Research on Innovation and Creativity in Higher education in Engineering and Science (RICHES) for Community Colleges

迫切需要更多的工程和科学专业的学生进入，坚持，并从高等教育机构毕业。增加工程和科学的多样性也是一个深刻的需求。根据国家统计数据，工程和科学领域代表性不足的少数民族学生中最大的群体是美国？美国的公立高等教育机构，特别是社区学院。最近的研究表明，来自这些人群的学生谁是强大的问题解决者，谁知道如何寻求帮助和导航大学校园，最有可能坚持到学位完成。因此，本研究在工程教育（REE）项目题为：研究创新和创造力在高等教育工程和科学（RICHES）的社区学院，打算研究一个样本的非传统大学生就读于城市社区学院的科学和工程课程，以确定：（a）他们使用的支持实践的类型和频率，（B）这些实践如何影响他们的成就，坚持和转移到四年制学院和大学的状态，及（c）他们的创新倾向及创造性地解决问题的能力如何反过来影响他们的选择及坚持。本研究计划的学术价值在于：（1）探索社区学院非传统学生使用的非正式和正式的指导和支持实践，以告知持久性，（2）了解这种做法是否有效地为非传统学生提供了一个项目，使他们能够留在工程和科学专业，并转移到四年制学院或大学，（3）以确定学生是否？创新解决问题的倾向影响教学实践的使用，并最终影响迁移的持久性。丰富的研究领域和一组学生，一直是历史上欠研究，社区大学的学生在工程和科学，并建立在研究人员？STEM途径和学生的当前研究？创新倾向，这两个领域都被认为是工程教育必须培养学生的研究领域。该项目具有广泛的影响，因为它有很大的潜力来改变非传统学生和那些在工程和科学领域代表性不足的学生的教学和支持实践。它有助于发展和改善教育机会，为新一代科学家和工程师做好准备，他们将在维持美国领导地位方面发挥关键作用。

There is a critical need for more students with engineering and science majors to enter into, persist, and graduate from postsecondary institutions. Increasing the diversity in engineering and science is also a profound identified need. According to national statistics, the largest groups of underrepresented minority students in engineering and science attend America?s public higher education institutions and in particular the community colleges. Recent research has indicated that students from these populations who are strong problem solvers, and who understand how to seek assistance and navigate college campuses, are most likely to persist to degree completion. Accordingly, this Research in Engineering Education (REE) project entitled: Research on Innovation and Creativity in Higher education in Engineering and Science (RICHES) for Community Colleges, intends to study a sample of non-traditional college students enrolled in science and engineering programs in urban community colleges to determine: (a) the types and frequency of support practices they utilize, (b) how such practices influence their achievement, persistence and transfer status to four year colleges and universities, and (c) how in turn their propensity for innovation and creative problem solving affect such choices and persistence.The intellectual merits of this research project are: (1) to explore the informal and formal instructional and support practices used with non-traditional students in community colleges to inform persistence, (2) to understand whether such practices are effective in offering non-traditional students a program that enables them to stay in engineering and science majors and to transfer to a four year college or university, and (3) to determine if students? propensity for innovative problem solving influences use of pedagogical practices and ultimately, transfer persistence. RICHES studies an area and group of students that have been historically understudied, community college students in engineering and science, and builds upon the researchers? current studies of STEM pathways and students? propensity for innovation, both of which are research areas recognized as areas that engineering education must cultivate in students. This project has broad impacts because it has great potential to transform instructional and support practice for non-traditional students and those who are typically underrepresented in engineering and science. It contributes to the development and improvement of educational opportunities for the preparation of a new generation of scientists and engineers who will play a critical role in maintaining U.S. leadership.