HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: The Freshman Year Innovator Experience (FYIE) - Bridging the URM Gap in STEM

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）”的支持下，本项目旨在帮助机械工程专业大一学生弥补因COVID-19大流行而加剧的技能差距，提高他们取得学业成功和保留率的机会。新生创新体验将为学生提供学习经验，培养关键的自我转化技能，帮助他们面对大学的学术挑战。学生将学习两门并行项目的课程，在机械工程导论（MECE 1101）中，学生将完成一个技术项目：重新设计一个简单的厨房电器，而在学习框架（UNIV 1301）中，学生将完成一个学术项目：设计他们的学术路径。通过适应性专业技能练习，学生将学习如何将工程解决技术作为自我转化技能从他们的技术项目转移到他们的学术项目。该项目的成果将包括UNIV 1301和MECE 1101一年级课程的协调开发，课程讲师的夏季专业发展计划，以及协调课程的实施和评估。这项工作很重要，因为它将使学生具备应对课程规划、决策等学术挑战的关键技能。这项工作将为学生应用技术知识解决学术挑战提供一种新的自我转化方法。该项目将扩大德克萨斯大学格兰德谷分校未被充分代表的少数民族学生对STEM的参与，为多样化和有准备的STEM劳动力做出贡献，并鼓励他们追求更高的学位。该项目的目标是：1)增加授予西班牙裔美国人的STEM学位数量；2)扩大女性在STEM相关领域的参与；3)在COVID-19期间提高STEM领域的持久性和自我效能感。该项目假设，大一新生创新体验有效地促进了未被充分代表的少数民族大一机械工程专业学生，特别是女生的保留，有效地促进了他们的坚持和自我效能感的增加。理论框架结合了设计创新、学术路径设计和学生自我转化的适应性专业知识，它将帮助本科生中未被充分代表的少数民族学生培养学术成功的宝贵技能。该项目将促进学生对学业成功的自我转化技能的理解。该项目的具体目标包括制定UNIV 1301学习框架和MECE 1101机械工程入门一年级课程的协调课程，教员的夏季培训计划，活动的实施、评估和制度化。预计参加活动的学生的留校率将提高10%，所实施的活动将制度化。该项目将为100多名格兰德谷学生提供社会经济发展机会，其中许多人是第一代大学生，尚未充分意识到STEM领域的职业机会。此外，它将提供一种以证据为基础的方法，以便在全国类似的机构中实施。HSI计划旨在加强HSI的本科STEM教育和能力建设。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2: IEP aims to help freshman mechanical engineering students with their skills gap, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, to increase their chances for academic success and retention rates. The Freshman Year Innovator Experience will provide students with learning experience to develop critical self-transformation skills to help them face college’s academic challenges. Students will take two courses with parallel projects, in Introduction to Mechanical Engineering MECE 1101 they will work on a technical project: the redesign of a simple electric kitchen appliance while in Learning Frameworks (UNIV 1301) students will work on an academic project: the design of their academic pathways. Through adaptive expertise exercises, students will learn how to transfer engineering solving techniques as self-transformation skills from their technical project to their academic project. The outcomes of this project will include the coordinated curriculum development for both UNIV 1301 and MECE 1101 first-year courses, a summer professional development program for course instructors, and implementation and assessment of the coordinated courses. This work is important since it will equip students with critical skills to face academic challenges such as course planning, decision making, among others. This work will contribute a novel self-transformation approach where students apply technical knowledge to solve academic challenges. The project will broaden the participation of underrepresented student minorities in STEM at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, contributing to a diverse and prepared STEM workforce and encouraging them to pursue advanced degrees.The goals of this project are: 1) increase the number of STEM degrees awarded to Hispanics, 2) broadening participation of females in STEM related fields, and 3) increase the persistence and self-efficacy in STEM fields amid COVID-19. The project hypothesizes that the Freshman Year Innovator Experience effectively contributes to the retention of underrepresented minority freshman mechanical engineering students, particularly female students, effectively contributing to an increase in their persistence and self-efficacy. The theoretical framework combines design innovation, design of academic pathways, and adaptive expertise for student self-transformation, and it will help undergraduate underrepresented minority students to develop valuable skills for academic success. The project will advance understanding of student self-transformation skills for academic success. The specific aims of the project include the development of the coordinated curricula for UNIV 1301 Learning Frameworks and MECE 1101 Introduction to Mechanical Engineering first-year courses, an instructors’ summer training program, implementation, assessment, and institutionalization of the activities. It is expected that participating students will improve their retention rates by 10% and that the implemented activities become institutionalized. This project will provide socioeconomic development opportunities to Rio Grande Valley students, many of whom are first-generation college students and are not yet fully aware of career opportunities in STEM fields. Furthermore, it will provide an evidence-based approach to be implemented at similar institutions across the nation. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.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.