Collaborative Research: Maricopa Engineering Transition Scholars (METS)

METS项目-马里科帕工程过渡学者-是亚利桑那州立大学(ASU)和马里科帕县社区学院区(MCCD)之间为期两年的试点合作，旨在打造一个综合学习体系，在工程学学位课程中招收、保留和毕业女性和代表不足的少数族裔。该项目旨在1)在社区学院培养学生对工程的兴趣；2)帮助学生从MCCD的社区大学顺利过渡到亚利桑那州立大学的四年制工程学位课程；3)帮助学生坚持获得工程学本科学位。牵头机构是亚利桑那州立大学工程与应用科学学院。MCCD的10家机构中有4家参与其中：钱德勒-吉尔伯特、埃斯特雷拉山、格伦代尔和梅萨。目标人口约为10,000名参加微积分/微积分预科、生物、化学、物理和地质学MCCD课程的学生。该项目旨在将转到CEAS工程专业的妇女和代表性不足的少数族裔人数增加30%，并在第一年和毕业时保留75%的学生。以研究为基础的项目活动是根据对MCCD和亚利桑那州立大学多年试行的最佳做法的分析而设计的。METS的三个特别创新的特点是1)研究，以确定哪些干预和支持计划对从社区学院过渡到大学工程项目的学生最有效；2)策略，以加强MCCD和亚利桑那州立大学之间的新合作并使其制度化；3)以网络可访问的问题为中心的学习活动模块，旨在吸引社区学院学生(尤其是女性和代表性不足的少数族裔学生)对工程感兴趣，并填补两年制实践工程课程存在的课程空白。METS的学术价值在于，它将产生数据，扩大对以下问题的研究理解：1)在招收和留住工程专业的女性和少数族裔学生方面，哪些干预措施最有效；2)学院/大学的合作对这些努力的影响程度。METS的更广泛影响将体现在：1)开发社区学院和大学之间的STEM招聘/保留合作模式，这一模式可在全国范围内复制和改编；2)传播适合妇女和代表性不足的少数群体的文化需求和学习方式的、可上网的、以问题为中心的工程模块。

The METS project-Maricopa Engineering Transition Scholars-is a two-year pilot collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU) and Maricopa County Community College District (MCCD) to forge an integrated learning system that enrolls, retains, and graduates women and underrepresented minorities in engineering degree programs. The project is designed to 1) create an interest in engineering among students at the community colleges; 2) help students to transfer smoothly from a community college in MCCD to a four-year engineering degree program at ASU; and 3) assist the students in persisting to earn an undergraduate degree in engineering. The lead institution is the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at ASU. Four of MCCD's 10 institutions are participating: Chandler-Gilbert, Estrella Mountain, Glendale, and Mesa. The target population is approximately 10,000 students enrolled in MCCD courses in calculus/pre-calculus, biology, chemistry, physics, and geology. The project aims to increase by 30% the number of women and underrepresented minorities who transfer into CEAS engineering programs and to retain 75% of those students in the first year and to graduation. The research-grounded project activities were designed based on analysis of best practices piloted over many years at both MCCD and ASU. Three especially innovative features of METS are 1) research to determine which interventions and support programs are the most effective for students transitioning from a community college to a university engineering program 2) tactics to strengthen and institutionalize new collaborations between MCCD and ASU and 3) modules of Web-accessible problem-centered learning activities designed to interest community college students in engineering (especially women and underrepresented minority students) and fill the curricular gap that exists in hands-on engineering courses at the two-year level. The intellectual merit of METS is that it will yield data to enlarge the research understanding of 1) which interventions are most effective in recruiting and retaining women and minority students in engineering programs and 2) the extent to which college/university collaborations impact those efforts. The broader impact of METS will occur in 1) developing a model of collaboration for STEM recruitment/retention between community colleges and universities, a model that can be replicated and adapted nationwide by educational institutions; and 2) disseminating Web-accessible, problem-centered engineering modules tailored to the cultural needs and learning styles of women and underrepresented minorities.