Research Initiation: Effects of High Impact Engagement Activities at Land Grant Universities on Engineering Student Participation, Persistence, and Success

工程专业对创新经济至关重要。然而，尽管它提供了就业机会，进入工程学院的本科生中有很高比例没有完成工程学位。学生的毅力，保留率和毕业率仍然是工程教育的重大挑战，特别是在妇女，代表性不足的少数群体成员和非传统学生。虽然许多因素有助于学生的成功，但有研究证据表明，学生更有可能坚持下去，并在参与“高影响力的参与活动”时取得成功。“这些包括（但不限于）本科研究，创业计划，出国留学计划，服务学习机会，以及创造性的，协作的经验。尽管有这样的证据，只有一小部分工程专业的学生利用这些机会，这些机会在很大程度上仍然是自愿的，并且可能无法为不同或非传统的学生。本研究的长期目标是扩大高影响力的参与活动对学生毅力和学生成功的影响，包括女性，代表性不足的少数群体成员和非传统的学生。本项目的目标是：（1）确定影响工科学生参与高影响参与活动的因素;（2）研究如何通过提高学生的意识和跨性别、种族、民族、年龄和社会经济界限的机会来扩大此类活动的参与;以及（3）在华盛顿州立大学建立工程教育研究能力，以便更好地应对工程专业对创新和包容性劳动力的当前和新兴需求。这项研究的成果将包括：（1）更好地了解参与高影响力参与活动与工程专业学生毅力和成功之间的关系（如果有的话），特别是在不同或非传统的学生中，以及影响学生参与的因素（例如，缺乏认识/兴趣、时间限制、经济或社会/家庭限制）;以及（2）关于如何使高影响参与活动更容易获得的循证建议，特别是对非传统学生、妇女和代表性不足的少数群体成员。这些结果将以报告的形式传播，并通过同行评审的高等教育期刊和工程会议论文集的出版物传播。第三个成果将是在没有正式工程教育项目的华盛顿州立大学和有正式工程教育项目的犹他州州立大学之间建立一个积极和持续的工程教育研究项目伙伴关系。该项目将特别有助于对学生参与农村、土地赠款环境中高影响参与活动的现状的新理解。由于在农村赠地大学环境中对工程（和计算机科学）本科教育的研究有限，这项工作具有潜在的变革性，因为它可以增加对这种研究较少的环境的新理解。为了实现这些目标，该项目将通过调查和焦点小组访谈来研究以下问题：（1）两所农村赠地大学的工程和计算机科学专业的学生在多大程度上参与了高影响力的参与活动;（2）参与这些活动如何与学生的成果相关;（3）哪些因素（即，个人、社会、机构、金融等）影响学生的意识，兴趣，和参与工程和计算机科学的学生在这些活动中，特别是在农村，土地赠款大学;和（4）如何个人因素（即，个人、社会、机构、金融等）影响学生的意识、兴趣和参与率。将采用两阶段、解释性、顺序性、混合方法的研究设计。定性分析（焦点小组访谈）和定量（调查）数据将导致对如何增加工程和计算机科学专业学生参与高影响参与活动的新认识，在农村，土地补助，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

The engineering profession is crucial to the innovation economy. Yet despite the career opportunities it offers, a high proportion of undergraduate students that enter engineering colleges do not complete an engineering degree. Student perseverance, retention and graduation rates remain grand challenges in engineering education, especially among women, underrepresented minority group members, and nontraditional students. Although many factors contribute to student success, there is research evidence suggesting that students are more likely to persist and be successful when they are involved in "high impact engagement activities." These include (but are not limited to) undergraduate research, entrepreneurship programs, study abroad programs, service learning opportunities, and creative, collaborative experiences. Despite this evidence, only a fraction of engineering students take advantage of these opportunities which remain largely voluntary and potentially inaccessible for diverse or nontraditional students. The long-term goal of this research is to broaden the effects of high-impact engagement activities on student perseverance and student success among engineering undergraduate students, including women, underrepresented minority group members, and nontraditional students. The objectives of this project are to: (1) identify those factors that affect engineering student participation in high impact engagement activities; (2) examine how to broaden the participation in such activities through improved student awareness and access across gender, racial, ethnic, age, and socio-economic boundaries; and (3) build engineering education research capacity at Washington State University in order to better respond to the engineering profession's current and emerging needs for an innovative and inclusive workforce. The products of this research will include: (1) a better understanding of the relationships, if any, between participation in high impact engagement activities and engineering student perseverance and success, including specifically among diverse or nontraditional students, as well as the factors affecting student participation (e.g., lack of awareness/interest, time constraints, financial or social/family constraints); and (2) evidence-based recommendations on how to make high impact engagement activities more accessible, especially to nontraditional students, women, and underrepresented minority group members. These results will be disseminated in the form of a report and through publications in peer-reviewed higher education journals and engineering conference proceedings. The third product will be the establishment of an active and sustained engineering education research program partnership between Washington State University, which does not have a formal engineering education program, and Utah State University, which does have a formal program.This project will specifically contribute new understandings of the current status of student participation in high impact engagement activities in rural, land grant settings. Because there is limited research on engineering (and computer science) undergraduate education within rural land-grant university settings, this work is potentially transformative, as it could add new understanding about this less-well researched setting. To achieve these goals, the project will examine, through surveys and focus group interviews, the following: (1) to what extent engineering and computer science students at two rural, land grant universities participate in high impact engagement activities; (2) how participation in these activities is correlated to student outcomes; (3) what factors (i.e., personal, social, institutional, financial, etc.) affect student awareness, interest, and participation among engineering and computer science students in these activities, specifically at rural, land grant universities; and (4) how individual factors (i.e., personal, social, institutional, financial, etc.) influence student awareness, interest, and participation rates. A two-phase, explanatory, sequential, mixed-methods research design will be used. Analysis of qualitative (focus group interviews) and quantitative (survey) data will result in new understandings concerning ways to increase participation of engineering and computer science students in high impact engagement activities, within rural, land grant, public university settings.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.