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Community colleges (CCs) play a critical role in advancing the education of all learners. Approximately 40% of first-time college freshman begin in Community Colleges. The proposed framework seeks to support and excite CC students to persist in their STEM education to increase the pipeline for the STEM workforce. Its vision is to provide CC students engineering skills and to excite them about engineering research. The framework enables students to spend 10 summer weeks at Northeastern University to increase skills, confidence, and learn firsthand about research. Each student will join a research lab, working with faculty and graduate student mentors. Also, students will be mentored after summer to further support their successful graduation and/or transfer to a 4-year institution and beyond. The site is guided by two of the grand challenges of the National Academy of Engineering: personalized learning and scientific discovery. Unique aspects of the proposed framework include: a hands-on short course in engineering topics and software tools; formal mentor training including modules for mentoring CC students; daily student meetings with mentors; extensive professional development seminars; formal research training including daily reflection journals, poster presentations and technical writing with a faculty member; and recruitment from a unique pool of highly talented URM students.
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International engineering students’ resistance to isolating university experiences: An opportunity for greater inclusion in engineering education
In recent years, large numbers of international students are attending engineering schools in the US; however, more could be done by the schools to support the unique challenges these students face. This study analyzes five semi-structured interviews with international electrical and computer engineering students at Purdue University to identify the unique challenges they face due to their international status, how they persist despite the challenges, and what engineering schools can do to better support them and all students given these findings. Using a framework of student resistance, the theoretical thematic analysis found that international engineering students can struggle with language barriers and social isolation, and that these challenges are often made invisible in the environment of the school. These students most commonly persist by adapting or conforming to the domestic environment, either individually or collectively; they exhibit very few instances of resistance by our chosen definition. To better support international students, we recommend that engineering schools implement more active learning, collaborative learning, and multicultural and group communication education. These initiatives would also improve the experiences and education of all students, including underrepresented students. This article contributes to discussions about the definition and usage of student resistance as a framework for education research.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1636446
- PAR ID:
- 10317499
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2022 CoNECD
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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