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1. Strengthening Student Motivation and Resilience through Research and Advising

   Jiang, Z. ; Zhang, X. ; Khalkhal, F. ; Wong, J. ; Quintero, D ; Wang, Y. ; Pong, W. ; Petrulis, R. ( July 2023 , 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   At San Francisco State University, a Hispanic Serving Institute and a Primarily Undergraduate Institution, 67% of engineering students are from ethnic minority groups, with only 27% of Hispanic students retained and graduated in their senior year. Additionally, only 14% of students reported full-time employment secured at the time of graduation. Of these secured jobs, only 54% were full-time positions (40+ hours a week). To improve the situation, San Francisco State University, in collaboration with two local community colleges, Skyline and Cañada Colleges, was recently funded by the National Science Foundation through a Hispanic Serving Institute Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Strengthening Student Motivation and Resilience through Research and Advising program to enhance undergraduate engineering education and build capacity for student success. This project will use a data-driven and evidence-based approach to identify the barriers to the success of underrepresented minority students and to generate new knowledge on the best practices for increasing students’ retention and graduation rates, self- efficacy, professional development, and workforce preparedness. Three objectives underpin this overall goal. The first is to develop and implement a Summer Research Internship Program together with community college partners. The second is to establish an HSI Engineering Success Center to provide students withmore »academic resources, networking opportunities with industry, and career development tools. The third is to develop resources for the professional development of faculty members, including Summer Faculty Teaching Workshops, an Inclusive Teaching and Mentoring Seminar Series, and an Engineering Faculty Learning Community. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to assess the project outcomes using a survey instrument and interview protocols developed by an external evaluator. This paper discusses an overview of the project and its first-year implementation. The focus is placed on the introduction and implementation of the several main project components, namely the Engineering Success Center, Summer Research Internship Program, and Faculty Summer Teaching Workshop. The preliminary evaluation results, demonstrating the great success of these strategies, are also discussed.« less
2. Strategies for Developing, Expanding, and Strengthening Community College Engineering Transfer Programs

   Enriquez, A. ; Langhoff, N. ; Dunmire, E. ; Rebold, T ; Pong, W. ( June 2018 , American Society for Engineering Education)

   Broadening participation in engineering among underrepresented minority students remains a big challenge for institutions of higher education. Since a large majority of underrepresented students attend community colleges, engineering transfer programs at these community colleges can play an important role in addressing this challenge. However, for most community college engineering programs, developing strategies and programs to increase the number and diversity of students successfully pursuing careers in engineering is especially challenging due to limited expertise, shrinking resources, and continuing budget crises. This paper is a description of how a small engineering transfer program at a Hispanic-Serving community college in California developed effective partnerships with high schools, other institutions of higher education, and industry partners in order to create opportunities for underrepresented community college students to excel in engineering. Developed through these partnerships are programs for high school students, current community college students, and community college engineering faculty. Programs for high school students include a) the Summer Engineering Institute – a two-week residential summer camp for sophomore and junior high school students, and b) the STEM Institute – a three-week program for high school freshmen to explore STEM fields. Academic and support programs for college students include: a) Math Jam – amore »one-week intensive math placement test review and preparation program; b) a scholarship and mentoring program academically talented and financially needy STEM students; c) a two-week introduction to research program held during the winter break to prepare students for research internships; d) a ten-week summer research internship program; e) Physics Jam – an intensive program to prepare students for success in Physics; f) Embedded Peer Instruction Cohort – a modified Supplemental Instruction program for STEM courses; g) STEM Speaker Series – a weekly presentation by professionals talking about their career and educational paths. Programs for community college STEM faculty and transfer programs include: a) Summer Engineering Teaching Institute – a two-day teaching workshop for community college STEM faculty; b) Joint Engineering Program – a consortium of 28 community college engineering programs all over California to align curriculum, improve teaching effectiveness, improve the engineering transfer process, and strengthen community college engineering transfer programs; c) Creating Alternative Learning Strategies for Transfer Engineering Programs – a collaborative program that aims to increase access to engineering courses for community college students through online instruction and alternative classroom models; and d) California Lower-Division Engineering Articulation Workshop – to align the engineering curriculum. In addition to describing the development and implementation of these programs, the paper will also provide details on how they have contributed to increasing the interest, facilitating the entry, improving the retention and enhancing the success of underrepresented minority students in engineering, as well as contributing to the strengthening of the community college engineering education pipeline.« less
3. Work-focused Experiential Learning to Increase STEM Student Retention and Graduation at Two-year Hispanic-serving Institutions

   Pickering, C. K. ; VanIngen-Dunn, C. ; Reyes, M. A. ( July 2021 , ASEE Annual Conference)

   With support from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education, this five-year project led by a two-year HSI seeks to provide underrepresented students with mentored work experiences in computer information systems. Students will have access to on-campus work experiences and internships in businesses and industries. It is anticipated that some examples of potential student projects include mobile application development, cybersecurity, and computer support. It is expected that these experiences will increase undergraduate student interest, persistence, and success in computer information systems, as well as in STEM more broadly. To ensure that they are well-prepared for and gain the most from their work experiences, students will receive training on employability skills such as communication, teamwork, and project management. In addition, during their work experiences, students will be mentored by faculty, industry professionals, and peers. To strengthen the capacity of faculty to serve all students, including Hispanic students, the project will provide faculty with professional development focused on equity mindset. This framework to provide mentored work experiences will be developed and piloted at Phoenix College, in the computer information technology department and eventually expanded to other STEM fields at the institution. Following this, the project also intends to expand this frameworkmore »four other two-year HSIs in the region. Through this work, the project aims to develop a replicable model for how two-year institutions can develop work experiences that foster increased student graduation and entry into STEM career pathways. This project, which is currently in its first year, seeks to examine how a curriculum that integrates cross-sector partnerships to provide work experiences can enhance STEM learning and retention. Using mixed methods and grounded theory, the project will expand knowledge about: (1) the impact of cross-sector partnerships that support work-focused experiential teaching and learning; (2) systematic ways to maintain and better use cross-sector partnerships; and (3) the degree to which a model of work-focused learning experiences can be adopted at other two-year HSIs and by other STEM fields. Baseline data about Hispanic serving identity at the pilot institution has been collected and assessed at the institutional, departmental, and for different educator roles including faculty, support staff, and administrative leaders to produce inputs towards developing a detailed plan of action. Early results from baseline data, visualizations, and planning responses will be reported in the submission. Expected long term results of the project include: development of sustainable mechanisms to foster cross-sector partnerships; increased student retention and workforce readiness; and measurable successes for STEM students, particularly Hispanic students, at two-year HSIs.« less
4. Enhancing the Success of Minority STEM Students by Providing Financial, Academic, Social, and Cultural Capital

   Enriquez, A. G. ; Lipe, C. B. ; Price, B. ( June 2017 , ASEE annual conference & exposition)

   Research has shown that student achievement is influenced by their access to, or possession of, various forms of capital. These forms of capital include financial capital, academic capital (prior academic preparation and access to academic support services), cultural capital (the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors related to education which students are exposed to by members of their family or community), and social capital (the resources students have access to as a result of being members of groups or networks). For community college students, many with high financial need and the first in their families to go to college (especially those from underrepresented minority groups), developing programs to increase access to these various forms of capital is critical to their success. This paper describes how a small federally designated Hispanic-serving community college has developed a scholarship program for financially needy community college students intending to transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field. Developed through a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant, the program involves a collaboration among STEM faculty, college staff, administrators, student organizations, and partners in industry, four-year institutions, local high schools, and professional organizations. In addition tomore »providing financial support through the scholarships, student access to academic capital is increased through an intensive math review program, tutoring, study groups, supplemental instruction, and research internship opportunities. Access to cultural and social capital is increased by providing scholars with faculty mentors; engaging students with STEM faculty, university researchers, and industry professionals through field trips, summer internships, professional organizations, and student clubs; supporting student and faculty participation at professional conferences, and providing opportunities for students and their families to interact with faculty and staff. The paper details the development of the program, and its impact over the last five years on enhancing the success of STEM students as determined from data on student participation in various program activities, student attitudinal and self-efficacy surveys, and academic performance including persistence, retention, transfer and graduation.« less
5. Building Bridges into Engineering and Computer Science: Outcomes, Impacts and Lessons Learned

   Espiritu, Doris ; Todorovic, Ruzica ; O'Connell, Bridget ( January 2022 , 2022 ASEE National Conference and Exposition)

   Wright College, an urban open-access community college, independently accredited within a larger community college system, is a federally recognized Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) with the largest community college enrollment of Hispanic students in its state. In 2018, Wright College received an inaugural National Science Foundation-Hispanic Serving Institution (NSF:HSI) research project grant “Building Capacity: Building Bridges into Engineering and Computer Science”. The project's overall goals are to increase underrepresented students pursuing an associate degree (AES) in engineering and computer science and streamline two transitions: high school to community college and 2-year to 4-year institutions. Through the grant, Wright College created a holistic and programmatic framework that examines and correlates engineering students' self-efficacy (the belief that students will succeed as engineers) and a sense of belonging with student success. The project focuses on Near-STEM ready students (students who need up to four semesters of math remediation before moving into Calculus 1). The project assesses qualitative and quantitative outcomes through surveys and case study interviews supplemented with retention, persistence, transfer, associate and bachelor's degree completion rates, and time for degree completion. The key research approach is to correlate student success data with self-efficacy and belonging measures. Outcomes and Impacts Three years into the project,more »Wright College Engineering and Computer Science Program was able to: • Develop and implement the Contextualized Summer Bridge with a total of 132 Near-STEM participants. One hundred twenty-seven (127) completed; 100% who completed the Bridge eliminated up to two years of math remediation, and 54% were directly placed in Calculus 1. All successful participants were placed in different engineering pathways, and 11 students completed Associate in Engineering Science (AES) and transferred after two years from the Bridge. • Increase enrollment by 940% (25 to 235 students) • Retain 93% of first-year students (Fall to fall retention). Seventy-five percent (75%) transferred after two years from initial enrollment. • Develop a holistic and programmatic approach for transfer model, thus increasing partnerships with 4-year transfer institutions resulting in the expansion of guaranteed/dual admissions programs with scholarships, paid research experience, dual advising, and students transferring as juniors. • Increase diversity at Wright College by bridging the academic gap for Near-STEM ready students. • Increase self-efficacy and belonging among all Program participants. • Increase institutionalized collaborations responsible for Wright College's new designation as the Center of Excellence for Engineering and Computer Science. • Increase enrollment, retention, and transfer of Hispanic students instrumental for Wright College Seal of Excelencia recognition. Lessons Learned The framework established during the first year of the grant overwhelmingly increased belonging and self-efficacy correlated with robust outcomes. However, the COVID-19 pandemic provided new challenges and opportunities in the second and third years of the grant. While adaptations were made to compensate for the negative impact of the pandemic, the face-to-face interactions were critical to support students’ entry into pathways and persistence within the Program.« less