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1. Assessing Global Engagement Interventions to Advance Global Engineering Competence for Engineering Formation (Work in Progress)

   Schneider, Scott J.; Mowrey, Corinne; Janz, Eric; Vasquez, Eric S.; Murzi, Homero; Witenstein, Matthew A.; Holcomb, Jeanne (January 2023, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   An increasingly global environment expects graduating Engineering students to perform, live and work across cultures. Most intercultural competence research and associated global engineering education is focused on developing the global engineering skill set through long-term travel experiences such as study abroad programs. These programs can be expensive from both a time and money standpoint, limiting the participation to more privileged members of a community, and are not scalable to support broader participation. This work-in-progress addresses this research gap by focusing on the development of the students’ global learner mindset without requiring extensive travel. The project will investigate four different global engagement interventions, including the use of engineering case studies, the intentional formation of multi-national student teams, a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) research project, and a community engaged project within a short course. These interventions can be used to develop a holistic global learner mindset and global engineering education approach to foster global competence in undergraduate engineering students. The four global engagement interventions will be grounded in the global engineering competency (GEC) theoretical framework and assessed for their ability to foster a global learner mindset in engineering students. A mixed-methods approach will be used to assess students’ global learner mindset and skill set. This research will use the Global Engagement Survey (GES), the Global Engineering Competency Scale (GECS) and specific questions developed by the researchers to evaluate improvements in the participating students’ global engineering skill set and answer specific research questions including: 1) To what extent can global competence be developed in engineering students through the use of the proposed global engagement interventions; and 2) what are the relative strengths of each of the proposed global engagement interventions in developing global engineering competence? Combined, these research measures will provide both an accurate picture of how each global engagement intervention impacts the formation of a global learner mindset in engineering education, and also its associated ability to develop and/or improve global engineering skills. The outcomes of this study will generate valuable knowledge to understand how each global engagement intervention impacts the formation of global engineering competence. In this work-in-progress study, the authors discuss the four global engagement interventions with specific learning objectives that have been mapped to the overall student outcomes for the project. These objectives have also been mapped to the GES and GECS instruments. Finally the faculty members have developed qualitative tools to augment the GES and GECS to identify the global engineering skill sets each intervention is generating. This paper lays the foundation before implementing the interventions and performing their associated assessments over the several subsequent semesters. 

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2. Assessing Global Engagement Interventions to Advance Global Engineering Competence for Engineering Formation

   Schneider, S. (June 2023, Review directory American Society for Engineering Education)

   An increasingly global environment expects graduating Engineering students to perform, live and work across cultures. Most intercultural competence research and associated global engineering education is focused on developing the global engineering skill set through long-term travel experiences such as study abroad programs. These programs can be expensive from both a time and money standpoint, limiting the participation to more privileged members of a community, and are not scalable to support broader participation. This work-in-progress addresses this research gap by focusing on the development of the students’ global learner mindset without requiring extensive travel. The project will investigate four different global engagement interventions, including the use of engineering case studies, the intentional formation of multi-national student teams, a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) research project, and a community engaged project within a short course. These interventions can be used to develop a holistic global learner mindset and global engineering education approach to foster global competence in undergraduate engineering students. The four global engagement interventions will be grounded in the global engineering competency (GEC) theoretical framework and assessed for their ability to foster a global learner mindset in engineering students. A mixed-methods approach will be used to assess students’ global learner mindset and skill set. This research will use the Global Engagement Survey (GES), the Global Engineering Competency Scale (GECS) and specific questions developed by the researchers to evaluate improvements in the participating students’ global engineering skill set and answer specific research questions including: 1) To what extent can global competence be developed in engineering students through the use of the proposed global engagement interventions; and 2) what are the relative strengths of each of the proposed global engagement interventions in developing global engineering competence? Combined, these research measures will provide both an accurate picture of how each global engagement intervention impacts the formation of a global learner mindset in engineering education, and also its associated ability to develop and/or improve global engineering skills. The outcomes of this study will generate valuable knowledge to understand how each global engagement intervention impacts the formation of global engineering competence. In this work-in-progress study, the authors discuss the four global engagement interventions with specific learning objectives that have been mapped to the overall student outcomes for the project. These objectives have also been mapped to the GES and GECS instruments. Finally the faculty members have developed qualitative tools to augment the GES and GECS to identify the global engineering skill sets each intervention is generating. This paper lays the foundation before implementing the interventions and performing their associated assessments over the several subsequent semesters. 

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3. Insights Gathered from the National Survey of Student Education (NSSE) About Engineering/Computer Science Participation in High-impact Educational Practices at Two Western Land-grant Institutions

   Ewumi, E.R.; Adesope, O.; Claiborn, C.S.; Minichiello, A. (July 2021, 2021 ASEE Annual Conference)

   Student engagement, especially among Engineering and Computer science majors (E/CS), has been a priority for researchers. Although considerable efforts have been made to improve college students' engagement and interest, underrepresented minority groups and first-generation students are still at risk of dropping out of engineering majors due to lack of inclusiveness, motivation, and other related factors. According to Kuh (2008), student participation in High-Impact Educational Practices (HIEP) is correlated with student outcomes such as persistence, performance, achievement, and intent to complete their current major. The present study reviews the existing National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, 2012, 2017) data from two western land-grant universities to fully capture participation through the survey of first-year students and seniors (N = 674). The HIEP considered include service-learning, learning communities, research with faculty, internship or field experience, study abroad, and culminating senior experience. These practices are designed to encourage meaningful interactions between faculty and students, foster collaboration with students within different demographics groups, and facilitate learning outside the classroom. Insights were gleaned from how the students interacted with HIEP based on special characteristics such as sex, race, age, enrollment status, and residence. The purpose of the present study is to examine the extent to which E/CS students participate in HIEP and its effects on student outcomes. This study also offers comparisons or possible relationships between student demographics, student success, and HIEP involvement. For example, the participation rates of HIEP on different engineering and computer science majors, including civil, chemical, electrical, mechanical, and materials engineering, etc., are analyzed to examine the practices that work for a particular E/CS major. The present study reports findings from NSSE 2012 and 2017 surveys. Results show that among the E/CS seniors, service-learning, learning community, and study abroad program are the HIEP with the lowest participation rate with 41% (service-learning), 59% (learning community), and 68% (study abroad program), indicating that they do not plan to engage in these practices in their senior year. Conversely, internships and culminating senior experiences had the most participation among E/CS seniors with 52% (internships) and 68% (culminating senior experiences. Interestingly, first-year students showed a significant interest to participate in the following HIEP: internships, study abroad programs, and culminating senior experiences – with 76% (internships), 47% (study abroad program), and 68% (culminating senior experiences) indicating plans to engage in these practices. Finally, findings show that participation or engagement in HIEP is a significant predictor of student learning outcomes. Findings of this review may serve as a guide for future research in E/CS student participation in HIEP. The paper concludes with theoretical and practical implications of the findings on student engagement and learning. Key words: NSSE, high impact educational practices, Engagement 

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4. Strengthening CS Research Capacity of Undergraduate Hispanic Students Through the Local REU Model

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893575  

   Gates, Ann Q; Kim, Sanga; Thiry, Heather; Hug, Sarah; Villa, Elsa Q (October 2024, IEEE)

   This Innovative Practice paper describes the Local Research Experiences for Undergraduates (LREU) program that was established by the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) at Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) in 2021 to increase the number of students, particularly students from underrepresented populations, who enter graduate programs in computer science. Since its first offering in Spring 2022, the LREU program has involved 182 faculty and 253 students. The LREU program funds undergraduate research experiences at the students’ home institutions with an emphasis on first-generation students and those with financial needs. The motivation for the program is to address the low number of domestic students, particularly Hispanics and other minoritized populations, who seek and complete graduate degrees. Research shows that participation in research activities predicts college outcomes such as GPA, retention, and persistence. Even though these studies inform us of the importance of REU programs, many programmatic efforts are summer experiences and, while students may receive support, faculty mentors rarely receive coaching or professional development efforts. What distinguishes the LREU program is the focus on the deliberative development of students’ professional and research skills; faculty coaching on the Affinity Research Group model; and the learning community established to share experiences and practices and to learn from each other. Students, who are matched with faculty mentors based on their areas of interest, work with their mentor to co-create a research plan. Students keep a research journal in which they record what they have learned and identify areas for their growth and development as researchers. The LREU provides an opportunity for the LREU participants to cultivate a growth mindset through deliberate practice and reflection from personal, professional, social, and academic perspectives. The paper discusses the multi-institutional perspectives that help CAHSI understand the types of challenges faced in undergraduate research programs, how faculty mentors communicate and make decisions, and how mentors resolve challenges, allowing the research community to better understand students’ and faculty experiences. In addition, the paper reports on research and evaluation results that documented mentors’ growth in their knowledge of effective research mentoring practices and students’ learning gains in research and other skills. The paper also describes the impact of the learning community, e.g., how it supports developing strategies for interaction with and mentoring students from underrepresented populations. 

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5. First-year Engineering Students’ Motivation to Participate in Virtual International Collaborative Experiential Program (VICEP)

   Kwuimy, Cedrick; Yoon, So Yoon (December 2023, Journal of International Engineering Education)

   Changes in course delivery mechanisms necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity to develop a Virtual International Collaborative Experiential Program (VICEP) as an alternative to traditional, travel-based study abroad programs. This paper presents the results of an investigation of engineering students’ motivation, perceived challenges, and preferred geographic areas for the VICEP. A sample of 116 first-year engineering students at the University of Cincinnati responded to survey items regarding their perceptions of motivation to participate in the VICEP, including in terms of expectancy, value, and cost, along with open-ended questions. Both male and female students scored the highest on value and the lowest on cost but with different weights. However, gender differences in the expectancy, value, and cost were not statistically significant. Intercultural collaboration and learning opportunities were significantly more important for female students than for males, and the engaged learning environment of the program and career skills development were more important for male students than for females. Time commitment and the structure of the program as well as the stress endured during the study abroad were strongly negative factors, more so for male students. Interestingly, the virtual nature of the project and the existence (or not) of incentives were not encouraging to most students. Structuring the world into seven geographic regions, the most preferred regions for virtual collaboration have the common feature of being technologically developed, except China which was among the lowest-ranking countries/regions. Preferences for geographical regions between male and female students was significant only for some regions. The present research provides valuable information for faculty leading virtual intercultural collaborative experiences. 

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