RAPID: Collaborative Research: Electronic Mentoring to Address Challenges in Engineering Graduate Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic

来自德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校和堪萨斯大学的研究人员将研究电子辅导（e-mentoring）如何在 COVID-19 大流行期间影响学生的学业、职业和心理健康结果。 这是一个重要的话题，特别是对于那些被迫通过计算机介导的通信技术继续指导和支持学生的教师来说。该研究调查了受 COVID-19 爆发影响的工程研究生的生活和工作挑战以及美国机构的电子辅导态度、支持和实践。该研究将产生有关电子辅导的重要见解，并生成实证数据来记录电子辅导实践对研究生的不同影响。研究结果还将为如何解决受 COVID-19 大流行影响的工程研究生的生活和学术挑战提供可行的指导。研究人员将研究四个研究问题：（1）受 COVID-19 爆发影响的工程教师和研究生的生活和工作/学术挑战是什么？ (2) 在 COVID-19 疫情期间，工程学院的电子指导态度、支持和广告实践是什么？ (3) 在 COVID-19 爆发期间，工程研究生对电子辅导支持的看法与他们的学业、职业和心理健康结果有何关联？ (4) 感知到的电子辅导支持与学生成绩之间的关系在多大程度上因人口统计、学科和机构特征而异？ 该研究的概念模型源自有关师生辅导和采用新技术/实践、面对面辅导和电子辅导的文献。研究人员将采用多阶段分层抽样设计，利用 Qualtrics 对美国机构（包括少数族裔服务机构）的教职员工和学生进行两项全国性在线调查。描述性统计将用于分析调查数据。通过强调代表性不足群体的差异化电子辅导实践和结果，该项目将提供证据，为旨在扩大危机期间 STEM 参与的干预措施提供信息。该 RAPID 奖项由研究生教育部/教育和人力资源局的 EHR 核心研究 (ECR) 项目颁发，资金来自《冠状病毒援助、救济和经济安全 (CARES) 法案》。 ECR 支持专注于 STEM 学习和学习环境、扩大 STEM 参与以及 STEM 劳动力发展的基础研究。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio and University of Kansas will examine how electronic mentoring (e-mentoring) affects student academic, career, and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an important topic particularly for faculty who are forced to continue mentoring and supporting students through computer-mediated communication technology. The study investigates the life and work challenges for engineering graduate students affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and e-mentoring attitudes, support, and practices at U.S. institutions. The research will yield important insights about e-mentoring and generate empirical data to document the differential impact of e-mentoring practices on graduate students. The research results also will shed actionable guidance about how to address the life and academic challenges of engineering graduate students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.The investigators will examine four research questions: (1) What are the life and work/academic challenges of engineering faculty and graduate students affected by the COVID- 19 outbreak? (2) What are the e-mentoring attitudes, support, ad practices of engineering faculty during the COVID-19 outbreak? (3) How do engineering graduate students’ perception of e-mentoring support associate with their academic, career, and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 outbreak? and (4) To what extent do the relationships between perceived e-mentoring support and student outcomes vary by demographics, disciplines, and institutional characteristics? The conceptual model for the study was derived from the literature on faculty-student mentoring and adoption of new technologies/practices, face-to-face mentoring, and e-mentoring. The researchers will employ a multistage stratified sampling design to conduct two national online surveys using Qualtrics with faculty and students .from U.S. institutions, including minority-serving institutions. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the survey data. By highlighting the differential e-mentoring practices and outcomes for underrepresented groups, the project will offer evidence that can inform interventions aimed at broadening participation in STEM during a crisis. This RAPID award is made by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program in the Division of Graduate Education/Directorate of Education and Human Resources, using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. ECR supports fundamental research focused on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.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.