Sustainable Summer Bridges from Campus to Campus: Retention Models for Transitioning Underrepresented Engineering Students

“从校园到校园的可持续桥梁”研究的推动力是解决扩大科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）毕业生，特别是非洲裔美国人和西班牙裔学生的迫切需求。多样化STEM劳动力的长期改善始于持续有效的桥梁项目，这些项目可以培养更多的工程学士学位。为了提高工程专业的留用率，本研究将在宾夕法尼亚州立大学的三个职业阶段为种族代表性不足的工程专业学生开展学术丰富项目——进入大一、大二和大三。该研究的目标是(a)增加宾夕法尼亚州立大学系统中种族代表性不足的学生的工程保留率，(b)为这些丰富项目制定长期可持续性计划，以及(c)根据夏季桥梁的校园位置和学生在大学系统中的转学状态比较工程保留率。指导本研究的概念模型是，工程专业的保留是由入门课程的数学成绩和队列学习社区的实力所介导的（基于Tinto模型和理论）。这些桥梁的设计是为了加强这两个因素。因此，为了评估学生的学习和数学密集桥梁的有效性，微积分预科，微积分1和微积分2的成绩，以及桥梁之后一个学期的学术社会网络的规模和质量进行了检查。将配对组进行比较以评估干预措施。主要的结果衡量标准是大三学生在工程专业的留任率。

The impetus for the Sustainable Bridges from Campus to Campus study is to address the urgent need to expand the pool of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates, especially African American and Hispanic students. Long-term improvements in the pipeline of a diverse STEM workforce start with sustaining effective bridge programs that can produce more engineering baccalaureates. To improve retention in engineering, this study will conduct academic enrichment programs for racially underrepresented engineering students at three points in their career at the Pennsylvania State University--entering freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. The goals of the study are to (a) increase retention in engineering among racially underrepresented students in the Penn State system, (b) develop long-term sustainability plans for these enrichment programs, and (c) compare retention rates in engineering depending on the campus location of the summer bridge and the student's transfer status within the University system. The conceptual model guiding this study is that retention in engineering is mediated by math performance in gateway courses and the strength of the cohort learning community (based on the Tinto model and theory). The bridges are designed to enhance both factors. Therefore to evaluate student learning and the efficaciousness of the math-intensive bridges, pre-calculus, calculus 1 and calculus 2 grades, and the size and quality of the academic social network in the semester following the bridges are examined. Matched groups is compared to evaluate the intervention. The primary outcome measure is retention in engineering in the junior year.