Collaborative Research - Enabling Transfer Students Access to Engineering

NSF科学，技术，工程和数学奖学金（S-STEM）计划支持具有经济需求的高成就，低收入学生的保留和毕业。 这个项目，在艾伦汉考克学院，奎斯塔学院和加州理工州立大学（加州理工）将资助50个2年奖学金在艾伦汉考克和50个2年奖学金在奎斯塔学院。 学者将在25名学生谁正在寻求转移到学士学位授予机构学习工程的队列。该项目还将资助62个奖学金在加州理工学院从艾伦汉考克和奎斯塔转学学生，从而支持学者，直到他们毕业的工程学士学位。艾伦汉考克和奎斯塔是排名靠前的西班牙裔服务机构。加州理工学院是全国仅有的五所综合性理工大学之一，并被列为全国顶尖的公立硕士水平机构之一。该项目将建立并加强合作，以增加低收入家庭学生的数量，这些学生开始在艾伦汉考克或奎斯塔接受工程教育，转移到加州理工学院，保留并以学士学位毕业，并进入STEM研究生课程或STEM劳动力。具体的计划活动旨在消除或最大限度地减少经济障碍，并支持学生在五个领域的发展：1）学术; 2）工程转移/职业道路; 3）个人，从社会正义的角度通过优势和成长Ministries培训; 4）连接;和5）专业。该项目还将采用基本的循证转学实践，不断评估每个参与校园内和整个校园在这一领域取得的进展，以制度化更强大的转学途径，并支持Allan汉考克，Cuesta和Cal Poly的所有未来STEM转学学生的成功。 该项目将包括两个研究方向，旨在加深对增强转学生在工程职业生涯中取得成功的策略的理解。 第一个研究项目将使用社会网络分析，调查方法和定性访谈，以促进了解项目活动如何有助于a）学生社交网络的增长; B）增加学生的弹性，信心，社区感和归属感;以及c）这些领域的增长是否与增加学生保留，转移前的成功，转移和转移后的成功有关。第二个研究项目将整合前和后转移学者到现有的研究，以促进学生的动机和看法的理解时，选择参加（或离开）在工程的课外团队项目。学者的整合允许调查是否参与课外团队项目的决策因素是一致的学生团体在社区学院和四年制院校，对于直接录取或转学到4-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

The NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program supports the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. This project, at Allan Hancock College, Cuesta College, and California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) will fund fifty 2-year scholarships at Allan Hancock and fifty 2-year scholarships at Cuesta College. The Scholars will be in cohorts of 25 students who are pursuing transfer to a BS-granting institution to study engineering. This project will also fund sixty-two scholarships at Cal Poly for transfer students from Allan Hancock and Cuesta, thus supporting the Scholars until their graduation with a BS degree in engineering. Allan Hancock and Cuesta are highly-ranked Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Cal Poly is one of only five comprehensive polytechnic universities in the nation, and is ranked as a one of the nation's top public masters-level institutions. This project will build on and strengthen collaborations to increase the number of low-income students who begin their engineering education at Allan Hancock or Cuesta, transfer to Cal Poly, are retained in and graduate with a BS degree, and enter a STEM graduate program or the STEM workforce.Specific program activities seek to remove or minimize economic barriers and support student development in five areas: 1) academic; 2) engineering transfer/career path; 3) personal, via Strengths and Growth Mindset training from a Social Justice perspective; 4) connection; and 5) professional. The project will also adopt essential evidence-based transfer practices, continuously assessing progress achieved in this area within and across each participating campus to institutionalize more robust transfer pathways and support the success of all future STEM transfer students at Allan Hancock, Cuesta, and Cal Poly. The project will include two research strands designed to advance understanding of strategies that enhance transfer student success in a career in engineering. The first research project will use social network analysis, survey methods, and qualitative interviews to advance understanding of how project activities contribute to a) growth of student social networks; b) increase in student resilience, confidence, sense of community, and sense of belonging; and c) whether growth in these areas is related to increased student retention, pre-transfer success, transfer, and post-transfer success. The second research project will integrate pre- and post-transfer Scholars into existing research to advance understanding of student motivations and perceptions when choosing to participate in (or leave) co-curricular team projects in engineering. The integration of Scholars allows for investigation of whether decision-making factors regarding participation in co-curricular team projects are consistent for student groups at community colleges and four-year institutions, and for students who are directly admitted or transfer to a 4-year institution.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.