Low-income students are underrepresented in engineering and are more likely to struggle in engineering programs. Such students may be academically talented and perform well in high school, but may have relatively weak academic preparation for college compared to students who attended better-resourced schools. Four-year engineering and computer science curricula are designed for students who are calculus-ready, but many students who are eager to become engineers or computer scientists need additional time and support to succeed. The NSF-funded Redshirt in Engineering Consortium was formed in 2016 as a collaborative effort to build on the success of three existing “academic redshirt” programs and expand the model to three new schools. The Consortium takes its name from the practice of redshirting in college athletics, with the idea of providing an extra year and support to promising engineering students from low-income backgrounds. The goal of the program is to enhance the students’ ability to successfully graduate with engineering or computer science degrees. This Work in Progress paper describes the redshirt programs at each of the six Consortium institutions, providing a variety of models for how an extra preparatory year or other intensive academic preparatory programs can be accommodated. This paper will pay particular attention to the ways that institutional context shapes the implementation of the redshirt model. For instance, what do the redshirt admissions and selection processes look like at schools with direct-to-college admissions versus schools with post-general education admissions? What substantive elements of the first-year curriculum are consistent across the consortium? Where variation in curriculum occurs, what are the institutional factors that produce this variation? How does the redshirt program fit with other pre-existing academic support services on campus, and what impact does this have on the redshirt program’s areas of focus? Program elements covered include first-year curricula, pre-matriculation summer programs, academic advising and support services, admissions and selection processes, and financial aid. Ongoing assessment efforts and research designed to investigate how the various redshirt models influence faculty and student experiences will be described.
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Work-In-Progress: Recruitment of Pre-Engineering Students via an Advanced Manufacturing Pathway Paper presented at 2019 FYEE Conference , Penn State University , Pennsylvania. https://peer.asee.org/33745
Abstract
This paper is a “Work-in-Progress”. This paper describes the synergetic intersection of two programs designed to bring a particular group of minority students into aspects of a STEM career field. One program, sponsored by a national laboratory is designed to inform and train a these students about advanced manufacturing methods, in this case 3-D printing. The other program is also aimed at that same group of minority students but the purpose of the second program is to aid the students in becoming baccalaureate engineers. The programs exist simultaneously at a small group of tribal colleges or universities, TCU’s in the north-central US. The key question to be answered here is how can cooperation between the two programs resulted in a net positive impact to the surrounding community. A brief historical summary of similar programs trying to attract student talent into similar but different career fields will be given, i.e. in-home health services versus nursing or. MD programs, computer technician versus computer program. Some of the prior problems could be attributed to limited available human talent and a lack of program cooperation. A short description of each program will be given highlighting similarities and differences and the resources needed by each. The advantages of working the programs in tandem in particular areas will be discussed and examples given. Potential future opportunities and directions provided to each student by conducting the programs in cooperation will be illustrated. It is believed that combining such programs, experiences that allow students to have some immersive time within different career paths, will provide them with the opportunity to evaluate their own reaction and suitability to each career path, allowing them to envision themselves in those areas. This should provide for a more informed career choice and other benefits. Identifying how this cooperation might impact first year engineering students, leading to better persistence in the curriculum, is a major goal of this work.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1642047
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10312296
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2019 First Year Engineering Education Congference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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