Collaborative Research: Maricopa Engineering Transition Scholars (METS)

METS项目-马里科帕工程过渡奖学金-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，旨在建立一个综合学习系统，招收、保留和毕业工程学位课程的女性和代表性不足的少数民族。这个项目的目的是：1)在社区学院的学生中培养对工程的兴趣；2)帮助学生顺利从MCCD的社区学院转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士学位。牵头机构是亚利桑那州立大学的工程与应用科学学院。在MCCD的10所机构中，有4所参与其中：Chandler-Gilbert、Estrella Mountain、Glendale和Mesa。目标人群约为1万名参加MCCD微积分/微积分预科、生物、化学、物理和地质课程的学生。该项目旨在将转入CEAS工程项目的女性和未被充分代表的少数民族人数增加30%，并在第一年和毕业时保留75%的学生。这些以研究为基础的项目活动是基于对MCCD和ASU多年来试点的最佳实践的分析而设计的。METS的三个特别创新的特点是：1)研究确定哪些干预和支持项目对从社区学院过渡到大学工程项目的学生最有效；2)加强MCCD和ASU之间的新合作并使其制度化的策略；3)设计的可访问的以问题为中心的学习活动模块，旨在引起社区学院学生对工程（特别是女性和少数族裔）的兴趣学生)，填补了两年的动手工程课程的课程空白。METS的智力价值在于，它将提供数据，以扩大对以下方面的研究理解：1)哪些干预措施在招收和留住工程项目中的女性和少数族裔学生方面最有效；2)学院/大学合作对这些努力的影响程度。METS将产生更广泛的影响：1)在社区学院和大学之间建立一种STEM招聘/保留合作模式，这种模式可以在全国范围内被教育机构复制和适应；2)传播可在网上访问的、以问题为中心的工程模块，为女性和少数族裔量身定制文化需求和学习方式。

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.