More Like this

1. Statewide Coalition: Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organizational Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity (SC:SUPPORTED) Results from Year One

   Gallagher, E. ; Brown, C.J. ; Brown, D.A. ; Frady, K. ; Marcanikova, M. ; Atamturktur, S. ; Ihekweazu, S. ; Matthews, M. ; Rabb, R. ; Roberts, R. ; et al ( June 2018 , ASEE annual conference & exposition proceedings)

   National data indicate that initial mathematics course placement in college is a strong predictor of persistence to degree in engineering, with students placed in calculus persisting at nearly twice the rate of those placed below calculus. Within the state of South Carolina, approximately 95% of engineering-intending students who initially place below calculus are from in-state. The “Statewide Coalition: Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organizational Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity (SC:SUPPORTED),” a Design and Development Launch Pilot funded under the National Science Foundation INCLUDES program, is a coalition of secondary districts and post-secondary institutions throughout South Carolina, joining together to address the systemic issue of mathematical preparation for engineering-intending students. First year results include an analysis of system-wide data to identify prevalent educational pathways within the state, and the mathematical milestones along those pathways taken by engineering-intending students. Using individual data for all 21,656 first-year students in engineering-related fields enrolled in a public post-secondary institution in the state, we identified specific pathways with high rates of placement in or above calculus, pathways with balanced rates of placement in/below calculus, pathways with high rates of placement below calculus, and ‘missing’ pathways, defined as those which produce disproportionately few engineering-intending students [5]. For example, rates of placement in or above calculus among engineering majors ranged from below 17% in eight counties of origin to nearly 100% in four counties of origin. First-year results also included analysis of qualitative data from focus groups conducted at key points along each pathway category to identify factors that do not readily appear in institutional data (e.g., impact of guidance counselor recommendations in selection of last high school math course taken). Broad themes emerging from the focus groups provided additional insight into potential interventions at multiple points along educational pathways. Focus group data are contributing to the development of a survey to be administered in Year 2 to all post-secondary engineering majors statewide, with the goal of creating structural equation models of the factors leading to placement at or below the calculus level upon entry into an engineering major. These models will then allow us to design targeted interventions at points of maximal potential impact. 

   more » « less
2. Familial Influences Affecting Student Pathways to Engineering at Two-Year and Four-Year Institutions

   Brisbane, Julia ; Gallagher, Eliza ; Dunwoody, L. Armoni ; Hines, Abigail ; Murphy, Joseph C. ; Patel, Khushikumari ; Pfirman, Aubrie L. ; Roberson, Shannon L. ; and Gramopadhye, Anand ( April 2019 , 2019 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity)

   Improving retention rates of engineering students in higher education has been a nationwide goal aimed at expanding and diversifying the engineering workforce. Initial mathematics placement in institutions is a major predictor for attrition, with 52% of students from two-year institutions starting below calculus as opposed to 14.4% of students from four-year institutions starting below calculus. Consequently, national data shows that the attrition rate for engineering students at two-year institutions is 69% while the attrition rate for engineering students at four-year institutions is 37%. As the prevalence of students taking an indirect path towards completing an engineering degree increases, the examination of those students’ pathways towards an engineering degree is necessary. In the SC:SUPPORTED project, we conducted focus groups with students from two-year and four-year institutions across the state of South Carolina. Themes related to academic influence, social influence and family influence emerged from analysis of the focus group data. Within family influences, which are the ways family members affect a student’s persistence in education, choice of major, and choice of institution, there were differences between students attending two-year institutions and those attending four-year institutions. Family members include parents, siblings, other relatives, and also “fictive” family. The goal of this paper is to discuss the factors that influence why students choose engineering and choose to attend a two-year or four-year institution. 

   more » « less
3. Familial Influences Affecting Student Pathways to Engineering at Two-Year and Four-Year Institutions

   Brisbane, Julia Brisbane ; Gallagher, Eliza ; Dunwoody, L. Armoni ; Hines, Abigail Hines ; Murphy, Joseph C. ; Patel, Khushikumari ; Pfirman, Aubrie L. ; Roberson, Shannon L. ; Gramopadhye, Anand ( April 2019 , The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) 2019)

   Improving retention rates of engineering students in higher education has been a nationwide goal aimed at expanding and diversifying the engineering workforce. Initial mathematics placement in institutions is a major predictor for attrition, with 52% of students from two-year institutions starting below calculus as opposed to 14.4% of students from four-year institutions starting below calculus. Consequently, national data shows that the attrition rate for engineering students at two-year institutions is 69% while the attrition rate for engineering students at four-year institutions is 37%. As the prevalence of students taking an indirect path towards completing an engineering degree increases, the examination of those students’ pathways towards an engineering degree is necessary. In the SC:SUPPORTED project, we conducted focus groups with students from two-year and four-year institutions across the state of South Carolina. Themes related to academic influence, social influence and family influence emerged from analysis of the focus group data. Within family influences, which are the ways family members affect a student’s persistence in education, choice of major, and choice of institution, there were differences between students attending two-year institutions and those attending four-year institutions. Family members include parents, siblings, other relatives, and also “fictive” family. The goal of this paper is to discuss the factors that influence why students choose engineering and choose to attend a two-year or four-year institution. 

   more » « less
4. Poverty and Guidance: Challenges and Opportunities in Mathematics Preparation for Engineering

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--35063  

   Gallagher, Eliza ; Vagnozzi, Anna Marie ; Lanning, Rachel ; Brown, D. ; Brown, Christy ; Frady, Kristin ; Brisbane, Julia ; Matthews, Michael ; Murphy, Joseph ; Patel, Khushikumari ; et al ( June 2020 , ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings)

   null (Ed.)

   The Statewide Coalition Supporting Underrepresented Populations in Precalculus through Organizational Redesign Toward Engineering Diversity (SC:SUPPORTED), a Design and Development Launch Pilot funded under the National Science Foundation INCLUDES program, is a coalition of secondary districts and postsecondary institutions throughout South Carolina that have joined together to address the systemic issue of mathematics preparation and placement for students pursuing or intending to pursue engineering degrees. In Year One of the project, we used individual data for all 21,656 first-year STEM-intending students enrolled in a public two- or four-year postsecondary institution with ABET-accredited engineering programs in the state to identify specific pathways with high rates of placement in or above calculus, pathways with balanced rates of placement in/below calculus, pathways with high rates of placement below calculus, and “missing” pathways: ones that produced disproportionately few engineering-intending students. From the pathways analysis we identified target locations for focus groups to identify factors that do not readily appear in institutional data, such as the impact of guidance counselor recommendations in a student’s selection of their last high school math course taken. Broad themes emerging from the focus groups provided additional insight into potential interventions at multiple points along educational pathways. These themes also contributed to both the development of a survey for statewide administration and a follow-up study to develop profiles of school district decision-making with direct and indirect effects on mathematics preparation and major selection of students from that district. As we conclude Year Two of our launch pilot, in this paper we integrate a subset of results from different aspects of the project to address both quantitative impact and qualitative context of the roles that poverty and guidance play in gaining access to engineering in South Carolina. 

   more » « less
5. Promoting Success of Undergraduate Engineering Students Through Curricular Improvements in First-year Mathematics Courses

   Olsen, D. ( July 2021 , ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings)

   Norwich University, a private military college that serves both civilian and Corps of Cadets students, secured an NSF S-STEM award to develop a program to attract and retain highly talented, low-income students. Norwich recognizes that students who enter college with less experience in mathematics are less likely to graduate with a degree in a STEM discipline. With that in mind, the project aims to measure the benefits of a corequisite implementation of precalculus and calculus to help students complete the required calculus sequence by the end of their first year. In the first year of the study, 34 engineering students among 72 total STEM students that placed into precalculus by an institutional math placement exam were randomly allocated into either precalculus or a pilot corequisite calculus course with precalculus review. The content, delivery, and outcomes of the first semester offering of the corequisite implementation of precalculus and calculus will be discussed. The short-term success of the corequisite course using survey results, DFW rates, and retention in the engineering major will be examined. 

   more » « less