skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • Board 56: Assessing Interest and Appeal of Engineering in a High School Program Designed to Enhance Entry into Engineering in an INCLUDES Project
Title: Board 56: Assessing Interest and Appeal of Engineering in a High School Program Designed to Enhance Entry into Engineering in an INCLUDES Project
The purpose of the current study is to examine the engineering interests held by a diverse sample of high school students, along with a battery of social cognitive factors related to interest – including experience with engineering, knowledge and understanding of engineering as a career field, and identity as an engineer. The study is part of an overarching program of research at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, aimed at testing the efficacy of an out-of-school engineering program, Young Engineers Shape the World embedded in an NSF INCLUDES project. This NSF project, Engineers from Day One, aims to facilitate the engineering identities of female, first-generation, and underrepresented minority students, with the goal of increasing these students’ entry and retention in engineering majors. This paper presents findings from efforts to study the awareness, enjoyment, interest, opinion formation, and understanding that high school students have towards engineering. These high school students were enrolled in a year-round program, Young Engineers Shape the World. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of high school students (N = 334, 53.3% female, 60.6% non-white, 77.1% first-generation) via the online survey platform Qualtrics. In addition to collecting demographic information, the questionnaire collected data on students’ experience with engineering, their understanding of who engineers are and what they do, and their identities as future engineers.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1744539
PAR ID:
10119288
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
ASEE annual conference & exposition
ISSN:
2153-5965
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; (, 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access)
    null (Ed.)
    Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) is a middle and high school program, with a focus on the engineering design process and delivering real solutions to community partners. In order to evaluate the efficacy of the program, a pre-post test design was implemented to examine changes in attitudinal and behavioral measures. Pre-data were collected at the beginning of the school year, and paralleled the program’s registration process to ensure high response rates; post- data were then collected at the end of the school year. Demographic data demonstrate that of all 2018 - 2019 registered EPICS participants (N = 414), 41 percent were female; 66.6 percent were non-white; and 30 percent held first generation student status. Importantly, 68.5 percent of participants reported that neither parent or guardian is an engineer, and 65.7 percent of participants reported that they “definitely will attend” a four-year university. These data suggest that the current sample is ideal for evaluating EPICS as a pre-college engineering education program, because most participants are not experiencing engineering in the home and may be less susceptible to parental pressures for choosing engineering as a college major and potential career, but have salient intentions to attend college. In addition to collecting demographic information, participants completed a series of measures designed to capture attitudes and behaviors toward engineering as a potential career field. The main measures of interest include Engineering Identity and Doing Engineering. Engineering Identity scores reflect participants’ personal and professional identities as engineers; Doing Engineering scores indicate participants’ prior experience with engineering and its related technical skills. Baseline data on the sample reveal average engineering identities (M = 38.41, SD = 6.44, 95% CI [37.77, 39.05]). A series of t-tests was conducted to examine gender differences in these measures. Men reported significantly higher engineering identities (M = 37.65, SD = 6.58) compared to women (M = 39.54, SD = 6.09), t(360) = 2.95, p = .003, F = .037. Men reported stronger and more frequent experiences with engineering, indicated by their higher Doing Engineering scores (M = 13.75, SD = 5.16), compared to women (M = 15.31, SD = 4.69), t(368) = 3.13, p = .002, F = .003. Interestingly, first generation students reported higher engineering identities (M = 37.45, SD = 6.53) compared to non-first generation students (M = 39.66, SD = 5.99), t(375) = 3.46, p = .001, F = 1.39. To examine the relationship between Engineering Identity and Doing Engineering, a correlation analysis was conducted and a moderate, positive relationship emerged, such that as students’ experience with engineering increased, their engineering identities also increased (R = .463, p > .000). 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; (, ASEE Conferences)
    This paper describes a collaborative effort to develop, implement and research an empathy-driven, accessibility-focused engineering internship program for teens underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The program builds on a foundation developed by the Build a Better Book (BBB) project over several years and addresses a significant need to motivate, prepare and support a more diverse engineering workforce. Centered around principles of universal design, designing for accessibility, and engineering with empathy, this NSF-funded project examines how high school interns’ perceptions of engineering and self-identities as engineers are formed, nurtured, and cultivated as they design and create more accessible products for authentic community clients who are blind or visually impaired. Across sites, the project emphasizes building an inclusive and diverse community of interns, including many who may not initially view themselves as engineers. Underpinning this work is the People Part of Engineering framework, which emphasizes that engineering with people, as people and for people influences teens’ motivation and persistence of interest in engineering. To assess the effectiveness of the BBB teen internship model, the project team implemented and researched different formats of the program in two educational settings: an intensive 4-week summer program at a public university and an out-of-school-time, semester-long program at a public library makerspace. Combined, these programs engaged 59 youth in an iterative engineering design process focused on the design and fabrication of accessible products (e.g., games, toys and STEM learning models) for children and youth who are blind or have low vision. (An additional year-long, in-school program is currently in process.) Each program incorporates several key internship design principles, including authentic, client-based projects; a student-directed, collaborative work environment; and individual and team mentorship. The current project aims to impact teens’ perceptions of engineering, their engineering identity, and their confidence and competence in engineering and 21st century workplace skills. These outcomes were measured through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including pre-/post- surveys and audio reflections by students, interviews with site leaders, and culminating focus group discussions. Early findings suggest positive changes in the intended outcomes, across sites, including broader perceptions about engineering and a growing overlap in identity between participants and engineers, increased confidence and competency in engineering and technical skills, and gains related to interpersonal skills and other 21st century skills such as communication, critical-thinking and collaboration. The project’s ongoing and future work will test the internship model at additional sites, including a school and science center, and continue to assess the effects of variation in program format, projects, work environment, and support and training on interns’ engineering identities, their persistence of interest in engineering and how they engage as young engineers with, as, and for people. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; (, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference)
    The ways in which students encounter school can markedly shape how they form professional identities and continue into the engineering workforce. This is particularly true for those students who experience a variety of disabilities, as they must simultaneously manage and navigate disability-related cultural, academic, physical, and bureaucratic university structures and form professional identities. In this paper, we describe the evolution of an ongoing NSF-sponsored project exploring professional identity formation in undergraduate civil engineering students with disabilities as they experience their undergraduate careers and move into the workforce. To provide context for this ongoing work, we summarize the background, sensitizing concepts, and updated research procedures underpinning this study. We then focus our discussion on our emergent findings to-date, which includes the identification of a sub-process referred to as Establishing Definitions of Self. Overall, these findings begin to highlight the nuance and fluidity of disability identity as students form professional identities as civil engineers. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; (, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition)
    This Work in Progress (WIP) paper describes the development of a middle school program focused on an integrated STEM architectural engineering design project and exploration of career pathways. The current engineering workforce is increasingly aging, needing new engineering graduates to meet the industry demands. It is crucial to create inclusive educational programs in STEM to expose and connect with youths from diverse backgrounds, especially the demographics that are underrepresented, in STEM career paths. Middle school is a pivotal time for generating students’ awareness of and promoting pathways into STEM careers; however, opportunities to engage in engineering are often lacking or nonexistent, particularly for low-income students. Additionally, low-income students may bring particular experiences and skills from their backgrounds to engineering that may increase the innovation of engineering solutions. These assets are important to recognize and cultivate in young students. The Middle School Architectural Engineering Pilot Program (MSAEPP), drawing from social cognitive career theory and identity-based motivation, is an intervention designed to affect STEM-related content and STEM identities, motivation, and career goals for low-income students using relatable topics within the building industry. The focus on architectural engineering activities is because buildings, and the industry they represent, touch everyone’s lives. The MSAEPP is planned to be implemented through the Talent Search Programs at middle schools in Pennsylvania. The Talent Search Program is one of the Federal TRIO Programs dedicated to assisting high school students in furthering their education. Penn State Talent Search Programs serve 22 schools in 8 impoverished school districts. The pilot program engages middle school students (seventh and eighth grade) in architectural engineering-related lessons and activities, by exploring engineering identities interactions with architectural engineering industry professionals, and by planning potential career pathways in architectural engineering and other STEM careers with Talent Search Counselors. The purpose of this paper is to present the background and process used in this funded NSF project for developing the suite of architectural engineering related lessons and activities and the research plan for answering the research question: How do the combination of meaningful engineering learning, exposure to professional engineers, and career planning, focused on building industry engineering applications, increase identity-based motivation of students from low-income households and marginalized students in pursuing STEM careers? Answering this question will inform future work developing interventions that target similar goals and will validate and expand the identity-based motivation framework. Keywords: middle school, identity, motivation, informal education. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, ASEE 2022: American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition. Minneapolis, MN)
    This Work in Progress (WIP) paper describes the development of a middle school program focused on an integrated STEM architectural engineering design project and exploration of career pathways. The current engineering workforce is increasingly aging, needing new engineering graduates to meet the industry demands. It is crucial to create inclusive educational programs in STEM to expose and connect with youths from diverse backgrounds, especially the demographics that are underrepresented, in STEM career paths. Middle school is a pivotal time for generating students’ awareness of and promoting pathways into STEM careers; however, opportunities to engage in engineering are often lacking or nonexistent, particularly for low-income students. Additionally, low-income students may bring particular experiences and skills from their backgrounds to engineering that may increase the innovation of engineering solutions. These assets are important to recognize and cultivate in young students. The Middle School Architectural Engineering Pilot Program (MSAEPP), drawing from social cognitive career theory and identity-based motivation, is an intervention designed to affect STEM related content and STEM identities, motivation, and career goals for low-income students using relatable topics within the building industry. The focus on architectural engineering activities is because buildings, and the industry they represent, touch everyone’s lives. The MSAEPP is planned to be implemented through the Talent Search Programs at middle schools in Pennsylvania. The Talent Search Program is one of the Federal TRIO Programs dedicated to assisting high school students in furthering their education. Penn State Talent Search Programs serve 22 schools in 8 impoverished school districts. The pilot program engages middle school students (seventh and eighth grade) in architectural engineering related lessons and activities, by exploring engineering identities interactions with architectural engineering industry professionals, and by planning potential career pathways in architectural engineering and other STEM careers with Talent Search Counselors. The purpose of this paper is to present the background and process used in this funded NSF project for developing the suite of architectural engineering related lessons and activities and the research plan for answering the research question: How does the combination of meaningful engineering learning, exposure to professional engineers, and career planning, focused on building industry engineering applications, increase identity-based motivation of students from low-income households and marginalized students in pursuing STEM careers? Answering this question will inform future work developing interventions that target similar goals and will validate and expand the identity-based motivation framework. Keywords: middle school, identity, motivation, informal education. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email