职业发展机会，预计这将激励ECST以URM为主的第一代工程学学生群体坚持并在工程学方面出类拔萃，同时最终对国家增加和多样化其STEM劳动力的能力产生积极影响。调查人员将探索以设计为重点、以城市为中心的服务学习对工程学学生认同感的发展以及最终对工程学学生的留住的影响。该项目将包括开发一种研究工具，帮助及早发现有风险的学生，以便更好地针对那些最能从Boost的额外支持中受益的学生。调查人员不仅将讨论Boost是否以及如何帮助他们的学生在工程方面取得成功，以及他们是否针对将从Boost的额外支持中受益最大的学生。为此，他们将开发一个自适应人工神经网络(ANN)，该网络将对各种学生因素和学生成功概率之间的关系进行建模。研究将解决以下问题：课程的哪些方面(服务学习、城市环境、实际设计经验、接触工程概念)需要在后续课程中使用；大一和大二之间的最佳课程时机是什么？哪些合作(作为团队成员)对学生的工程认同感发展最有利，并最终有助于他们的成功？评估和评价将使用混合方法进行，包括但不限于认知评估，如课程考试和概念清单，以及情感评估，如大学教学实践清单上的问题。预计当地的结果将是第二年保留率和六年毕业率在ECST中提高10%到15%。该项目可能会为其他类似机构提供一个提高学生成就率的模式。

Current education research identifies a critical need for students to develop their "engineering identity." The literature points to solutions that help students explore engineering and encourage peer-to-peer as well as student-to-faculty interaction to promote early assimilation into engineering colleges. The College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology (ECST) at California State University Los Angeles (CSULA) has recently institutionalized a high school-to-freshman Summer Transition to ECST Program (STEP) to support engineering freshmen, a majority of whom are low-income, underrepresented minorities (URMs), and first-generation college students. STEP has successfully led to significantly higher levels of math and English placement, and yet, the ECST sophomores are no exception to the pervasive "sophomore slump" experienced nationwide. Unlike typical bridge programs, the Bridge Opportunities Offered for Sophomore Transition (BOOST) project will target engineering students transitioning between the freshman and sophomore years. BOOST will fit nicely between an existing college-funded freshman-to-sophomore bridge program, a first-year experience that will be created in ECST with new funding from the Chancellor's Office to reduce the achievement gap, and a grass-roots revamp of the sophomore engineering core. The literature identifies the large population of URM students that leave science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors as one of the main sources of potential STEM professionals. BOOST has the potential to create an innovative model for ensuring the success of rising URM sophomores in engineering. In addition to giving students a foretaste of engineering, BOOST will also provide community engagement, as well as career development opportunities, which are expected to motivate ECST's largely URM, first-generation engineering student body to persist and excel in engineering while ultimately positively impacting the nation's ability to increase and diversify its STEM workforce.The investigators will explore the impact of design-focused, urban-centered service learning on the development of engineering identity and ultimately on the retention of engineering students. The project will include the development of a research tool that will help to identify at-risk students early, so as to better target students who can most benefit from the additional support from BOOST. The investigators will address not only whether but also how BOOST will help their students to succeed in engineering as well as whether or not they are targeting the students who will benefit most from the additional support of BOOST. To do so, they will develop an adaptive artificial neural network (ANN) that will model the relationships among various student factors and the probability of student success. The research will address the questions: what aspects of the program (service learning, urban setting, practical design experience, exposure to engineering concepts are needed in subsequent courses, what is the optimal program timing between freshman and sophomore year, what collaborations (as members of a team) are most beneficial to students' development of engineering identity and ultimately, to their success? Assessment and evaluation will be conducted using mixed methods, including, but not limited to, cognitive assessments such as course examinations and concept inventories, and affective assessments such as questions on the College Pedagogical Practice Inventory. The anticipated local outcome will be a 10% to 15% improvement in second year retention and six year graduation rates in ECST. The project will potentially lead to a model for improving student success at other similar institutions.