Excellence in Research: Tolerance of Ambiguity and Academic Success

塔斯基吉大学的研究人员建议对工科、非工科和非STEM学生进行一项横向纵向研究，以检验模糊容忍度对学业成功的影响。研究文献证明，工程师身份是少数族裔坚持不懈和取得学术成功的重要因素。然而，关于影响工程认同认知发展的因素的研究却很有限。这项研究期望通过测量当前课程在容忍度的模糊性、智力心理模型和工程认同感的构建的背景下的影响，来确定有助于增加STEM学生学习成功的概率的教学技术。项目组还将重新设计一门航空航天工程入门课程和一门微积分课程，以提供一个学习环境，促进转向促进容忍歧义的相对论认知模型。这项拟议的研究结果有望为一项以数据为支持的课程改进计划提供参考，该计划的学习环境将促进预期的学生结果。该计划以同一性发展、容忍歧义和智力发展理论为基础。我们的假设是，对模糊容忍和工程认同形成的影响的经验理解将为课程创新提供信息，这些创新将对工程和其他STEM学科的学生的学业成功、保持和坚持性产生积极影响。研究人员将使用准实验设计来解决五个研究问题：(1)歧义容忍度与工程问题空间的智力模型之间是否存在相关性？(2)歧义容忍度是否是STEM学生学业成功的可靠指标？(3)STEM学生和非STEM学生认知模型的发展是否存在差异？(4)专业认同与模糊容忍度之间是否存在相关性？性别对歧义容忍度有影响吗？修订后的Rydell-Rosen AT量表将用于确定模糊容限，工程一致性将使用捕获三个维度的仪器进行测量。数据分析将包括描述性统计和推论统计。该项目将指导制定有效的结构和教学策略，以提高工程学和其他STEM学科中代表性不足的学生的留存率、持久性和学业成功。该奖项由改善本科生STEM教育：教育和人力资源：EHR计划(NSF 17-590)资助。IUSE支持旨在通过开发新的课程材料和教学方法以及开发新的评估工具来衡量学生学习情况的项目。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。

Researchers at Tuskegee University propose to conduct a cross-sectional longitudinal study of engineering, non-engineering, and non-STEM students to examine the impact of tolerance of ambiguity on academic success. The research literature documents engineering identity as an important factor for persistence and academic success for underrepresented minorities. However, there is limited research on the factors that influence the cognitive development of an engineering identity. This research is expected to identify pedagogical techniques that will help increase the probability of academic success of STEM students by measuring the influence of the current curriculum in the context of constructs of ambiguity of tolerance, intellectual mental models and engineering identity. The project team also will redesign one introductory aerospace engineering course and one calculus course to provide a learning environment that will facilitate movement towards relativistic cognitive models promoting tolerance of ambiguity. The findings of the proposed research are expected to inform a data-supported curriculum improvement plan for a learning environment that will facilitate the desired student outcomes.The project is grounded in theories of identity development, tolerance of ambiguity, and intellectual development. The hypothesis is that an empirically based understanding of the impact of the impact of tolerance of ambiguity and the formation of engineering identity will inform curriculum innovations that will positively impact academic success, retention, and persistence of students in engineering and other STEM disciplines. The researchers will use a quasi-experimental design to address five research questions: (1) Is there a correlation between tolerance of ambiguity and intellectual models of the engineering problem space? (2) Is tolerance of ambiguity a robust indicator of academic success of STEM students? (3) Is there a difference between the development of cognitive models of STEM and non-STEM students? (4) Is there a correlation between professional identity and tolerance for ambiguity? and (5) Does gender have an influence on tolerance for ambiguity? The revised Rydell-Rosen AT scale will be used to determine the tolerance for ambiguity, and engineering identity will be measured using an instrument that captures the three dimensions. The data analysis will consist of descriptive and inferential statistics. The project will guide the development of effective structural and pedagogical strategies to increase the retention, persistence, and academic success of underrepresented students in engineering and other STEM disciplines.This award is funded by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE): EHR Program (NSF 17-590). IUSE supports projects that are designed to improve student learning through development of new curricular materials and methods of instruction and development of new assessment tools to measure student learning.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.