Engagement in Engineering Pathways: An Initiative to Retain Non-Traditional Community College Students Using Peer-Led Instruction and Learning

参与工程途径：利用同伴主导的教学和学习留住非传统社区大学生的举措

• 批准号: 1712008
• 负责人: Mohua Kar
• 金额: $ 21.31万
• 依托单位: Valencia Community College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-07-15 至 2022-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1712008&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Engagement; Engineering; Pathways; Initiative; Retain

Student engagement in STEM coursework continues to be a challenge in undergraduate education and continues to be a barrier in the retention of all students, especially those that are underrepresented and/or non-traditional. To succeed in diversifying and increasing the STEM workforce, as well as improving the quality of STEM graduates entering the workforce, student engagement must improve. Valencia College is a highly diverse two-year, non-residential, open access public institution that serves the Orlando, Florida area. The goal of this project at Valencia College is to use peer-facilitated instruction in core engineering coursework known to have high attrition rates, with the goal of retaining non-traditional students in engineering. Adopting evidenced-based teaching and learning practices proven successful at four-year institutions, the intent of this project is to measure the impact on engineering students' engagement at two-year colleges with the aim of diversifying and broadening the participation in engineering. This project has potential to increase understanding of these methods in STEM courses at two-year colleges, as well as improve the teaching quality and student engagement at Valencia College. Further, the new knowledge generated during this project around the use of peer-facilitated instruction at two-year colleges has potential to improve the success and participation of non-traditional students in engineering and STEM disciplines across a broad range of institutions.More specifically, the project will design and implement peer-facilitated recitation activities linked to fundamental engineering courses, such as engineering analysis, statics, and dynamics. At Valencia College, these courses have the highest failure rate among female and underrepresented minority students. Through the design and implementation of peer­led, problem-based, and contextualized real-world applications in these fundamental engineering courses, the goal of the project is to increase student engagement and persistence. As a cross-sectional study design, engagement will be measured using scales such as students' mathematics efficacy, engineering efficacy, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging. By adopting a teaching and learning model that has been effective at large research-intensive universities, the proposed project offers an innovative and adaptable approach to supporting and retaining diverse students at a community college in introductory engineering courses. Results from student metrics will inform faculty professional development efforts to increase faculty support and maximize student learning. The project will affect institution practices informed by data as well as reach a national audience in the STEM community to further ignite educational practice and educational research.

学生对STEM课程的参与仍然是本科教育中的一项挑战，并继续成为留住所有学生的障碍，特别是那些代表性不足和/或非传统学生。为了成功地使STEM劳动力多样化并增加STEM劳动力，以及提高STEM毕业生进入劳动力市场的质量，必须提高学生参与度。巴伦西亚学院是一所高度多样化的两年制非住宿制开放访问公立学校，服务于佛罗里达州奥兰多地区。巴伦西亚学院这个项目的目标是在已知流失率很高的核心工程课程中使用同伴促进的教学，目的是留住工程专业的非传统学生。采用在四年制院校被证明成功的循证教学实践，该项目的目的是衡量对两年制大学工科学生参与度的影响，目的是使参与工程学的学生多样化并扩大参与范围。该项目有可能在两年制大学的STEM课程中增加对这些方法的理解，并提高巴伦西亚学院的教学质量和学生参与度。此外，在这个项目中产生的关于在两年制大学使用同伴辅助教学的新知识有可能在广泛的机构中提高非传统学生在工程和STEM学科中的成功和参与度。更具体地说，该项目将设计和实施与基础工程课程(如工程分析、静力学和动力学)相联系的同行辅助复习活动。在巴伦西亚学院，这些课程在女性和代表性不足的少数族裔学生中的失败率最高。通过在这些基础工程课程中设计和实施同行主导、基于问题和情景的真实世界应用程序，该项目的目标是增加学生的参与度和坚持不懈。作为一项横断面研究设计，敬业度将使用学生的数学效能感、工程效能感、学业自我概念和归属感等量表进行测量。通过采用在大型研究密集型大学行之有效的教与学模式，拟议的项目提供了一种创新和适应性强的方法，以支持和留住社区学院的不同学生参加工程入门课程。学生指标的结果将为教师专业发展努力提供信息，以增加教师支持并最大限度地提高学生的学习能力。该项目将影响由数据提供信息的机构做法，并影响到STEM社区的全国受众，以进一步推动教育实践和教育研究。