BCSER: IID: Using Social Network Analysis to Evaluate the Impact of Communities on Engineering Majors

该项目旨在通过提高工程专业一年级学生的保留率来服务于国家利益。研究表明，许多计划主修工程的学生在大学一年级后就离开了这一领域。对于女学生和来自STEM中代表性不足的族裔或种族群体的学生来说，这种情况尤其严重。低留职率令人不安，因为这个国家越来越需要增加工程人员。已知的支持留住工科学生的策略包括学生参与学习社区和接触强大的社交网络。这项研究项目将调查学生在大学一年级如何参与和体验工程社区。具体地说，这项研究将使用社会网络分析来量化一年级工科学生参与工程社区与保持能力之间的关系。这项研究的潜在意义包括更好地理解如何设计工科专业的一年级体验，以促进社区的发展，从而促进专业的更大坚持性。这项研究的首要目标是通过创造更具包容性的空间来支持学生的学业发展，来解决STEM入门课程中表现不平等的问题。之前的研究表明，学习社区、学生参与度、社交网络和学习成绩之间存在联系。社会网络分析提供了一种定量描述这些关系的方法。该项目的目标是a)评估工科学生学习空间(包括教室)的公平性和包容性，b)在入门课程中通过同伴网络量化工科学生获得社会资本的机会，c)确定获得社会资本是否是工科学生学业成功的预测因素，以及d)了解学生与工程学社区的联系与他们在工程项目的第一年经验之间的关系。更具体地说，这项研究侧重于边缘化或小型化群体的学生，包括少数族裔、女性、第一代大学生和转学学生。研究的目标是确定这些群体的学生是否和其他学生一样，在社区中具有相同的中心地位。中心性是衡量连通性的指标，也就是学生在社区中传递和接收信息的位置有多好。该项目还将确定一个社区的中心性是否是工科学生学业成功的预测指标，这取决于他们在概念清单上的表现、总体课程表现以及对工程学分支学科的声明。该项目由EHR核心研究：STEM教育研究中的能力建设(ECR：BCSER)竞赛提供支持，该竞赛旨在培养个人在STEM学习和学习环境中开展高质量的基本STEM教育研究的能力，扩大对STEM领域的参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving retention among first-year engineering majors. Research shows that many students who plan to major in engineering leave the field after their first year in college. This attrition is particularly true for women students and students from ethnic or racial groups that are underrepresented in STEM. The low retention rates are disturbing, since the nation has a growing need to increase its engineering workforce. Strategies known to support retention of engineering students include student engagement in a learning community and access to strong social networks. This research project will investigate how students participate in and experience engineering communities in their first year of college. Specifically, the study will use Social Network Analysis to quantify the relationship between engagement in engineering communities and retention for first year engineering students. Potential implications of this research include a better understanding of how to design the first-year experience of engineering majors to promote the development of community and, thus, promote greater persistence in the major. The overarching goal of this study is to address the performance inequities in introductory STEM courses by creating more inclusive spaces that support students’ academic development. Previous research indicates a connection among learning communities, student engagement, social networks, and academic performance. Social Network Analysis provides a method for quantitatively describing these relationships. The goals of this project are to a) assess equity and inclusion in learning spaces for engineering students, including classrooms, b) quantify engineering students' access to social capital through peer networks in introductory courses, c) determine if access to social capital is a predictor for engineering students' academic success, and d) understand the relationships between student connection to the engineering community and their first-year experience in the engineering program. More specifically, the research focuses on students from marginalized or minoritized groups, including ethnic/racial minorities, women, first generation college students, and transfer students. The research objective is to determine if students from these groups have the same centrality within the community as other students. Centrality is a measure of connectedness, or how well the student is positioned within the community to give and receive information. The project will also determine if centrality in a community is a predictor of engineering students' academic success as determined by performance on concept inventories, overall course performance, and declaration of an engineering subdiscipline. This project is supported through the EHR Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) competition that is designed to build individuals’ capacity to carry out high-quality, fundamental STEM education research in STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.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.