Collaborative Research: Understanding Engineering Pathways and Their Impact on Community and Identity

工程专业的第一年对于本科生来说是一个关键的时期，他们正在评估他们是否应该继续工程专业。因此，存在着许多第一年的课程、课程和经验，每年都会有新的项目。虽然一年级的工程教育在很大程度上依赖于所在院校的历史、设计和政治结构，但使用研究成果为一年级工程课程、课程和经验的创建和修改提供信息仍然很重要。最近的研究调查已经产生了关于一年级工程课程在课程结构和内容方面的差异的知识。然而，设计第一年工程教育的教职员工和管理人员通常会问一些当前文献没有解决的问题，比如：对学生来说，有共同的第一年经历更好，还是有特定学科的经验更好？或者“转学的学生应该和新生有不同的课程吗？”虽然很可能两者都不是更好或更差，但必须调查其中的差异，以便教职员工和管理人员能够做出明智的决定，改变第一年的工程教育，以增强所有人的学生体验。本研究旨在阐明一年级工程专业结构(例如，通用工程、特定学科)、内容(例如，设计、问题解决、学业成功)和时间安排(例如，一学期或两学期)如何帮助或阻碍学生追求不同的工程道路。通过采用个人访谈和焦点小组的三个阶段的探索性定性案例研究，本研究试图回答这样一个研究问题：正在攻读工程学位的学生如何描述他们参与工程实践社区的经历以及他们正在形成的工程身份？通过实践共同体框架，本研究确定了在第一年的工程实践中形成了哪些实践共同体，以及它们与不同的第一年工程经验中的工程认同之间的关系。研究人员正在通过不同的经历来评估学生发展的差异，重点是结构、内容和时机的影响。最后，本研究调查了机构目标与学生体验之间的一致性。该项目有四个目标：1)了解第一年的工程经验以及这些经验对学生工程认同感发展的影响；2)在第一年的课程和课程中提出促进工程实践社区的建议；3)通过三角数据点加深该领域对早期工程师形成的理解；以及4)制定满足机构特定第一年工程发展目标的设计策略。这些目标对工程学教育有很大的积极影响，因为它们确保了第一年工程学的变化是有益的，并有助于确保一年级工程学学生的成功。与智力优势相关，这项研究分析了一年级的工程结构、内容和时间安排如何帮助或阻碍学生的实践社区和工程认同，为有效支持或反对学生在该专业的发展和保留的方法提供具体证据。

The first year of an engineering program is a critical time period for undergraduate students who are evaluating whether or not they should continue in engineering. As a result, numerous first-year programs, courses, and experiences exist, with new ones created each year. While first-year engineering education is heavily dependent on the history, design, and political structure of the host institution, it remains important to use research results to inform the creation and alteration of the first-year engineering courses, programs, and experiences. Recent research investigations have generated knowledge of the differences in course structure and content if first-year engineering courses. However, faculty and administrators designing first-year engineering education commonly ask questions that are not addressed by current literature, such as "Is it better for students to have a common first-year experience or one that is discipline specific?" or "Should transfer students have a different course than freshmen?" While it is likely that neither is better or worse, there are differences that must be investigated so faculty and administrators can make informed decisions regarding changes to first-year engineering education to enhance the student experience for all. This study intends to clarify how first-year engineering structure (e.g., common engineering, discipline specific), content (e.g., design, problem solving, academic success), and timing (e.g., one or two semesters) help or hinder students pursuing a variety of engineering pathways.Through a three-phase exploratory qualitative case study employing individual interviews and focus groups, this study attempts to answer the research question: how do students who are pursuing engineering degrees through pathways that vary with respect to first-year engineering structure, content, and timing describe their experience participating in engineering communities of practice and their emerging engineering identities? Through the community of practice framework, this research determines what communities of practice are formed during first-year engineering and their relation to engineering identity in diverse first-year engineering experiences. The researchers are evaluating the differences in student development through the various experiences, focusing on the impacts of structure, content, and timing. Finally, the study investigates the alignment between institutional goals and the student experience. This project has four goals: 1) To understand the first-year engineering experience and the effects of that experience on students' engineering identity development; 2) To develop recommendations for promoting engineering communities of practice in first-year programs and courses; 3) To further the field's understanding of early engineer formation through triangulated data points; and 4) To develop design strategies for meeting institution-specific first-year engineering development goals. These goals have substantial positive impact on engineering education because they ensure that changes made in first-year engineering are beneficial and help ensure the success of first-year engineering students. Related to intellectual merit, this research parses out how first-year engineering structure, content, and timing help or hinder students' communities of practice and engineering identities to provide concrete evidence for methods that effectively support or oppose students' development and retention in the major.