Student-centered entrepreneurial design education to foster engineering attitudes, identities, and motivations

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）的支持下，这个Track 1项目旨在研究学生的态度、身份和动机，以开发情境化的创业设计学习模块。创业教育持续发展，并成为培养工程和其他STEM领域具有创业技能和创业意识的毕业生的教育平台。在工程领域，创业教育项目（EEPs）通过课程和课外课程提供创业环境的体验，为未来的工程师在现代创新经济中具有竞争力做好准备。研究证据支持eep对各种学生学习成果和创业态度的好处，并注意到对学生保留率的次要积极影响。尽管有这些基于研究的证据和国家报告中值得注意的提及，创业教育项目需要大量的资源，这限制了它们在资源有限的机构中的广泛实施。然而，工程设计和创业之间的相似之处强调了在资源有限的机构中整合设计和创业教育的可能性。该项目利用加州州立大学富勒顿分校（CSUF）的创业和设计教育作为教学平台，改善本科生对工程的态度和动机。该项目采用基于资产的方法来创造学习体验，重视HSI学生通过他们不同的背景和现实生活经验为教育环境带来的价值。具体来说，这项工作是由以下具体目标指导的：目标1：在建立情境化创业设计学习模块之前，研究影响学生态度、身份和工程学动机的详细因素；目标2：在工程设计入门课程中开发和实施情境化创业设计学习模块；目标3：对创业设计学习模块的影响进行形成性和总结性评估。使用定性焦点小组和定量学生调查作为数据源，该项目将使用多种方法来检查研究问题。1)哪些因素影响学生对工程的态度、认同和动机；2)学生对工程的态度、身份和动机在何种程度上受到他们参与创业设计学习模块的影响？这项工作将植根于有关学生动机、工程态度、工程身份和其他循证最佳实践措施的相关文献。该项目旨在深入了解来自少数民族背景的学生的态度和动机，并为这些学生建立情境化的学习模块。项目成果将以研讨会的形式提供，以支持各种教育工作者的教学。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 1 project aims to examine student attitudes, identities, and motivations for engineering to develop contextualized entrepreneurial design learning modules. Entrepreneurship education continues to grow and become established as an educational platform for developing entrepreneurially skilled and entrepreneurially minded graduates in engineering and other STEM fields. In engineering, entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) provide experiential exposure to the entrepreneurial environment through curricular and co-curricular offerings, that prepare future engineers to be competitive in the modern-day innovation economy. Research evidence supports the benefits of EEPs on a variety of student learning outcomes and attitudes about entrepreneurship, and notes a secondary positive impact on student retention. Despite this research-based evidence and a notable mention in national reports, entrepreneurship education programs require significant resources, which limits their broad implementation at resource-limited institutions. However, the parallels between engineering design and entrepreneurship underscore the possibility of integrating design and entrepreneurship education at institutions with limited resources. The proposed project leverages entrepreneurship and design education as an instructional platform at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) to improve attitudes and motivations for engineering among undergraduate students.The project follows an asset-based approach to create learning experiences that value what students at an HSI bring to the educational environment through their diverse backgrounds, and real-life experiences. Specifically, the work is guided by the following specific aims: Aim 1: examine detailed factors that impact students’ attitudes, identities, and motivations for engineering prior to building contextualized entrepreneurial design learning modules; Aim 2: develop and implement contextualized entrepreneurial design learning modules in introductory engineering design courses; and Aim 3: perform formative and summative assessments on the impacts of entrepreneurial design learning modules. Using qualitative focus groups and quantitative student surveys as the data source, the project will use a multi-methods approach to examine the research questions. 1) What factors affect students’ attitudes, identities, and motivations for engineering; and 2) in what ways and to what extent are students’ attitudes, identities, and motivations toward engineering impacted by their engagement in the entrepreneurial design learning modules? The work will be rooted in pertinent literature on measures of student motivations, engineering attitudes, engineering identities, and other evidence-based best practices. The project is expected to provide an in-depth understanding of student attitudes and motivations from minoritized backgrounds, and build contextualized learning modules for these students. The project outcomes will be delivered as workshops to support a diverse set of educators in their teaching. 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.