Collaborative Research (HBCU-DCL EAGER): Broadening participation and strengthening capacity in interdisciplinary engineering model development

重要的是要了解有色人种的博士学者如何能够在刻板印象威胁可能普遍存在的环境中整合文化认同和自我效能感，比如高等教育、STEM项目和密集的研究实验室。本项目旨在识别、理解和描述认同感、自我效能感、建模形式的元认知和刻板印象威胁之间的相互作用。具体来说，我们的目标是了解思维和叙事身份是如何随着时间的推移而演变的，以及在一个支持性的学术环境中指导有色人种学者的过程如何加强进入教授的价值主张。该项目的主要目标是：(1)采用合作的方式培养高技能和有竞争力的研究生；(2)扩大未被充分代表的少数民族（urm）在工程教授中的参与，特别关注非洲裔美国人。项目的成功将通过这些学者越来越多地参与高影响力的活动，如学术出版物，获得学位和申请学术职位来证明。此外，该研究项目将有助于加强机构能力，特别是传统黑人学院/大学（HBCU）的能力。它还将把北卡罗来纳州a&t州立大学（一所公立HBCU）和乔治华盛顿大学（一所以白人为主的私立机构/PWI）的平行努力联系起来。采用准实验设计、测试前和测试后对照组设计，该研究项目首次尝试将预期认知发展和刻板印象威胁减少整合到完全沉浸的工程建模中，与美国国家科学基金会的研究和相关活动（R&amp；RA）项目保持一致。研究人员还将创建一个概念验证，评估不同的自适应学习形式，以确定有效的策略，以帮助学生开发和应用数学模型解决工程问题的能力。预期认知的作用是影响学生对问题内容的推理，先于数学基础方法的发展和应用。将实施刻板印象最小化指导模型，并在两个机构之间比较绩效和社会学习变量（例如，刻板印象威胁，身份和工程建模自我效能）。这里有一个隐含的假设，即由于制度之间的差异，可能会出现额外的因素。可以确定临界质量和社会阶层等新出现的因素。训练模式的有效性将通过准实验设计、测试前和测试后的对照组设计在两个地点进行评估。在这样做的过程中，拟议的研究项目有两个共同的努力——一个专注于研发和研究项目，以发展工程模型开发的主题专业知识，另一个是一项试点研究，以比较在这些研究生中优化预期认知和最小化刻板印象威胁的干预措施。

It is important to understand how doctoral scholars of color are able to integrate cultural identity and self-efficacy in contexts where stereotype threat might be prevalent, such as higher education, STEM programs, and intensive research labs. This project seeks to identify, understand, and describe the interplay between the sense of identity, self-efficacy, metacognition of modeling formalisms, and stereotype threat. Specifically, the goal is to understand how thinking and narrative identity evolve over time and how the process of coaching scholars of color in a supportive academic context might strengthen the value proposition of entering the professoriate. The key objectives of this project are: (1) to implement a collaborative approach to the development of highly skilled and competitive graduate scholars; and (2) to broaden participation among underrepresented minorities (URMs) in the engineering professoriate, with a specific focus on African Americans. Success of the project will be evident by an increased participation of these scholars in high-impact activities such as scholarly publications, progress toward degree, and applying to academic positions. Additionally, this research project will help to strengthen institutional capacities, particularly of a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). It will also link parallel efforts at NC A&T State University (a public HBCU) and George Washington University (a private Predominantly White Institution/PWI). Using a quasi-experimental design, pre- and post-test control group design, the proposed research project is a first attempt to integrate anticipatory cognition development and stereotype threat reduction in full immersion of engineering modeling that aligns with NSF's Research and Related Activities (R&RA) programs. The investigators will also create a proof-of-concept that evaluates different adaptive learning formalisms to identify effective strategies to aid students' capabilities to develop and apply mathematical models for problem solving in engineering. The role of anticipatory cognition is to influence students' reasoning about the problem content prior to the development and application of the mathematics-based approach. A stereotype minimization coaching model will be implemented and performance and social learning variables (e.g., stereotype threats, identity, and engineering modeling self-efficacy) will be compared across both institutions. There is an implicit hypothesis that additional factors may emerge because of the differences between the institutions. Such emerging factors as critical mass and social class may be identified. The effectiveness of the coaching model will be assessed through a quasi-experimental design, pre- and post-test control group design at the two sites. In so doing, the proposed research project has two concomitant efforts - one focused on an R&RA program to develop subject matter expertise in engineering model development, and the other a pilot study to compare an intervention to optimize anticipatory cognition and minimize stereotype threat among these same graduate students.