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With college advisory boards and potential employers consistently voicing their desire for engineers and scientists who can communicate well, work effectively in teams, and independently problem-solve, the Colleges of Engineering & Computer Science (ECS) and Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) at Sacramento State University, a large, public, primarily undergraduate institution, have deployed two programs to explicitly address these skills for undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. The goals of the NSF-funded Achieving STEM Persistence through Peer-Assisted Learning and Leadership Development (ASPIRE) project are to increase retention and decrease time to graduation for STEM students, as well as increase retention of women and underrepresented minorities (URM) in the STEM workforce by implementing evidence-based practices to promote student success during two critical transitions: 1) from lower-division to upper-division coursework in engineering; and 2) from upper-division coursework to an entry-level STEM career. ASPIRE aims to achieve these goals by: 1) adapting and implementing the NSM Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program in gateway engineering courses; and 2) developing the Hornet Leadership Program which includes scaffolded opportunities for students to explore their leadership capacity and develop leadership skills. The main research questions for this study include: (1) Will the ECS PAL model and Hornet Leadership Program result in increased persistence and workforce readiness in STEM majors at a large, diverse university? (2) What attitude changes will this project have on students and faculty and the relationships between them? The first question is addressed through pre- and post-implementation student surveys and student course/GPA data. The second question is addressed through faculty surveys, faculty focus groups/interviews, and pre- and post-data from a faculty professional development workshop. In general, preliminary results from this study indicate the new ECS PAL program successfully attracts URM students and thus has the potential to support their persistence and STEM workforce readiness. Additionally, undergraduate students across both Colleges who participated in the inaugural Hornet Leadership Program gained non-technical skills and experiences directly linked to competitiveness and preparation for workforce entry and graduate programs. Finally, faculty surveys and the faculty professional development workshop indicate that faculty value student leadership development, but identify barriers to accomplishing this work.
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Educating Engineering Students Innovatively: A Model for Improving Retention and Academic Performance of Black Upper-Level Students
Educating Engineering Students Innovatively (EESI, pronounced "easy") is a student support program for sophomores to seniors enrolled in an engineering major offered at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. The program is designed to: (1) foster a sense of community, (2) improve students’ engineering skill sets, and (3) provide each student with their direct path of interest from college to the STEM workforce. Universities spend much effort to provide student support programs for first-year students, such as summer bridge programs. However, sometimes upper-level students are not offered the same level of support and can fall off the STEM pathway. Introducing experiential learning experiences centered on the safe space (or community) of students provides a model to address underrepresentation in the STEM workforce and graduate school. This case study of an experiential learning program will provide an option for universities to consider underrepresented minority upperclassmen retention methods. We will present data for students enrolled in an engineering major between 2018-2021, considering students' gender, first-generation, and financial status. This paper will report the results of four (4) different cohorts of EESI Scholars who completed at least one semester in the student support program. We compare the retention rates, persistence, and academic performance of EESI Scholars compared with students that did not participate in the student support program as one measure of the program's success. Then we provide the best practices of the experiential learning program that led to students' persistence at ***** University. This paper could assist other colleges that would like to ensure Black students, who have been historically underrepresented in STEM, persistence in their engineering programs.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1930354
- PAR ID:
- 10477142
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conference and Exposition
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASEE Annual Conference proceedings
- ISSN:
- 1524-4644
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Baltimore, MD
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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The persistence and attrition of underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) continues to remain a steadfast problem in education and the workforce. Research has shown that educators, administrators, and policy makers all play a vital role in shaping the future generation of STEM education, programs and the workforce, however, much of the research is deficient in providing URM student perceptions on how key factors such as student engagement, financial support, higher education preparation and institutional environment all impact their persistence in the STEM pipeline. This study employs qualitative research methods, semi-structured interviews and casual conversations to gain insight on common trends for the persistence of four (2 males, 2 females) URM students that were enrolled in a 2012 Summer Bridge Program at Mississippi State University (MSU), a predominately large white institution (PWI). Within this study, emphasis will be placed on the engineering branch of STEM. The research found that small diverse organizations such as NSBE and IMAGE along with financial support in the form of scholarships and alumni waivers, and pre-freshmen summer engineering programs such as Summer Bridge played a major role in URM student persistence in engineering disciplines.more » « less
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