Project-ACE: Active-learning (A) based Engineering Curriculum-transformation (C) for Excellence in Equity (E)

本计划旨在透过在电气、电子及电脑工程专业实施主动学习教学法，显著提升学生对工程的认同感、自我效能感及归属感，以服务国家利益。工程课程有长长的、高度规范化的必修课程链，这些必修课程被称为“关键路径”，往往是学生及时毕业的瓶颈。本项目采用的新方法是针对这些关键路径上选定的必修课程，将其转化为主动学习教学法，让学生参与真实的、主动的学习体验，并利用该领域的专业研究实践解决开放式的、现实世界的问题。在指定为西班牙裔服务机构和亚裔美国人、美洲原住民、太平洋岛屿服务机构的机构中实施项目，将确保对大量来自STEM研究领域中代表性不足的背景的学生产生直接影响。具体来说，它将帮助历史上少数民族学生在主要的本科院校弥合理论和工业应用之间的差距，从而提高他们的内容知识，自我效能感，毕业率和职业准备。该项目计划沿着关键路径重新设计六门工程课程，以吸引学生进行真实、主动的学习体验，包括基于课程的本科研究体验和基于项目的学习。通过将重点从单一课程重新设计转移到沿着工程课程关键路径的战略重新设计，该项目将填补工程教育文献中的重要知识空白。重新设计的主动学习课程将由训练有素的教师进行，主题为“现代智能设备中电子电路的设计与优化”。三个研究问题，假设指导调查，将衡量的变化i)归属感，（ii）失败率，（iii）意图坚持。将收集和分析有关失败率的调查和机构数据。将招募本科生和研究生提供指导和其他支持。为这一项目编制的学习经验将通过出版物和公共网站传播。从该项目中收集的见解将对改善STEM教育，缩小公平差距，帮助加强和多样化国家的STEM劳动力具有广泛的意义。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过其参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by significantly enhancing students’ engineering identity, self-efficacy and sense of belonging in engineering through implementation of active-learning pedagogy in Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering programs. Engineering curricula have long, highly regimented chains of pre-requisite courses called “critical paths” that often represent bottlenecks to student’s timely graduation. The novel approach taken in this project is to target selected required courses along these critical paths for conversion to active learning pedagogy in which students are engaged in authentic, active learning experiences, and solving open-ended, real-world problems that employ professional research practices used in the field. Project implementation in an institution designated as both an Hispanic Serving Institution and an Asian American, Native American, Pacific Island Serving Institution will ensure direct impact on large numbers of students from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM fields of study. Specifically, it will help historically minoritized students at a primarily undergraduate institution bridge the gap between theory and industrial application, thereby improving their content knowledge, self-efficacy, graduation rates and career readiness.The project plans to redesign six engineering courses along critical paths to engage students in authentic, active learning experiences, including course-based undergraduate research experiences and project-based learning. By shifting the focus from a single course redesign to strategic redesign along the critical path of engineering courses, the project will fill an important knowledge gap in the engineering education literature. The active learning-based course redesign will be carried out by trained faculty and will have the theme of "design and optimization of electronic circuits in modern smart-devices." Three research questions, posited to guide the investigations, will measure the change in i) sense of belonging, (ii) failure rates, and (iii) intention to persist. Survey as well as institutional data on failure rates will be collected and analyzed. Undergraduate and graduate students will be recruited to provide mentoring and other support. The learning experiences developed for this project will be disseminated through publications and a public website. The insights gleaned from this project will have broad relevance for improving STEM education, reducing equity gaps, and helping to strengthen and diversify the nation’s STEM workforce. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.