Improved Persistence to Degree Completion through Enhanced Engineering Identity

通过增强工程特性提高完成学位的持久性

• 批准号: 2221623
• 负责人: Gary Brooking
• 金额: $ 75万
• 依托单位: Wichita State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2028-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2221623&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improved; Persistence; Degree; Completion; through

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated engineers by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Wichita State University. Recognizing the importance of financial assistance coupled with academic and student services, the project team will use award funds to increase second and third-year retention and graduation rates for 24 low-income high achieving undergraduate engineering students in three cohorts by enhancing the student’s identity in advanced manufacturing industry careers. The project will award scholarships over a four-year period to students in engineering technology, computer science and cybersecurity, industrial systems and manufacturing engineering, and electrical and computer engineering that will lead to careers in advanced manufacturing industries, particularly focusing on the local aerospace industries, filling the growing local and national need for such professionals. Scholarship recipients will receive funds for four years: Year 1: $10,000; Year 2: $5,000; Year 3: $2,500; and Year 4: $1,250 ($18,750/scholar over four years). The project is designed to cultivate students’ sense of engineering identity through their participation in (1) academic, personal, and professional skill-building activities and (2) a new two-semester First Year Experience Course in which one semester is spent working alongside engineers on a real-world engineering problem and in co-op experiences each year thereafter. Faculty and industry mentors will receive training to facilitate learning and assist students in developing an engineering identity and a sense of belonging. Students will be recruited from seven high schools through their "Project Lead the Way" engineering classes. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. Drawing on the socialization theory of engineering identity development (Tonso, 2006) and theories of situated learning to design project activities, students will learn engineering skills working alongside engineers in an industry setting and by engaging with the engineering community through trained faculty and industry mentors. The quantitative and qualitative mixed methods evaluation is designed to be holistic and is focused on participant perception of identification with engineering as well as a sense of belonging within the profession as measures of success and the effectiveness of the planned interventions. The purpose is to determine the trajectory of participant perceptions and beliefs. Descriptive statistics will be used to determine the shape of the trajectory while Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance techniques will be used to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in participant perceptions. Qualitative thematic analysis will clarify the findings from the quantitative analysis using coding and patterns of meaning of one-on-one and focus group interviews. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, 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.

该项目将通过支持威奇托州立大学的高分，低收入学生的保留和毕业，以支持受过良好教育的工程师的国家需求。认识到财务援助的重要性，再加上学术和学生服务，该项目团队将使用奖励资金来提高24个低收入高收入高的第二年保留率和毕业率，从而通过增强了高级制造业行业职业的学生身份，从而在三个群体中获得了三个同事的本科工程专业的学生。该项目将在四年期间为工程技术，计算机科学和网络安全，工业系统和制造工程以及电气和计算机工程的学生颁发奖学金，这将导致高级制造业的职业，尤其是专注于当地航空航天行业，从而满足了不断增长的当地和国家专业人员的需求。奖学金获得者将获得四年的资金：1年：10,000美元；第二年：$ 5,000； 3年级：$ 2,500;和第4年：$ 1,250（四年来$ 18,750/学者）。该项目旨在通过参与（1）学术，个人和专业的技能建设活动来培养学生的工程认同感，以及（2）新的两学期第一年经验课程，在该课程中，一个学期与工程师一起花费了一个学期，每年都在研究现实世界的工程问题以及每年的合作经验。教师和行业导师将接受培训，以促进学习并帮助学生发展工程认同和归属感。学生将通过他们的“项目领导”工程课程从七个高中招募。该项目的总体目标是增加茎学位的完成，以证明财务需求，使低收入，高成就的大学生的本科生完成。利用工程认同发展的社会化理论（Tonso，2006年）以及学习项目活动的理论，学生将学习与行业环境中的工程师一起工作的工程技能，并通过训练有素的教师和行业导师与工程社区互动。定量和定性的混合方法评估旨在整体，并专注于对工程学认同的特定感知以及专业内部的归属感，作为成功的措施和计划中的干预措施的有效性。目的是确定颗粒感的轨迹和相信。描述性统计数据将用于确定轨迹的形状，而重复测量方差技术分析将用于确定颗粒感感知是否存在统计学上的显着差异。定性主题分析将使用一对一和焦点小组访谈的编码和含义模式来阐明定量分析的发现。该项目由NSF在科学，技术，工程和数学计划方面的奖学金提供资金，该计划旨在增加具有在STEM领域获得学位的经济需求的低收入才华横溢的学生的数量。它还旨在改善未来STEM工人的教育，并为低收入学生的学术成功，保留，转移，毕业以及学术/职业途径提供知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响来评估的珍贵的支​​持。