HSI Implementation and Evaluation Project: Enhancing and Expanding Second-Year Experience to Improve Equity, Retention and Student Success in Engineering/Computer Science Programs

HSI 实施和评估项目：增强和扩展第二年经验，以提高工程/计算机科学项目的公平性、保留率和学生成功

• 批准号: 2247579
• 负责人: Yingtao Jiang
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Nevada Las Vegas
• 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: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2247579&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: HSI; Implementation; Evaluation; Project; Enhancing

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 2 project aims to enrich engineering/computer science students’ learning experiences in their critical second year in college, which helps stop high attrition and low graduation rates in many engineering programs, especially among Hispanic and other minority groups. Over the past decade, the UNLV College of Engineering has witnessed its Hispanic population tripled and its overall student population more than doubled; yet the six-year graduation rate lingers below 30%, which is largely attributed to high attrition rates in the first two years. Although there is a general agreement of the importance and significance of offering continued services and support to students transitioning to their second year in college with their specific and changing needs, unlike first-year, second-year students seem to be “forgotten” and typically receive less attention. In recognition of this deficiency, we pioneered a Second-Year hands-on design Experience (SYE) course in Fall 2021. Built upon the limited success of this inaugural course, we propose to develop and launch a comprehensive program referred as “Enhancing and Expanding Second-Year Experience (EESYE)”, which includes a whole range of proactive approaches and activities/events specially designed for second-year students. By scaffolding, engaging and mentoring second-year engineering students, we expect to reduce student attritions and more students shall progress well to graduate from an engineering program. This project tends to help create an all-around student support culture that can be adopted by colleges with low retention, progression, graduation rates. The aims of the project include: help prepare students for a successful second year and beyond; deepen students’ sense of belonging and community; provide academic planning and mentoring support; create career planning and internship opportunities; facilitate further development of leadership skills and soft skills, and drive students to be responsible for their own health and wellness. The overarching question we will examine is: “In what ways do the interventions of the second-year engineering and computer science students’ experiences and learning environment impact their retention and completion of the program?” A mixed-methods approach will be used to examine and report the three expected outcomes: 75% or higher second-year retention rate; 60% of the cohort students moving to upper-division courses; and a strong sense of belonging. The research evidence will be disseminated to other institutions to improve student diversity, especially among Hispanic and other underrepresented minority groups. This project will significantly improve the capacity to graduate STEM students, will create a new culture of all-around student support that is sustainable for the future; support the UNLV’s overarching goal to become a Top Tier university by 2025-2030; and contribute to the growth of the STEM workforce and helps diversify the local and state economy. 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.

在改善本科STEM教育的支持下：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划），这个轨道2项目旨在丰富工程/计算机科学学生在大学关键的第二年的学习经验，这有助于阻止许多工程项目的高流失率和低毕业率，特别是在西班牙裔和其他少数民族群体中。在过去的十年中，UNLV工程学院见证了其西班牙裔人口增加了两倍，其总学生人数增加了一倍多;但六年的毕业率徘徊在30%以下，这在很大程度上归因于前两年的高流失率。虽然有提供持续的服务和支持的学生过渡到他们的大学二年级与他们的具体和不断变化的需求的重要性和意义的普遍协议，不像一年级，二年级的学生似乎是“被遗忘”，通常得到较少的关注。认识到这一不足，我们在2021年秋季开创了第二年动手设计经验（SYE）课程。在这个就职课程的有限成功的基础上，我们建议开发和推出一个全面的计划，称为“增强和扩大第二年的经验（EESYE）”，其中包括一系列专门为二年级学生设计的积极主动的方法和活动/事件。通过搭建脚手架，吸引和指导二年级工程专业的学生，我们希望减少学生的磨损，更多的学生将顺利从工程专业毕业。该项目旨在帮助创建一个全方位的学生支持文化，可以通过低保留率，升学率，毕业率的大学。 该项目的目标包括：帮助学生为成功的二年级及以后做好准备;加深学生的归属感和社区感;提供学术规划和辅导支持;创造职业规划和实习机会;促进领导技能和软技能的进一步发展，并促使学生对自己的健康负责。我们将研究的首要问题是：“在什么样的方式做二年级工程和计算机科学学生的经验和学习环境的干预影响他们的保留和完成程序？”将采用混合方法来检查和报告三个预期结果：75%或更高的二年级留存率; 60%的同龄学生升入高年级课程;强烈的归属感。研究证据将传播给其他机构，以改善学生多样性，特别是西班牙裔和其他代表性不足的少数群体。该项目将显着提高毕业STEM学生的能力，将创造一个全方位的学生支持的新文化，这是可持续的未来;支持UNLV的总体目标，到2025-2030年成为一流大学;并有助于STEM劳动力的增长，并有助于地方和国家经济的多样化。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，并建立HSI的能力。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NSF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。