Scholars of Excellence in Engineering Design

该项目将通过支持德克萨斯州立大学（Texas State University）表现出经济需求的高成就低收入学生的保留和毕业，为全国对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求做出贡献。德克萨斯州立大学是一所西班牙裔服务机构，其位于德克萨斯州圣马科斯的校园位于从奥斯汀延伸到圣安东尼奥的快速发展的创新走廊的中心。该项目为期六年，将为38名攻读以下工程专业学士学位的全日制学生提供奖学金：土木工程、电气工程、工业工程、制造工程或机械工程。第一次进入大学的学生将获得长达四年的奖学金。此外，该项目还将包括让学生尽早参与的活动，包括队伍建设、工程师身份形成、重要专业技能的发展以及对工程专业的了解。特别是，该项目将包括对教师导师的培训，在学生到校之前开始的个性化学生辅导，允许学生相互支持的基于队列的专业学习社区，以及一系列专注于产品设计和开发过程的研讨会，工业合作教育经验，以及本科生研究机会。如果提议的方法成功，它可能对学术机构的STEM项目有用，这些机构希望在本科教育期间支持有经济需求的低收入学生。考虑到德克萨斯州立大学所服务的学生的人口结构，成功地留住和毕业工程专业的学生可以转化为地区和国家工程职业领域的多样性，最终建立更广泛的社会能力，以公平和可持续的方式解决当今最复杂的设计和系统问题。该项目的总体目标是提高有经济需求的低收入、高成就本科生的STEM学位完成率。当这些有才华的学生报名参加工程项目时，他们经常觉得自己不“属于”工程，因为他们的经济状况，他们的数学和科学准备，缺乏家庭支持或指导，以及缺乏与他们分享文化背景的工程角色榜样。该项目将采用全面的支持系统，旨在充分整合、集中和激励这些学生，帮助他们实现学术潜力，培养他们对工程专业的归属感，并发展专业技能。一系列产品设计和开发研讨会以及参与工业合作教育经验的可能性将使学生将他们在课程中所学的知识与工程专业的实际方面联系起来。后者有望增加他们的动机和毅力，以完成学位。参加研究经历的机会将使学生考虑在获得学士学位后继续攻读研究生课程的可能性。该项目的有效性将通过跟踪奖学金获得者的学习成绩、留校率和毕业率来评估。此外，调查将用于确定项目活动在增加学生对工程专业的归属感，工程设计的自我效能感和专业技能发展方面的影响。外部评估人员将定期进行项目评估，并提供反馈和改进建议。项目成果将通过同行评议的文章和会议报告进行传播。此外，项目信息和结果将提交给所涉及的每个工程项目的工业咨询委员会，并应要求通过德克萨斯州立大学的数字馆藏库提供给感兴趣的STEM教职员工。该项目由美国国家科学基金会的科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加低收入、有学术天赋、有经济需求的学生在STEM领域获得学位的人数。它还旨在改善未来STEM工作者的教育，并为低收入学生提供有关学业成功、留校、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。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。

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Texas State University. Texas State University is a Hispanic Serving Institution, and its campus in San Marcos, Texas, is at the center of a rapidly growing innovation corridor that extends from Austin to San Antonio. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to thirty-eight unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in one of the following engineering majors: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering. First-time-in-college students will receive up to four years of scholarship. In addition, the project will include activities that engage students early and often in cohort building, engineering identity formation, the development of important professional skills, and exposure to the engineering profession. In particular, the project will include training for faculty mentors, individualized student mentoring that starts before students arrive on campus, cohort-based professional learning communities that allow students to support each other, and a sequence of workshops focusing on the product design and development process, cooperative education experiences in industry, and undergraduate research opportunities. If the proposed approach is successful, it could be useful for STEM programs at academic institutions that want to support low-income students with demonstrated financial need during their undergraduate education. Given the demographics of the students served by Texas State University, success in retaining and graduating engineering students could translate into increased diversity in regional and national engineering career fields, which ultimately builds the broader society’s capacity to solve today’s most complex design and systems problems in ways that are equitable and sustainable. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. When these talented students enroll in engineering programs, they often feel they do not “belong” in engineering because of their financial situation, their math and science preparation, the absence of family support or mentoring, and the lack of engineering role models who share their cultural backgrounds. The project will use a comprehensive system of supports aimed at fully integrating, centering, and motivating these students to help them achieve their academic potential, foster their sense of belonging to the engineering profession, and develop professional skills. A sequence of product design and development workshops and the possibility to participate in cooperative education experiences in industry will allow students to connect what they are learning in their courses with the practical aspects of the engineering profession. The latter is expected to increase their motivation and persistence to degree completion. Opportunities to participate in research experiences will allow students to consider the possibility of pursuing graduate studies after obtaining their bachelor’s degree. The effectiveness of the project will be evaluated by tracking the scholarship recipients’ academic performance, retention rate, and graduation rate. In addition, surveys will be used to determine the impact of project activities in increasing student sense of belonging to the engineering profession, self-efficacy in engineering design, and professional skill development. An external evaluator will conduct periodic project assessments and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement. Project results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations. In addition, project information and results will be presented to the Industrial Advisory Boards of each of the engineering programs involved and will be made available upon request to interested STEM faculty members via Texas State University’s Digital Collections Repository. 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.