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动力是解决扩大科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)毕业生池的迫切需要，特别是非裔美国人和西班牙裔学生。要长期改善多样化的STEM劳动力队伍，首先要维持有效的桥梁项目，以培养出更多的工程学士学位学生。为了提高工程学的留存率，这项研究将在宾夕法尼亚州立大学为种族代表性不足的工程学学生在职业生涯的三个阶段--大一、大二和大三--开展学术充实计划。这项研究的目标是(A)提高宾夕法尼亚州立大学系统中种族代表性不足的学生在工程学方面的保留率，(B)为这些增收计划制定长期可持续发展计划，以及(C)根据暑期桥的校园位置和学生在大学系统中的转学状况比较工程学方面的保留率。指导这项研究的概念模型是，工程学中的保留受到入门课程的数学成绩和队列学习社区的实力(基于Tinto模型和理论)的调节。这些桥梁的设计是为了增强这两个因素。因此，为了评估学生的学习和数学密集桥梁的有效性，在桥梁之后的一个学期里，我们考察了微积分预科、微积分1和微积分2年级，以及学业社交网络的规模和质量。将匹配的组进行比较以评估干预措施。主要的结果衡量标准是三年级在工程学方面的留存率。

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.