Collaborative Research: Student Pathways in Engineering and Computing for Transfer Success

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A national challenge in STEM education is the low graduation rate of engineering students who transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions. One driver of this low success rate is the insufficient preparation of community college students for the differences they will face at the four-year institution. In addition, the four-year institution often lacks social and academic support to help bridge this gap. This project aims to increase the success of engineering and computer science students who transfer to Clemson University from Spartanburg Community College or Trident Community College, or from any of the 16 technical colleges in South Carolina. Over a five-year period, 316 students will receive scholarships of up to four years, to support their successful transfer and attainment of a bachelor's degrees in engineering or computing from Clemson University. In addition to the scholarship support, the project includes evidence-based mentorship and cohort building activities that support transfer student success. The project features an innovative Ph.D. student traineeship that links Clemson graduate students with community college faculty and students. The graduate students will receive training in teaching, mentoring, and education research, and work closely with the scholarship students both at the community colleges, and after the students transfer to Clemson. It is expected that the project will contribute to the quality and diversity of the national STEM workforce and increase understanding of what works to support success of transfer students.In addition to providing scholarships to low-income, academically high-achieving transfer students, this project addresses well-known hurdles for transfer students by implementing and assessing a cohort mentoring model based on evidence-based strategies including communities of practice and cognitive mentorship. The program elements are designed to support transfer student enculturation in the university, as well as degree completion and placement in the industrial workforce. The program will recruit and train ten Clemson STEM PhD students for careers in academia by engaging them in immersive experiences in teaching, mentoring, and applied educational research. This training will include a residency at the community college sites where they will: 1) co-teach engineering courses with community college faculty; 2) develop and lead a cohort of low-income community college students in a project-based Creative Inquiry course that will be a focus of applied educational research; and 3) return to Clemson with the developed cohort, thus helping to bridge the institutional gap. The program will conduct rigorous internal and external educational assessment and program evaluation to identify key indicators of student success and to provide information that can be used to improve STEM education at other institutions. Results from this work will be broadly disseminated through digital outlets (e.g., e-newsletters; listservs), presentations at national conferences, and publications in peer-reviewed and trade journals to reach audiences ranging from higher education to low-income students with aspirations of excellence. This project is funded by the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income, academically high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future scientists, engineers, and technicians, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.