Traditional admissions processes at top institutions predominately utilize standardized test scores when comparing student applications. The equity of these high-stakes tests most severely affects students of low socioeconomic status (SES). The NSF-sponsored program, Rising Scholars: Web of Support used as an Indicator of Success in Engineering, was created to investigate whether alternative admission criteria could be used to identify low-SES applicants who would excel within STEM fields in higher education, even if they did not have the superior standardized testing metrics preferred by current admissions process. The quality of the student’s support networks and their readiness for higher education as determined by an in-person interview with the selection committee were used as input data for a Web of Support characterization model to predict a student’s likely collegiate success at the matriculation point. There were three cohorts with a total of 21 students chosen for the program during their entry to the university which included applicants of low-SES and under-represented minority status. A significant programmatic element for these students was their involvement in experiential activities through pre-existing programs in the institution. It was reasonably assumed that the Rising Scholars student population could be positively influenced toward long-term educational commitment through experiential activities providing realistic views of professional activity. The prescribed collegiate path for these students contained an experiential educational element for each summer between admission and graduation. A summer research project with a faculty-directed laboratory before the sophomore year and a self-directed research project prior to the junior year were used to build project management experience, along with a paid, external internship in a professional organization likely to hire within the student’s major. Based upon the limited data collected so far, the researchers seem to have been conclusively demonstrated that a structured, ‘high-touch’ program with a heavy experiential component can successfully move low-SES students with STEM inclinations through a highly ranked institution. Counselling to reduce the anxiety surrounding the collegiate process for first generation students and some form of scholarship support to reduce the financial burden are both crucial underlying elements to this program’s success, but the importance of hands-on, experiential activities that help the student visualize their professional career cannot be under-estimated.
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Using Broad Spectrum Technological Projects to Introduce Diverse Student Populations to Biological & Agricultural Engineering (BAE): A Work in Progress
This paper is a work-in-progress, focused on the utilization of the Rising Scholars Program to introduce minority students to experiential engineering projects within Agricultural and
Biological Engineering. Traditional admissions processes at top institutions predominately utilize standardized test scores when comparing student applications. The equity of these high-stakes tests most severely affects students of low socioeconomic status (SES). The NSF-sponsored program, Rising Scholars: Web of Support used as an Indicator of Success in Engineering, was created to investigate whether alternative admission criteria could be used to identify low-SES applicants who would excel within STEM fields in higher education, even if they did not have the superior standardized testing metrics preferred by current admissions processes. The students underwent a pre-selection process to determine their eligibility. The overall experience was designed to enhance student connectivity within the collegiate environment. The Gallup-Purdue Index (2014) found that feeling supported and having learning experiences that illustrated learned principles produced a graduate who would be engaged in their work. The Rising Scholar (RS) program utilized a prescribed path through college designed to enhance these features.
These positive experiences are exemplified by the Purdue Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) department and how they approach the overall educational process. Faculty are motivated in their teaching, research, and extension efforts by a focus on meeting the world’s grand challenges, in which most college students are also highly interested. The Rising Scholars Program utilized the Vertically Integrated Projects model to introduce their students to real-life projects at the freshman and sophomore level, which could potentially be continued on into graduate school. Several of the RS students have worked with the Purdue ABE Hog Cooling Pad Project and these students have conducted research, prototyping, and design modifications on the pad. They have participated in five experimental bench tests of the design and four consecutive live animal studies related to the pad performance. Within these experiments, Rising Scholars students were able to work on real-life projects, with real-world impact. The preliminary hypothesis question is: Are future graduates of the Rising Scholars Program more likely to thrive in all areas of well-being due to their collegiate experiences?
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- Award ID(s):
- 1644143
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10354664
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2021 ASEE Annual Conference
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- https://stategy.asee.org/37986
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The National Science Foundation has funded this S-STEM program to collect support network information about low socioeconomic status (SES) students and to provide scholarships to assist those students in their quest to obtain a degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics discipline. The Rising Scholar program studied the methods of improving recruitment, retention, and graduation for these students. This paper will discuss a Web of Support characterization model which has shown success at a public, R1, Midwestern university. A prior paper on how these students were selected was presented in 2020. This paper will discuss the methodology of measuring and the intentional building of support networks that was used in the program to record the changing dynamics of these students’ support networks as they advanced at the university. The Web of Support methodology used in the Rising Scholar Program was developed to support the Indigenous People of Alaska, who had the highest rate of teenage pregnancy and suicide in the country at the time. It was found that youth who had five adult anchors could withstand peer pressure and succeed in bettering their lives. This successful program demonstrating the bettering of lives was the basis for developing this collegiate curriculum to assist low-SES students in earning the STEM degree that they desired. These students typically had no collegiate-based experiences within their preliminary support networks and were discouraged when they were not accepted directly into their major of choice. The Rising Scholar proscribed pathway through the university was designed to give these students opportunities to meet and get to know professional and staff members of the university community that could join their professional support networks. During their journey through the program, data were collected to quantify the strength of the students’ network. This paper will discuss the emergence and quantification of the students’ professional web of support as they worked in university laboratories, got to know various professors and graduate students, and learned to intentionally keep these individuals as support mentors. Both number and strength of their support networks were collected annually and sometimes twice a year. Each supporter had several potential ways to support their student. These students were encouraged to add professional mentors, while keeping their original pre-college network. Examples of these support anchors mentors assisting students will be provided.more » « less
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