BOOST:Bridge Opportunities Offered for the Sophomore Transition

目前的教育研究确定了一个迫切需要为学生发展自己的“工程身份。“文献指出，帮助学生探索工程和鼓励同行以及学生与教师的互动，以促进早期同化到工程学院的解决方案。加州州立大学洛杉矶（CSULA）的工程、计算机科学和技术学院（ECST）最近将高中到大一的夏季过渡到ECST计划（STEP）制度化，以支持工程新生，其中大多数是低收入、代表性不足的少数民族（URM）和第一代大学生。STEP成功地提高了数学和英语的水平，然而，ECST的学生也不例外，全国范围内普遍存在的“大二学生低迷”。 与典型的桥梁课程不同，为大二过渡提供的桥梁机会（BOOST）项目将针对大一和大二之间过渡的工程专业学生。 BOOST将很好地适应现有的大学资助的新生到大二的桥梁计划，第一年的经验，将在ECST与新的资金从校长办公室，以减少成就差距，和基层改造的大二工程核心。 文献表明，大量URM学生离开科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）专业，成为潜在STEM专业人员的主要来源之一。 BOOST有潜力创造一种创新模式，以确保不断上升的URM工程师的成功。除了给学生一个工程的预演，BOOST还将提供社区参与，以及职业发展机会，这有望激励ECST的主要URM，第一代工程学生团体坚持和擅长工程，同时最终积极影响国家的能力，增加和多样化的STEM劳动力。以城市为中心的服务学习对工程身份的发展，并最终对工程专业学生的保留。 该项目将包括开发一个研究工具，帮助及早识别有风险的学生，以便更好地针对那些最能从BOOST的额外支持中受益的学生。 调查人员将不仅解决是否而且如何BOOST将帮助他们的学生在工程方面取得成功，以及他们是否针对学生谁将受益于BOOST的额外支持最多。为此，他们将开发一个自适应人工神经网络（ANN），该网络将模拟各种学生因素之间的关系和学生成功的概率。 该研究将解决以下问题：后续课程需要该计划的哪些方面（服务学习、城市环境、实践设计经验、接触工程概念）、大一和大二之间的最佳计划时间是什么、哪些合作（作为团队成员）对学生工程身份的发展最有益，并最终对他们的成功最有益？ 评估和评价将采用混合方法进行，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，如对大学教学实践清单的问题。 预计当地的结果将是在ECST的第二年保留和六年毕业率提高10%至15%。 该项目可能会成为提高其他类似机构学生成功率的典范。

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.