Implementation Project: Blue-Shirt Program: Engineering Clinic-Based Curriculum to Enhance Retention of Underrepresented Groups at Tennessee State University

传统黑人学院和大学的实施项目-本科项目为设计，实施，研究和评估全面的机构努力提供支持，通过加强科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）教育和研究来增加学生人数和他们的准备质量。田纳西州立大学工程学院的这个实施项目旨在解决与非裔美国人工程专业入学率和毕业率下降有关的问题。该项目的目标是创建一个为期五年的试点工程项目，让学生参加为期一年的工程预科课程，并每年从事动手项目，以提高非裔美国工程学生的保留率和毕业率。该项目研究了导致少数族裔学生，特别是非洲裔美国男性学生留校的主要因素。该项目由形成性和总结性评估指导和告知。这个项目改革了传统的工程课程，让准备不足的新生完成一年的工程预科课程，为四年的课程做好准备。蓝衫计划将部署工程诊所的概念，提供基于项目的学习经验。具体目标是：开发一个为期一年的试点工程准备课程，使学生能够以足够的证书进入正式的传统工程项目；开发课件和实验模块，通过实际设计项目和与业界专业人士的互动，为工程专业学生提供指导和专业发展，以增强他们的学习经验；识别和检查导致非裔美国学生在工程专业的不同流失率的心理社会属性，特别关注非裔美国男性，并建议干预策略以提高保留率；并将蓝衫计划制度化，持续努力关注STEM学生的成绩。这个项目可以作为工程教育的典范，以培养合格的工程师，他们将确保美国工业持续的全球竞争力。

Implementation Projects in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities - Undergraduate Program provide support to design, implement, study and assess comprehensive institutional efforts to increase the numbers of students and the quality of their preparation by strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research. This implementation project in the College of Engineering at Tennessee State University seeks to address issues related to the declining enrollment and graduation of African American men in engineering. The goal of this project is to create a five-year pilot engineering program where students participate in a one-year pre-engineering curriculum and are engaged in hands-on projects every year to enhance the retention rate and graduation rate of African American engineering students. The project studies the leading factors that contribute to retention of minority students, specifically African American males. The project is guided and informed by formative and summative evaluation.This project reforms the traditional engineering curriculum to allow less prepared incoming students to complete a one-year pre-engineering curriculum to get them prepared for the four-year program. The Blue-Shirt program will deploy the concept of engineering clinics that provide project-based learning experiences. Specific objectives are: to develop a pilot one-year engineering preparation curriculum that allows students to enter the formal traditional engineering program with adequate credentials; to develop courseware and laboratory modules to enhance the learning experience of engineering students through real-world designed projects and interaction with industry professionals for mentoring and professional development; to identify and examine the psycho-social attributes that contribute to the disparate attrition rate of African American students in engineering, with a particular focus on African American men, and to recommend intervention strategies to improve the retention rates; and to institutionalize the Blue-Shirt program with sustained efforts focused on STEM student achievement. This project can serve as a model for engineering education to train qualified engineers, who will ensure the continued global competitiveness of the U.S. industries.