EAGER: Nurturing Women's Innovativeness and Strength in Engineering through experiential learning in biomedical engineering (WISE)

哥伦比亚特区大学（UDC）提出了一项名为“通过生物医学工程的体验式学习培养女性在工程方面的创新能力和实力”（WISE）的变革性项目，其目标是创造性地招募和留住生物医学工程（BME）的大学预科和本科少数族裔女性。有意义的工程教育研究工作，试图研究与工程领域少数族裔女性的招聘和保留有关的最佳实践，需要定位在证明这些人在工程领域有足够的入学率的环境中。UDC是全国仅有的两所提供BME认证学位的HBCUs之一，这一事实显然使该机构成为学习的有力候选人。该项目的主要要素以两个关键事实为前提：1)BME在吸引女性进入工程学科方面相对成功；2)hbcu在培养全国大多数少数族裔女性工程师方面发挥了卓越作用。该项目有三个主要组成部分。WEAVE的第一个组成部分——积极接触工程价值的年轻女性——将通过使用特殊的BME实验室套件进行动手实验，提供工程知识。REACH的第二个组成部分——通过工程研究实现更自信的她——将通过UDC生物力学与康复工程中心的人类健康研究问题，影响UDC少数族裔女本科生对工程的信心。第三个组成部分AMAZE——有成就的少数族裔女性增加对工程的热情——将消除对工程的刻板印象，并通过导师的成功故事和嘉宾演讲活动减少孤独感。此外，三管齐下的WISE项目将产生有关工程活动和接触女性工程榜样对少数族裔女性青年对STEM的兴趣、信心和坚持的态度影响的宝贵知识。

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) proposes a transformative project titled "Nurturing Women's Innovativeness and Strength in Engineering through Experiential Learning in Biomedical Engineering" (WISE), the goal of which is to creatively recruit and retain minority pre-college and undergraduate females in Biomedical Engineering (BME). Meaningful engineering education research efforts that attempt to study best practices relating to the recruitment and retention of minority females in engineering need to be located in environments that demonstrate strong enrollment of a critical mass of these individuals in engineering. The fact that UDC is one of only two HBCUs nationally that offer accredited degrees in BME clearly makes the institution a strong candidate for study. The main elements of the project are premised on two pivotal facts: 1) the relative success of BME in attracting females to the engineering discipline and 2) the pre-eminent role played by HBCUs nationally in producing the majority of the nation's minority female engineers. The project features three major components. The first component WEAVE - Young Women Exposed Actively to the Value of Engineering - will provide engineering exposure via hands-on experimentation with special BME lab kits. The second component REACH - Research in Engineering to Achieve a more Confident Her - will impact female minority UDC undergraduate students' confidence in engineering via research problems in human health within UDC's Center for Biomechanical & Rehabilitation Engineering. The third component AMAZE - Accomplished female Minorities Add Zeal to Engineering - will counteract engineering stereotypes, and reduce feelings of isolation through mentor success stories and guest speaker activities. Additionally, the three-pronged WISE project will generate valuable knowledge about attitudinal effects of engineering activities and exposure to female engineering role-models on female minority youth interest, confidence and persistence in STEM.