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This study examines the experiences of STEM aspiring community college transfer students engaged in a STEM Bridge program, designed to address critical barriers in transfer pathways, including financial challenges, poor communication of transfer policies, and institutional challenges that result from ineffective partnerships between community colleges and four year institutions. Aimed at creating a transfer-receptive culture, the STEM Bridge program also provides pre- and post-transfer support to participants in order to mitigate transfer shock and promote success in STEM degrees. We use focus groups conducted with STEM Bridge participants on a longitudinal basis from pre-transfer through to graduation to investigate (1) how STEM transfer students narrate their transition into and experience in a four-year institution and (2) how their experiences conform to or resist perceived institutional messaging students report about what is required to succeed in STEM. This study employs an adapted ethnographic approach to analyze narratives. Notable findings include the impact of perceived instructional quality and care by professors, navigational support by advisors and mentors, and emotional support by social networks. We conclude by recommending that four-year institutions recognize the critical role socio-academic integration has in cultivating transfer receptivity and supporting academic success for community college transfer students.
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Engineering BRIDGE Program to Enhance Transfer Students’ Sense of Belonging
The State of California, which has the largest four-year public university system in the United States, does not have an associate degree for transfer (ADT) in Engineering. Therefore, most engineering students who transfer from community colleges do not take lower-division engineering courses and, on average, transfer students must attend two to three additional years of college to obtain a degree at four-year institutions. To identify the gaps in engineering education for transfer students and to increase their success, the research team will focus on a “transfer-ready” curriculum and a faculty learning community. The BRIDGE team, including three partnering institutions, collaborates on identifying the critical success factors (CSFs) for the transfer student’s success, the development of the transfer pathway program, and the Engineering BRIDGE Program to enhance academic preparations for transfer students. This paper summarizes the findings from the Engineering BRIDGE Program during the Summer of 2023 from August 7 - 11, 2023 (five days). A total of 22 incoming transfer students (to Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering) participated in this program, assisting in the transition and ensuring academic/career success by enhancing transfer students’ sense of belonging, and addressing course content gaps between institutions. From the analysis of the pre-/post-surveys of the Engineering BRIDGE Program, the program significantly improved—in terms of transfer readiness—students’ conceptual understanding, technical communication, and higher-order cognition.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2225128
- PAR ID:
- 10562002
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASEE Conferences
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Portland, Oregon
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Using Financial Support to Create a Learning Community Among Diverse Community College STEM StudentsAlthough many California Community College students from underrepresented groups enter college with high levels of interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the majority of them drop out or change majors even before taking transfer-level courses due to a variety of reasons including financial difficulties, inadequate academic preparation, lack of family support, poor study skills, and inadequate or ineffective academic advising and mentoring. In 2009, Cañada College, a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution in the San Francisco Bay Area, received a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) grant to develop a scholarship program for financially needy community college students intending to transfer to a four-year institution to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field. In collaboration with the College’s Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program – an academic, personal, and professional support structure has been designed and implemented to maximize the likelihood of success of these students. This support structure aims to create a learning community among the scholars through a combination of academic counseling and mentoring, personal enrichment and professional development opportunities, and strong academic support services. This paper describes how faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, student organizations, and partners in industry, four-year institutions, and professional organizations can be involved in creating an academic infrastructure that promotes academic excellence, leadership skills, and personal and professional growth among the diversity of financially needy STEM students in a community college.more » « less
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Student retention in STEM disciplines, especially engineering, continues to be a challenge for higher education institutions. Poor retention rates have been attributed to academic and institutional isolation, exclusion from social and professional networks, unsupportive peer and family communities, a lack of knowledge about the academic community and financial obstacles. The importance of retention in engineering has attracted increasing attention from many stakeholders in academia including faculty, staff, administrators and students. Its significance goes beyond the benefits for the academic institutions to encompass national concerns. At a large land-grant university in the mid-Atlantic region, between 2003 and 2012, an average thirty percent of first-year engineering students left engineering before their second year. A three-year study (2007-2010) done to gain insight into this attrition rate, showed that students mainly left because of low self-efficacy, lack of interest in and knowledge about engineering and the institution, disconnection from the engineering profession and academic difficulty. To address these issues, an integrated supplemental program was implemented in the first-year engineering program. Students must be in first-time, first-year standing to enroll in the program, which includes a professional development and academic success course beginning with a pre-fall bridge component. The program also provides direct pathways to academic enrichment activities such as undergraduate research. It helps students to develop strategies for academic success, explore engineering careers and start building a professional network through a multi-level peer, faculty and alumni mentoring system. Students are systematically and deliberately immersed in curricular and co-curricular activities with their peer, faculty and alumni mentors. The program was piloted with a NASA Space Grant in 2012 and funded by NSF in 2016. The goal of this evidence-based practice paper is to share the challenges, logistics and results of the implementation of this program in our standard first-year engineering experience.more » « less
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This Research-to-Practice full paper presents findings from the ASSETS program – a comprehensive support ecosystem developed to improve retention and reduce time to graduation for engineering transfer students. ASSETS builds on the momentum established by two statewide initiatives in Tennessee that place transfer students at the forefront: (1) Tennessee Promise – a nationally recognized scholarship program launched in 2015 that provides last-dollar scholarships for low-income students to attend any state community college, and (2) Tennessee Reconnect – a lastdollar grant established in 2018 that allows adults who do not have an associate degree to attend a community or technical college tuition-free. With over 100,000 students enrolled in these programs to date, the number of students transferring to four-year institutions is expected to increase exponentially in the coming years. Historically, transfer students have been at higher risk of attrition due to known academic and social barriers. This is especially true for the Engineering disciplines. In an effort to address these obstacles, we have developed the Academic Intervention, Social Supports, and Scholarships for Engineering Transfer Students (ASSETS) program. In its third year of operation, with 35 enrolled ASSETS scholars, the program is well underway. Among our findings, we have recognized the critical importance of nurturing a community of transfer students that emphasizes equity, diversity, and inclusion. Establishing such a community involves more than just adopting established best practices. It requires a shift in mindset on behalf of the student regarding what is required to succeed, as well as on the part of faculty on what is expected of incoming students. This paper presents the findings and outcomes of the ASSETS program towards providing support to and enhancing the success of engineering transfer students.more » « less
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46829
