Expanding Pathways for Preparing the Next Generation of Engineers: First-Year Engineering 2.0 (FYE2.0)

拓展培养下一代工程师的途径：一年级工程 2.0 (FYE2.0)

• 批准号: 2337003
• 负责人: Sheryl Sorby
• 金额: $ 71.99万
• 依托单位: University of Cincinnati Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-04-15 至 2027-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2337003&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Expanding; Pathways; Preparing; Next; Generation

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving curricula in engineering education, and establishing practices to improve student mindset and persistence in engineering. The current undergraduate engineering curriculum continues to use the old model in which students take the same courses, in lockstep, regardless of individual interests or strengths, to produce interchangeable graduates. This project intends to demonstrate the feasibility of developing and implementing a more flexible, customizable curriculum, by modularizing the first-year engineering courses at the University of Cincinnati. Specifically, the project plans to disassemble the two existing courses into smaller modules and create additional options for topics. Although some modules will be required of all students, students should be able to select among the other modules to pursue their own interests and customize their pathways. The intent of this modularized curriculum is that it be more focused on the needs of the next generation of the engineering workforce by moving beyond the model of interchangeable parts from the industrial revolution to a responsive system that accepts customized components to address societal challenges. A key deliverable will be a toolkit that documents administrative and logistical issues with potential solutions and identifies supports that are helpful for faculty and students in engaging with a modularized curriculum.In addition to developing, implementing, and evaluating modules on a variety of introductory engineering topics, the project intends to conduct research centered on constructs that have become more prominent in the engineering education literature, namely students’ mental health well-being, and how the implementation of the first-year program can positively or negatively influence individual student wellness. Considering how students manage emotions and stressors including self-reported stress, anxiety, and depression, and different student social identities and perceptions of inclusion the project intends to study how the design of the first-year engineering experience impacts how first-time-in-college and transfer students navigate the curriculum and ultimately complete their degrees, including academic outcomes and affective outcomes. The research will use an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, a quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase, which will be repeated with each cohort of students (approximately 1500 students per cohort). To understand the population-level impact of the curricular change, the project intends to analyze year-over-year college-level retention data. 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.

该项目旨在通过改进工程教育的课程，并建立实践来提高学生在工程方面的心态和坚持不懈，从而服务于国家利益。目前的本科工程课程继续使用旧的模式，即学生不分个人兴趣或强项，步调一致地学习相同的课程，以培养出可互换的毕业生。该项目旨在通过将辛辛那提大学一年级的工程课程模块化，证明开发和实施更灵活、可定制的课程的可行性。具体地说，该项目计划将现有的两门课程分解为较小的模块，并为主题创建额外的选项。虽然所有学生都需要一些模块，但学生应该能够在其他模块中进行选择，以追求自己的兴趣并定制自己的道路。这种模块化课程的目的是更多地关注下一代工程劳动力的需求，超越工业革命中的可互换部件的模式，转向接受定制部件以应对社会挑战的响应系统。一个关键的交付成果将是一个工具包，它记录了行政和后勤问题以及潜在的解决方案，并确定了有助于教职员工和学生参与模块化课程的支持。除了开发、实施和评估各种入门工程主题的模块外，该项目还打算以工程教育文献中已变得更加突出的结构为中心进行研究，即学生的心理健康状况，以及一年级项目的实施如何对学生个人的健康产生积极或消极的影响。考虑到学生如何管理情绪和压力源，包括自我报告的压力、焦虑和抑郁，以及不同的学生社交身份和包容意识，该项目旨在研究第一年工程经验的设计如何影响第一次进入大学和转学的学生如何适应课程并最终完成他们的学位，包括学业成绩和情感结果。这项研究将使用解释性顺序混合方法设计，先是定量阶段，然后是定性阶段，这将在每个学生队列(每个队列约1500名学生)中重复进行。为了了解课程变化对人口水平的影响，该项目打算分析大学阶段留学生的年度数据。NSF IUSE：EDU计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。