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1. Work in Progress: Motivational Differences Between Civil and Environmental Engineering Doctoral Students in the Pre-writing and Writing Phases

   Rodriguez_Mejia, Eduardo; Bodnar, Cheryl A (June 2024, ASEE Conferences)

   This work in progress paper describes the preliminary findings from the implementation of a graduate engineering student motivation survey with Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) doctoral students. In the doctoral process, two phases can be identified: pre-writing and writing. The first phase is generally where most of the coursework is taken, while the second phase is when the dissertation takes most of the time. These phases have been found to be of importance when seeking to address graduate students’ motivation because they present a transition between a more structured and guided process into an unstructured, self-directed, and isolated phase that is prescribed as challenging for students. The graduate student motivation survey, derived from the Expectancy-Value Theory constructs (i.e., interest, attainment, utility, cost, and self-efficacy), was developed by the authors in a prior study. The constructs of interest/intrinsic (how fun and interesting is a task), attainment (personal/identity importance of a task), utility (usefulness for present or future goals), and cost (resources to be invested in a task) are values that individuals consider when selecting and taking actions; Whereas, the self-efficacy construct explores an individual’s beliefs about how well their performance will be on an upcoming task. This motivation survey was distributed among 20 CEE doctoral students during the second week of the Fall 2023 semester. Out of the 20 participants, 3 were in the research phase of their dissertation (writing phase), 16 were still in the process of completing their coursework requirements (pre-writing phase), and 1 did not provide a response about their program phase. Measurement of Expectancy-Value Theory constructs on a scale from 1 to 7 was performed. Analysis of the mean values for each construct between students in the pre-writing phase and those in the writing phase of their doctoral program showed statistical significance with large effect size values for the constructs of attainment and utility. Values for students in the pre-writing phase were higher on the attainment and utility construct, with students in pre-writing phase having attainment and utility mean values of M = 6.29 and M = 5.69, respectively, and those in the writing phase having M = 5.50 and M = 4.17 respectively. These preliminary results can help to better understand students' motivations during their doctoral journey, especially as they make the transition from the pre-writing to the writing phase and may lead to identification of areas where additional support can be provided. 

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2. Five Steps to Improve Student Motivation in Your College Courses

   Getty, S. (July 2021, Journal on excellence in college teaching)

   To improve student motivation, we propose a five-step process that entails learning about a motivation framework, identifying students’ motivational challenges based on that framework, adopting interventions to address those challenges, and assessing the effectiveness of your interventions. In particular, we recommend adopting the Expectancy-Value-Cost framework of motivation, which suggests motivation is optimized when students expect that they can successfully complete a task, value that task, and have limited barriers (i.e., costs) preventing them from engaging in the task. We also present data from two college psychology courses to offer an example of how to engage in the five-step process. Keywords: Motivation, Expectancy-Value-Cost framework of Motivation, Expectancy-Value Theory, Motivational planning 

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3. Exploring the Impact of Program Name Change on Gender Diversity in STEM

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46850  

   Zafar, Faiza; Nichol, Carolyn (June 2024, ASEE Conference)

   Gender disparities in STEM remain a pressing concern, especially in engineering, where women receive only 20% of undergraduate degrees. This concise research paper delves into the potential influence of altering the name of an undergraduate research program on attracting female applicants. Specifically, we examine how changing the program's name from "Nanotechnology Research with a Focus on Community College Students" to "Climate and Sustainability Research in Nanotechnology and Electrochemical Devices for Community College Students" affects the gender balance among applicants, with the other program components remaining the same. Our research reveals a notable shift in the applicant pool following the program's name change. Initially, we had fewer female applicants in the “Nanotechnology Research with a Focus on Community College Students” program than male students. However, following the transition to "Climate and Sustainability," the number of female applicants increased, equaling almost all male applicants. To assess the statistical significance of the observed difference, we conducted the two-sample proportion test, which resulted in a p-value of 0.233, yielding insufficient evidence of a significant difference in the proportions of female applicants between the two programs. However, an intriguing finding emerged when we focused exclusively on the "Nanotechnology" program applicants. We expect both male and female applicants to be 50% each. However, the proportion of female applicants in this group did not align with the expected 50/50 gender distribution and yielded a p-value of 0.042, suggesting that female applicants in the "Nanotechnology" applicant pool were significantly lower than 50%. While the overall comparison between the two program names did not yield statistical significance, a deeper analysis within the "Nanotechnology" program uncovered a significant difference. These findings underscore the importance of program nomenclature as a factor in promoting gender diversity in STEM education and creating a more inclusive environment for underrepresented groups in the field. 

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4. Insights Gathered from the National Survey of Student Education (NSSE) About Engineering/Computer Science Participation in High-impact Educational Practices at Two Western Land-grant Institutions

   Ewumi, E.R.; Adesope, O.; Claiborn, C.S.; Minichiello, A. (July 2021, 2021 ASEE Annual Conference)

   Student engagement, especially among Engineering and Computer science majors (E/CS), has been a priority for researchers. Although considerable efforts have been made to improve college students' engagement and interest, underrepresented minority groups and first-generation students are still at risk of dropping out of engineering majors due to lack of inclusiveness, motivation, and other related factors. According to Kuh (2008), student participation in High-Impact Educational Practices (HIEP) is correlated with student outcomes such as persistence, performance, achievement, and intent to complete their current major. The present study reviews the existing National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, 2012, 2017) data from two western land-grant universities to fully capture participation through the survey of first-year students and seniors (N = 674). The HIEP considered include service-learning, learning communities, research with faculty, internship or field experience, study abroad, and culminating senior experience. These practices are designed to encourage meaningful interactions between faculty and students, foster collaboration with students within different demographics groups, and facilitate learning outside the classroom. Insights were gleaned from how the students interacted with HIEP based on special characteristics such as sex, race, age, enrollment status, and residence. The purpose of the present study is to examine the extent to which E/CS students participate in HIEP and its effects on student outcomes. This study also offers comparisons or possible relationships between student demographics, student success, and HIEP involvement. For example, the participation rates of HIEP on different engineering and computer science majors, including civil, chemical, electrical, mechanical, and materials engineering, etc., are analyzed to examine the practices that work for a particular E/CS major. The present study reports findings from NSSE 2012 and 2017 surveys. Results show that among the E/CS seniors, service-learning, learning community, and study abroad program are the HIEP with the lowest participation rate with 41% (service-learning), 59% (learning community), and 68% (study abroad program), indicating that they do not plan to engage in these practices in their senior year. Conversely, internships and culminating senior experiences had the most participation among E/CS seniors with 52% (internships) and 68% (culminating senior experiences. Interestingly, first-year students showed a significant interest to participate in the following HIEP: internships, study abroad programs, and culminating senior experiences – with 76% (internships), 47% (study abroad program), and 68% (culminating senior experiences) indicating plans to engage in these practices. Finally, findings show that participation or engagement in HIEP is a significant predictor of student learning outcomes. Findings of this review may serve as a guide for future research in E/CS student participation in HIEP. The paper concludes with theoretical and practical implications of the findings on student engagement and learning. Key words: NSSE, high impact educational practices, Engagement 

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5. Rocky Mountain Scholars Program: Impact on Female Undergraduate Engineering Students – Social and Academic Support, Retention, and Success

   https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v10i4.12139  

   Brown, Mark; Hitt, Matthew P.; Stephens, Alyssa; Dickmann, Ellyn M (July 2020, International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP))

   null (Ed.)

   The Rocky Mountain Scholars Program (RMSP) was developed, in part, to improve student success and persistence in Engineering disciplines at Colorado State Universi-ty through a portfolio of engagement activities focused around undergraduate research experiences. Female RMSP participants exhibited substantially higher retention rates and grade point averages relative to other female engineering students at CSU. To better understand the impact of the RMSP, and its effectiveness among female engi-neering students, researchers focused on whether, and how, experiences and percep-tions differ between male and female students in engineering programs. That is, how do male and female students differ, if at all, in their subjective perception of life as an engineering major at CSU? A survey was developed measuring resilience, self-efficacy, motivation, social support, academic support, and perceived sexism. Data was obtained from 144 first-year engineering students at CSU. Results indicated that social support from extracurricular activities is particularly important among female students. This points to an increasing need for programs like the RMSP to create social networks among students and faculty, link students to the broader impacts of their work, and ultimately improve the undergraduate experience of under-represented groups in STEM programs. 

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