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The Student Pathways in Engineering and Computing for Transfers (SPECTRA) program is a newly funded S-STEM program in South Carolina, expected to run through 2026. The program is envisioned to provide a streamlined academic pathway for transfer students from 2-year programs within South Carolina into Clemson University, and provide programming to aid their academic success and social integration. To achieve this, SPECTRA will create cohorts of students at two community/technical colleges (Spartanburg Community College and Trident Technical College) and then support that cohort as they transitioned together into Clemson University. This cohort would then be mentored in how to navigate Clemson University’s academic environment, utilizing available programming such as academic tutoring, field trips to see local engineering companies, etc. A unique component of the SPECTRA program is the requirement that scholarship recipients at Clemson University enroll in two semesters of research, in addition to their participation in social and academic programing. Through this Work in Progress paper, the experience in designing and facilitating these research courses while matriculating through their graduate programs is documented by the authors. Specifically, the design constraints of the research courses, the topics developed for the 2021-2022 cohorts and the envisioned assessment are discussed.
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Using Design-based Research Methods to Scale in an Expanding Intervention
In this work-in-progress paper, we present design-based methodological work intended to support implementation of a large-scale, ongoing NSF Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) project. We have created pilot tools and procedures for data collection and analysis that will supply consistent research throughlines during the project lifespan while also providing iterations of formative feedback about participants’ needs and their experiences in the project. While these tools and procedures have allowed us to analyze pilot data, in each year of the project, participant numbers will continue to grow, placing additional demands on our research team and our chosen methods. Will the designs we have created help us to scale effectively while remaining fidelitous to our project goals? The purpose of the S-STEM project is to connect student pathways at state technical colleges to Engineering and Computer Sciences programs at a Research I university in the southeastern United States. Toward this goal, we are implementing communities of practice and cognitive apprenticeship strategies to support student cohorts and create programming aspects to enhance transfer students’ enculturation to the university, completion of STEM-related degrees, and placement in the industrial workforce. Cohorts begin at the technical colleges, guided by a doctoral student mentor who engages program participants in applied research and shepherds them throughout their transition to the university. Now in the second year of the project, the pilot cohort is studying at the university while new cohorts are engaged at the collaborating technical colleges. Each year, the number of students participating in the five-year implementation will accumulate to a proposed total of over 300 students. Our research team will need to scale our efforts toward project fidelity. Our intent with this work-in-progress paper is to share our current status and invite interested colleagues to provide feedback about our pilot analysis work and our plans for future data. We will introduce the design-based methods that inform both research and development in our project. In particular, we will focus on the applicability of these methods for implementation work and how they can be effectively scaled to large interventions. We will describe observation, interview and focus group, and survey methods, along with how these methods complement academic sources and other student-related data.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1834081
- PAR ID:
- 10403913
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASEE Annual Conference proceedings
- ISSN:
- 1524-4644
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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