Collaborative Research: Understanding Engineering Pathways and their Impact on Community and Identity

工程项目的第一年是本科生评估是否应该继续从事工程专业的关键时期。因此，许多第一年的计划，课程和经验存在，每年都有新的创建。虽然第一年的工程教育在很大程度上取决于主办机构的历史，设计和政治结构，但使用研究成果来告知第一年工程课程，课程和经验的创建和更改仍然很重要。最近的研究调查产生的知识，课程结构和内容的差异，如果第一年的工程课程。然而，设计第一年工程教育的教师和管理人员通常会问一些目前文献没有解决的问题，例如“学生最好有一个共同的第一年经验还是一个学科特定的经验？或者“转学生应该和新生有不同的课程吗？”“虽然很可能两者都不是更好或更坏，但必须调查一些差异，以便教师和管理人员能够就第一年工程教育的变化做出明智的决定，以提高所有学生的体验。本研究旨在阐明第一年的工程结构（例如，通用工程，学科特定），内容（例如，设计，解决问题，学术成功），和时机（例如，一个或两个学期）帮助或阻碍学生追求各种工程途径。通过三个阶段的探索性定性案例研究，采用个人访谈和焦点小组，本研究试图回答研究问题：如何让学生谁是追求工程学位的途径，不同方面的第一年工程结构，内容，和时间描述他们的经验参与工程实践社区和他们的新兴工程身份？通过实践社区的框架，本研究确定了什么样的实践社区是在第一年的工程形成和他们的关系，在不同的第一年的工程经验的工程身份。研究人员正在通过各种经验评估学生发展的差异，重点是结构，内容和时间的影响。最后，本研究调查了机构目标和学生体验之间的一致性。该项目有四个目标：1）了解第一年的工程经验和经验对学生的工程身份发展的影响; 2）为促进第一年课程和课程中的工程实践社区提出建议; 3）通过三角数据点进一步了解早期工程师的形成;及4）制定设计策略，以达致院校第一年的工程发展目标。这些目标对工程教育产生了实质性的积极影响，因为它们确保了一年级工程学的变化是有益的，并有助于确保一年级工程学学生的成功。与智力价值相关，本研究分析了第一年的工程结构，内容和时间安排如何帮助或阻碍学生的实践社区和工程身份，为有效支持或反对学生发展和保留专业的方法提供具体证据。

The first year of an engineering program is a critical time period for undergraduate students who are evaluating whether or not they should continue in engineering. As a result, numerous first-year programs, courses, and experiences exist, with new ones created each year. While first-year engineering education is heavily dependent on the history, design, and political structure of the host institution, it remains important to use research results to inform the creation and alteration of the first-year engineering courses, programs, and experiences. Recent research investigations have generated knowledge of the differences in course structure and content if first-year engineering courses. However, faculty and administrators designing first-year engineering education commonly ask questions that are not addressed by current literature, such as "Is it better for students to have a common first-year experience or one that is discipline specific?" or "Should transfer students have a different course than freshmen?" While it is likely that neither is better or worse, there are differences that must be investigated so faculty and administrators can make informed decisions regarding changes to first-year engineering education to enhance the student experience for all. This study intends to clarify how first-year engineering structure (e.g., common engineering, discipline specific), content (e.g., design, problem solving, academic success), and timing (e.g., one or two semesters) help or hinder students pursuing a variety of engineering pathways.Through a three-phase exploratory qualitative case study employing individual interviews and focus groups, this study attempts to answer the research question: how do students who are pursuing engineering degrees through pathways that vary with respect to first-year engineering structure, content, and timing describe their experience participating in engineering communities of practice and their emerging engineering identities? Through the community of practice framework, this research determines what communities of practice are formed during first-year engineering and their relation to engineering identity in diverse first-year engineering experiences. The researchers are evaluating the differences in student development through the various experiences, focusing on the impacts of structure, content, and timing. Finally, the study investigates the alignment between institutional goals and the student experience. This project has four goals: 1) To understand the first-year engineering experience and the effects of that experience on students' engineering identity development; 2) To develop recommendations for promoting engineering communities of practice in first-year programs and courses; 3) To further the field's understanding of early engineer formation through triangulated data points; and 4) To develop design strategies for meeting institution-specific first-year engineering development goals. These goals have substantial positive impact on engineering education because they ensure that changes made in first-year engineering are beneficial and help ensure the success of first-year engineering students. Related to intellectual merit, this research parses out how first-year engineering structure, content, and timing help or hinder students' communities of practice and engineering identities to provide concrete evidence for methods that effectively support or oppose students' development and retention in the major.