Bridging Institutions to Decrease Gaps in Engineering Education

在“改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI计划）”的支持下，该实施和评估（第二轨）项目将缩小转学生工程教育的差距，并通过在教师学习社区的支持下专注于“转校准备”课程，提高他们的成功。加利福尼亚州拥有美国最大的四年制公立大学系统，但没有工程转介副学士学位（ADT）。因此，大多数从社区学院转来的工科学生都不修低级别的工程课程。这将完成工程学位所需的时间延长到平均5到6年。在加州州立理工大学波莫纳分校（CPP）， 2021年秋季学期工程转学生的两年毕业率为6.0%，远低于大学平均水平（33.1%）。毕业所需的额外时间增加了转学生的经济负担，因为他们必须支付额外的学费和费用。“弥合机构以减少工程教育差距”团队（或BRIDGE教育团队）包括CPP的教师和三个合作机构，圣安东尼奥山学院（Mt. SAC），柑橘学院和维克多谷学院，他们将在CPP土木工程系和机械工程系的转校生成功合作。由于转学生在进入工程专业的学生中占很大比例，因此促进他们及时获得学士学位是很重要的，这将证明是缓解工程专业学生之间公平差距的重要一步。三个具体目标指导项目的执行。首先是确定影响转学生成功的关键成功因素（CSFs）。第二是创建一个框架，通过实施转学途径计划来培养“准备好转学”的学生。第三，也是最后，是通过课程开发和教师学习社区（FLC）提供更多样化的低级工程课程。BRIDGE项目将最大限度地减少转学生的挣扎，并最大限度地提高他们在转学后的表现。此外，BRIDGE项目可以发展并纳入其他工程学科，并通过提供工程转学副学士学位（ADT）来加强全州范围内的努力，以支持转学学生的成功。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM参与，并在HSI进行能力建设。考虑到hsi的多样性和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法来激励机构和社区转型，并促进基础研究(1)关于参与式学生学习，(2)关于如何有效地使STEM多样化和增加参与，以及(3)提高我们对如何在hsi建立机构能力的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Implementation and Evaluation (Track 2) project will decrease the gaps in engineering education for transfer students and increase their success by focusing on a “transfer-ready” curriculum with support from a faculty learning community. The State of California, which has the largest four-year public university system in the United States, does not have an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) in Engineering. Therefore, the majority of engineering students who transfer from community colleges do not take lower-division engineering courses. This prolongs the time needed to complete an engineering degree to an average of five-to-six years. At the California State Polytechnic University at Pomona (CPP), the two-year graduation rate for engineering transfer students in the Fall 2021 semester was 6.0%, which is much lower than the university average (33.1%). The additional years needed to graduate add to the financial burden for transfer students, as they must pay additional tuition and expenses. The "Bridging Institutions to Decrease Gaps in Engineering Education" team (or BRIDGE Education team) includes faculty at CPP and three partnering institutions, Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC), Citrus College, and Victor Valley College who will collaborate on transfer student success in the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at CPP. Because transfer students constitute a large percentage of students entering engineering programs, it is important to foster their success in obtaining baccalaureate degrees in a timely manner, which will prove a significant step in mitigating equity gaps among engineering students.Three specific aims guide the execution of the project. First is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that impact transfer students’ success. Second is to create a framework to yield “transfer ready” students by implementing the Transfer Pathway program. Third and finally, is to offer more diverse lower-division engineering courses through course development and a faculty learning community (FLC). The BRIDGE project will minimize transfer students’ struggles and maximize their performance after transferring. In addition, the BRIDGE project can be developed and incorporated into other engineering disciplines and strengthen state-wide efforts to support transfer students’ success by offering an Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) in Engineering. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs.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.