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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 with 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.
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Problem-Based Learning Increases STEM Interest for High School Students and Instructors
The goal of Project STEMulate, a National Science Foundation ITEST study (DRL 1657625), was to develop, implement, and evaluate a program that fosters success in STEM for underserved and underrepresented high school students. The project was implemented at three sites of the Department of Education Upward Bound Program in Hawaiˋi. Project STEMulate delivered teacher training on Problem-Based Learning curriculum to ensure students were motivated and empowered, and to support STEM- related postsecondary educational success of Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students. A critical design goal of the program was to introduce teaching and learning strategies and processes that were more relevant to underrepresented youth populations than those offered in typical high schools to provide opportunities and to increase participation in the STEM study and career trajectory, something all too often out of mind and scope of these students. This study reports on three years of mixed methods summer academy data on both student and teacher learning outcomes. Teacher dispositions, evidenced through data from interviews, observations, and multi-point surveys improved in a majority of the dimensions, including teaching inquiry-based approaches, integrating technology, and STEM career knowledge and awareness. Student motivation, Science self-efficacy, and STEM career interest, evidenced from similar data sources, increased as well. Finally, we discuss the larger implications of extending this work to impact similar populations elsewhere of isolated, under- resourced and under-exposed youth with these proven strategies.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1657625
- PAR ID:
- 10310264
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2021
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2021.23
