Collaborative Research: Leveraging Lived Experiences of Nontraditional Engineering Students to Promote Engaged Student Learning in Technical Classrooms

该项目旨在通过利用非传统工程专业学生的生活经验来服务于国家利益，以增加所有工程专业学生的参与性学习。非传统学生（NTS）的定义是满足国家教育统计中心提供的七项标准中至少一项的学生，或者年龄超过24岁的本科生。NTES通常包括成人学习者，退伍军人和妇女。非传统工程专业学生的人数预计将增加，并将成为工程专业学生人口的重要组成部分。该项目将促进对非传统工程专业学生的生活经验的理解，并将其作为一种资产，并专注于利用他们的优势进行工程教育的重要性。该项目将确定可以利用的非传统工程专业学生的生活经验的特点，创建合作学习活动，利用他们的生活经验来增加学生的学习参与，并为其他STEM教育工作者创建开放资源。作为一个IUSE计划学生学习轨道1级项目，该项目服务于IUSE计划的目的，通过扩大非传统工程专业学生在STEM教育和STEM领域的参与，提高学生的参与和学习STEM，并提供一种替代教学法，以提高传统学生对工程团队多样性需求和多样性欣赏的认识和理解。将使用混合方法的方法，包括半结构化的访谈，调查，教师的意见，并分钟论文回答两个主要的研究问题：（1）什么是非传统的工程专业学生的生活经验，可以利用在本科工程课堂，以增加参与学习的所有学生？以及（2）我们如何通过合作学习在本科工程课堂中利用这些生活经验来提高所有学生的参与性学习？一组工程教育工作者将实施通过本项目开发的合作学习活动，以评估实施的有效性和难易程度。完成后，本计画将透过下列方式，对工程系本科教育的知识体系有所贡献：（1）从资产基础的观点，探讨非传统工程系学生的教育;（2）辨识非传统工程系学生生活经验的主题与属性，以促进非传统工程系学生未来的研究;（3）扩大评估工具，以量度学生在课堂活动层面的投入学习情况;（四）通过开发方法来创建利用非传统工程学生生活经验的合作学习活动，并在此方法的基础上开发一套用于验证方法的课堂合作活动。本项目的主要成果将是（1）确定非传统工程专业学生生活经验的特点和属性（2）通过本项目开发的合作学习活动的开放手册，以及开发其他合作学习活动的方法，这些活动利用非传统工程专业学生的生活经验来提高学生的学习参与度。将通过会议、示范讲习班、虚拟讲习班和出版作为公开资源的手册来传播可交付成果。NSF IUSE：EDU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。 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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by leveraging the lived experiences of nontraditional engineering students to increase engaged student learning for all engineering students. Nontraditional students (NTS) are defined as students who satisfy at least one of the seven criteria provided by the National Center for Education Statistics or are older than 24 years of age in an undergraduate program. NTES typically include adult learners, veterans, and women. The population of nontraditional engineering students is expected to increase and will become a significant part of the engineering student population. This project will advance the understanding of the lived experiences of nontraditional engineering students as an asset and focus on the importance of leveraging their strengths for engineering education. This project will identify the characteristics of nontraditional engineering students’ lived experiences that can be leveraged, create cooperative learning activities that leverage their lived experiences to increase engaged student learning, and create open resources for other STEM educators. As an IUSE program Engaged Student Learning Track Level 1 project, this project serves the IUSE program’s intent of increasing student engagement and learning in STEM by broadening the participation of nontraditional engineering students in STEM education and STEM fields, and by providing an alternative pedagogy to increase traditional students’ awareness and understanding of the need for diversity and appreciation of diversity in engineering teams.The project will use a mixed-methods approach that includes semi-structured interviews, surveys, instructor observations, and minute-papers to answer two major research questions: (1) What are the lived experiences of nontraditional engineering students that can be leveraged in undergraduate engineering classrooms to increase engaged learning for all students? and (2) How do we leverage these lived experiences in undergraduate engineering classrooms through cooperative learning to increase engaged learning of all students? A group of engineering educators will implement the cooperative learning activities developed through this project to evaluate the effectiveness and ease of implementation. Upon completion, this project will contribute to the undergraduate engineering education body of knowledge through: (1) exploring nontraditional engineering student education from an asset-based perspective; (2) identifying the themes and attributes of nontraditional engineering students’ lived experiences that can propagate future research in nontraditional engineering students; (3) expanding the assessment instrument in measuring engaged student learning at the in-class activity level; (4) creating an alternative instructional method by developing methodologies to create cooperative learning activities that leverage nontraditional engineering students’ lived experiences and developing a set of cooperative in-class activities based on this methodology that is used to validate the methodology. The major deliverables from this project will be (1) identifying characteristics and attributes of the lived experiences of nontraditional engineering students (2) an open handbook of cooperative learning activities developed through this project, and methodologies to develop additional cooperative learning activities that leverage the lived experiences of nontraditional engineering students to increase engaged student learning. The deliverables will be disseminated through conferences, demonstrative workshops, virtual workshops, and publication of the handbook as an open resource. The NSF IUSE: EDU 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.