Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Engineering Student Success Initiatives

规划补助金：工程学生成功计划工程研究中心

• 批准号: 2126082
• 负责人: Jerrod Henderson
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2126082&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Planning; Grant; Engineering; Research; Center

The National Science Board reports that, since 2000, the portion of engineering degrees awarded to underrepresented students has improved very little or not at all. For example, in 2000, 8.6%, 7.3%, and 0.7% of engineering degrees were awarded to African Americans, Latinx, and Native American students, respectively. In 2015, 8.7%, 12.8%, and 0.5% of degrees were awarded to those same student groups. Recent statistics on engineering education shows that underrepresented students are more likely to attend Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI). Yet, most of the research on engineering education comes from Predominantly-White Institutions (PWIs), which may limit the generalizability of findings for underrepresented students and more diverse institutions. Furthermore, research often is done in silos with insufficient interdisciplinary collaboration. If we are going to move the needle on broadening participation in engineering and engineering workforce development—our targeted societal impact—we need a convergent approach led by stakeholders at the forefront of supporting a diverse engineering future—MSIs. Employing asset-based approaches such as Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) for all aspects of research, management, and development, we will develop an MSI-led Engineering Research Center (ERC) that focuses on Engineering Student Success founded on Engineering Education frameworks. This ERC will become a leader in the development of engineering student success research and will be uniquely positioned to translate findings into policies and practices that address the success (defined as recruitment, retention, and graduation) of underrepresented engineering students, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This ERC will bring together a core team of interdisciplinary researchers from across MSIs in the Greater Houston area and beyond. The aim for the development and execution of this ERC is to become a model of MSI engagement and collaboration. The ERC proposal that will result from the planning grant will pursue research and development work that focuses on a) research relating to underrepresented student success, b) interventions designed to strengthen engineering workforce pathways (i.e., K-12, community college, and four-year institutions), c) rigorous and culturally responsive project evaluation, and d) dissemination of engineering education research to the academic community, practitioners, and policymakers. This planning grant will leverage the proximity of engaged institutions to build a community of researchers and advocates centered on similar challenges and research interests. The subsequent ERC will support the production of high-impact, convergent research focused on student success and broadening participation in engineering.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.

美国国家科学委员会报告称，自 2000 年以来，授予少数群体学生的工程学位比例几乎没有提高，甚至根本没有提高。例如，2000 年，非裔美国人、拉丁裔和美洲原住民学生分别获得了 8.6%、7.3% 和 0.7% 的工程学位。 2015 年，8.7%、12.8% 和 0.5% 的学位授予了这些相同的学生群体。工程教育的最新统计数据显示，代表性不足的学生更有可能就读少数族裔服务机构 (MSI)。然而，大多数工程教育研究来自以白人为主的机构（PWI），这可能会限制研究结果对代表性不足的学生和更加多元化的机构的普遍性。此外，研究往往是在孤岛中进行的，跨学科合作不足。如果我们要推动扩大对工程和工程劳动力发展的参与（我们的目标社会影响），我们需要由利益相关者领导的一致方法，以支持多样化的工程未来（MSI）。我们将采用社区文化财富 (CCW) 等基于资产的方法进行研究、管理和开发的各个方面，我们将建立一个由 MSI 主导的工程研究中心 (ERC)，重点关注基于工程教育框架的工程学生的成功。该 ERC 将成为工程学生成功研究发展的领导者，并将具有独特的优势，将研究结果转化为政策和实践，以解决本科和研究生阶段代表性不足的工程学生的成功（定义为招聘、保留和毕业）。该 ERC 将汇集来自大休斯顿地区及其他地区 MSI 的跨学科研究人员核心团队。该 ERC 的开发和执行的目的是成为 MSI 参与和协作的典范。规划拨款产生的 ERC 提案将开展研究和开发工作，重点是：a）与代表性不足的学生成功相关的研究，b）旨在加强工程劳动力路径（即 K-12、社区大学和四年制机构）的干预措施，c）严格且文化敏感的项目评估，以及 d）向学术界、从业者和政策制定者传播工程教育研究。该规划拨款将利用参与机构的邻近性，建立一个以类似挑战和研究兴趣为中心的研究人员和倡导者社区。随后的 ERC 将支持高影响力的融合研究的开展，重点关注学生的成功和扩大工程参与。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。