Building Capacity to Improve Transfer Success in Undergraduate Engineering

该项目旨在通过改进两年至四年的转学程序，为争取获得工程学学士学位的学生服务于国家利益。最近的研究表明，从高中直接完成四年制STEM学士学位的学生正在变得不典型。例如，近一半的STEM学士学位获得者在大学生涯的某个时候进入了社区大学。在他们转到四年制学位课程后，这些学生经常被要求重复他们在社区大学成功完成的课程。复杂的大学录取要求可能会放大这种挑战，转学学生可能很难驾驭这些要求。该项目旨在建设能力，以实现四个目标：1)提高工程学科的转移效率；2)改进课程，提高学生保留率；3)提高有色人种学生和STEM低收入背景学生的参与度和持久性；4)增加工程专业毕业生的数量，为经济做出贡献。西部州际高等教育委员会(WICHE)和新墨西哥州立大学(NMSU)与NMSU的四所社区学院合作，计划通过测试使用低分组学生学习成果集(SLO)作为整体转移到工程项目的基础的可行性来实现这些目标。这一做法与大多数院校根据已完成的具体课程接受学分转移的做法形成对比。项目合作伙伴希望证明，转学的学生可以在不大幅延长毕业时间的情况下完成工程学学位。基于SLO的整体转让是该项目长期目标的基础，该目标是支持各机构在STEM学科范围内改革和推广其转让做法。这些变化旨在为代表人数不足的群体和低收入背景的学生带来直接好处。为了完成这项工作，NMSU将确定对学生完成四年电气工程学位至关重要的学生学习成果，并绘制这些SLO图，以直观地描述他们的必修课程关系和更好的课程排序。由此产生的SLO地图将为识别较低级别的SLO块提供信息，以简化课程，潜在地提高所有学生的学位进步和坚持性，而不仅仅是转校生。Wiche将进行一项文献审查，以进一步确定阻碍STEM和工程学科内转移的因素；阐明变革理论；并招募代表至少四个州的国家组织以及两年和四年制机构的领导人，分析和改进NMSU的概念证明，并评估将NMSU的工作扩展到更多机构的可行性。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过机构和社区转型轨道，该计划支持高等教育机构和学科社区转变和改进STEM教育的努力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the two-year to four-year transfer process for students who aim to earn a bachelor of engineering degree. Recent research indicates that it is becoming atypical for students to complete a four year baccalaureate STEM degree directly from high school. For example, nearly half of all STEM bachelor’s degree recipients attend a community college at some point in their college career. After they transfer to a four-year degree program, these students are often required to repeat courses they successfully completed at community college. Such challenges can be amplified by complex university admission requirements that may be difficult for transfer students to navigate. This project seeks to build capacity to address four goals: 1) Improve transfer efficiency in engineering disciplines; 2) Improve curricula that result in improved student retention; 3) Improve participation and persistence among students of color and students from low-income backgrounds in STEM; and 4) Increase the numbers of engineering graduates to contribute to the economy.The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and New Mexico State University (NMSU), in collaboration with NMSU’s four community colleges, plan to address the goals by testing the feasibility of using sets of lower-division student learning outcomes (SLOs) as the basis for block transfer into engineering programs. This approach contrasts with most institutions’ practice of accepting transfer credit based on specific courses completed. Project partners hope to demonstrate that students who transfer can complete an engineering degree without substantially extending their time to graduation. SLO-based block transfer is the foundation of the project’s long-term goal of supporting institutions in reforming and generalizing their transfer practices within the STEM disciplines. These changes are intended to have direct benefits for students from underrepresented groups and students from low-income backgrounds. To accomplish this work, NMSU will identify the student learning outcomes that are critical for students to complete a four-year electrical engineering degree and map those SLOs to visually depict their prerequisite course relationships and preferable course sequencing. The resulting SLO map will inform identification of a lower-division SLO block to simplify curricula, potentially improving degree progress and persistence for all students, not just transfer students. WICHE will conduct a literature review to further identify factors that inhibit transfers within STEM and engineering disciplines; articulate a theory of change; and recruit leaders of national organizations and two-year and four-year institutions representing at least four states to analyze and refine NMSU’s proof of concept and assess the feasibility of scaling NMSU’s work to additional institutions. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.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.