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表现出经济需要的高成就、低收入学生的保留和毕业，为国家对受过良好教育的工程师的需求做出贡献。认识到财政援助与学术和学生服务相结合的重要性，项目团队将利用奖励资金，通过提高学生在先进制造业职业中的身份，提高三个队列中24名低收入高成就本科工程专业学生的第二年和第三年保留率和毕业率。该项目将在四年的时间内向工程技术，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提供奖学金，这些学生将在先进制造业，特别是专注于当地航空航天工业，满足当地和国家对此类专业人员日益增长的需求。奖学金获得者将获得四年的资金：第一年：10，000美元;第二年：5，000美元;第三年：2，500美元;第四年：1，250美元（四年内每位学者18，750美元）。该项目旨在通过参与（1）学术、个人和专业技能建设活动以及（2）新的两个学期的第一年体验课程来培养学生的工程认同感，其中一个学期与工程师一起工作解决现实世界的工程问题，此后每年都会进行合作体验。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身份和归属感。学生将通过他们的“项目带路”工程类从七所高中招募。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入，高成就的本科生与证明财政需要完成STEM学位。利用工程身份发展的社会化理论（Tonso，2006年）和情境学习理论来设计项目活动，学生将学习工程技能，与工程师一起在行业环境中工作，并通过训练有素的教师和行业导师与工程界合作。定量和定性混合方法的评价旨在全面，并侧重于参与者对工程的认同感以及对专业的归属感，作为衡量成功和计划干预措施有效性的标准。其目的是确定参与者的看法和信念的轨迹。描述性统计将用于确定轨迹的形状，而重复测量方差分析技术将用于确定参与者感知是否存在统计学显著差异。定性主题分析将澄清的结果，从定量分析使用编码和模式的意义，一对一和焦点小组访谈。该项目由NSF的科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金计划资助，该计划旨在增加低收入学术人才的数量，这些学生表现出经济需求，并获得STEM领域的学位。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并提供有关低收入学生的学术成功、保留、转学、毕业和学术/职业途径的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并且通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。