The Impact of Peer-Led Learning on Non-Traditional Students in Online Engineering Courses

该项目旨在通过确定最佳实践来提高成人和资深学生攻读在线工程学位的持久性和进步，从而为国家利益服务。通过引入同伴领导和同步复习课程，学生将获得传统在线模式之外的额外支持。此外，同伴领导的团队学习环境创造了安全的避风港，在这里，基础数学和工程原理可以在教师-学生的等级结构之外进行探索。向最近完成课程的同学学习可以为本科生提供动力、背景和榜样，尤其是那些可能不适应在线学习或可能已经离开正规学术环境一段时间的成年人和退伍军人。这项研究的目的是告知教学实践，其他机构可以更好地利用在线课程来支持非传统学生。该项目将为包括静力学、空气动力学和数字电路在内的入门工程课程提供同行领导培训课程和同行领导团队学习活动。在确定学生在同伴领导的团队学习中产生更好学术成果的社会和学术因素的过程中，该项目希望为更多未被充分代表的人群推进教学方法，并为在线教育社区的知识广度做出贡献。同伴领导的团队学习已被证明在面对面的课堂环境中是有效的。当前项目的范围是通过开发可转移到其他机构的可持续在线模式来实施类似的结构和教学实践。该项目的目标包括增加对在线工程途径的承诺，提高学生在在线工程课程中的持久性和进步，以及识别和减轻与非传统学生群体相关的文化和结构障碍。该研究的证据将从工程入门课程的多个部分注册的学生中收集，并与对照部分进行评估，以开发一套全面的最佳实践。结果将促进我们对同伴领导的团队学习活动的理解，这些活动在非传统学生的学习成绩和身份发展方面产生了统计上显著的和实质上更大的收益。EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by identifying best practices for improving the persistence and advancement of adult and veteran students pursuing online engineering degrees. Through the introduction of peer leaders and synchronous recitation sessions, students will receive additional support beyond what is traditionally offered in online modalities. Moreover, peer-led team learning environments create safe havens where foundational math and engineering principles may be explored outside the instructor-student hierarchical structure. Learning from fellow students who recently completed the course can provide motivation, context, and example for undergraduate students, especially those from adult and veteran populations who may not be comfortable with online learning or perhaps have been out of the formal academic environment for some time. The intent of the study is to inform instructional practice that other institutions can leverage to better support non-traditional students in online programs. The project will produce a peer leader training curriculum and peer-led team learning activities for introductory engineering courses including statics, aerodynamics, and digital circuits. In identifying social and academic factors under which students’ experiences in peer-led team learning produce better academic outcomes, this project hopes to advance pedagogical approaches for additional underrepresented populations and contribute to the increasing breadth of knowledge for the online education community.Peer-led team learning has proven to be effective in face-to-face classroom settings. The scope of the current project is to implement similar structural and pedagogical practices through development of a sustainable online model that is transferable to other institutions. Goals for this project include increasing commitment to online engineering pathways, improving student persistence and advancement in online engineering programs, and identifying and mitigating cultural and structural barriers associated with non-traditional student populations. Evidence from the study will be collected from students enrolled across multiple sections of introductory engineering courses and evaluated against control sections in developing a comprehensive set of best practices. Results will advance our understanding of peer-led team learning activities’ ability to produce both statistically significant and substantially greater gains in non-traditional students’ academic performance and identity development as part of the engineering community. The EHR program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.