Academic Intervention, Social Supports, and Scholarships for Engineering Transfer Students

在国家科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金(S-STEM)项目的资助下，田纳西查塔努加大学(UTC)的学术干预、社会支持和工程转学学生奖学金项目将支持田纳西查塔努加大学(UTC)的高成就、低收入、有经济需求的学生。在这个为期五年的项目中，28名学生将获得2年期奖学金，8名学生将获得3年期奖学金。本项目旨在讨论对化学、土木工程、电气和机械工程师日益增长的需求。在田纳西州和其他地方，工程转学学生通常进入四年制院校，获得许多社区大学学分，但没有参加初级课程或专业课程所需的先决条件。因此，转校学生可能还需要在大学里再读四年，才能完成毕业所需的课程，这降低了他们完成工程学位的可能性。该项目的目的是确保转学的学生在从社区学院转学后的两年内完成UTC学习。该计划包括指导、暑期课程和夏季新兵训练营，以确保成功过渡。转移学习社区将为学生提供同伴支持系统，帮助他们适应大学生活和克服学业挑战。一个地区学校的地方咨询委员会将帮助协调学校之间的课程。该项目对教师指导的重视将有助于该项目对UTC实践产生持久的影响。该项目还有可能通过加强行业联系和就业机会对当地社区产生积极影响。这个项目的重要意义在于，它有潜力找到并提供最佳实践，以指导全国各地的四年制院校支持转学学生的成功。该项目将使用一项混合方法研究，比较为学者和非学者转学生、非转学生和匹配的非学者转学生收集的定量和定性数据。这项研究将调查五个研究问题：(1)参加夏令营是否提高了转学学生的学业成绩和入学可能性？(2)定期参加同伴辅导是否提高了转学学生的学业成绩和入学可能性？(3)哪些活动最能减少学者之间的“转学冲击”；(4)哪些活动最能改善毕业后的职业安置？(5)学业准备如何影响学生留校和按时毕业的可能性？来自这项研究的信息可能会增加对干预措施的理解，例如学习社区，与非学者相比，这些干预措施有助于提高学者的学习成绩、保留率和毕业时间。通过社区学院咨询委员会和研究研究，该项目旨在为一个区域联盟奠定基础，该联盟可以促进UTC和地区社区学院之间的课程协调，支持一种可以在州和全国范围内复制的无缝工程转移途径。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, the Academic Intervention, Social Supports, and Scholarships for Engineering Transfer Students project will support high-achieving, low-income students with proved financial need at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga (UTC). Over the course of this five-year project, twenty-eight students will receive two-year scholarships and eight students will receive three-year scholarships. This project aims to discuss the growing need for chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineers. In Tennessee and elsewhere, engineering transfer students often arrive at four-year institutions with many community college credits, but without the prerequisites needed to take junior-level or major-specific courses. As a result, transfer students may need four more years in college to complete the classes needed for graduation, decreasing the likelihood that they will complete an engineering degree. The aim of this project is to ensure that transfer students complete their UTC studies within two years after transferring from a community college. The plan incorporates mentorship, summer coursework, and summer boot camps to ensure a successful transition. A Transfer Learning Community will provide students with a peer support system and help them adjust to university life and overcome academic challenges. A local advisory board for regional schools will help to coordinate curricula among the schools. The project's emphasis on faculty mentoring will help the project have a lasting impact on UTC practices. The project also has the potential for positive impact on the local community through strengthened industry ties and employment opportunities. This project is significant in its potential to find and give best practices to guide four-year institutions across the nation to support the success of transfer students. The project will use a mixed methods study to compare quantitative and qualitative data gathered for scholars versus non-scholar transfer students, non-transfer students, and matched non-scholar transfer students. The study will investigate five research questions: (1) Does taking part in the Summer Boot Camp improve transfer students' academic performance and likelihood of matriculation? (2) Does regular participation in peer tutoring increase transfer students' academic performance and likelihood of matriculation? (3) Which activities most reduce "transfer shock" among scholars? (4) Which activities most improve career placement following graduation? (5) How does the academic preparation affect a student's likelihood of retention and on-time graduation? Information from this research study may increase understanding of interventions, such as learning communities, in improving the academic performance, retention rates and time to graduation for scholars compared to non-scholars. Through the Community College Advisory Board and the research study, this project aims to lay a foundation for a regional alliance that can promote curricular alignment between UTC and area community colleges, supporting a seamless engineering transfer pathway that may be replicable across the state and nation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.