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1. Increasing the Success Rates of Engineering Students After Transferring into Four Year Colleges from Community Colleges: It’s Much More Than Dollars

   Fomunung, I. (August 2022, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.)

   ASSETS - Academic Intervention, Social Supports, and Scholarships for Engineering Transfer Students is an NSF sponsored program at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga designed to help engineering transfer students overcome known academic and social barriers that impede retention or prolong graduation time following transfer from two-year community colleges into four year colleges. ASSETS is now in its fourth year of implementation. Several focus groups conducted among these scholars have consistently ranked the scholarship received as the number one contributing factor to their success. Other secondary but important factors have also emerged, suggesting that these students perceive the four-year institutions as lukewarm at best and hostile at worst to their ability to acclimate. These secondary factors indicate that these institutions need to become more welcoming by adopting strategies that are intentional in addressing the needs of these students, given current situational needs placing all the burden on them to adapt to their new environment. We conducted attitudinal surveys among students and faculty to gauge how pervasive these negative perceptions are among engineering transfer students. The survey analysis revealed that many faculty members do not differentiate between transfer students and traditional students and may therefore not be sensitive to their unique needs. However, faculty members associated with the ASSETS scholars, through serving as faculty mentors, were found to be aware of these differences and are already implementing measures that reflect a shift in mindset benefiting transfer students. This paper presents the findings of the surveys and the outcomes of the new mindset toward providing support to and enhancing the success of engineering transfer students. 

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2. Effects of High Impact Educational Practices on engineering and computer science student participation, persistence, and success at land grant universities: YEAR 2.

   Asghar, M. (August 2022, 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Effects of High Impact Educational Practices on Engineering and Computer Science Student Participation, Persistence, and Success at Land Grant Universities: Award# RIEF-1927218 – Year 2 Abstract Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), this project aims to investigate and identify associations (if any) that exist between student participation in High Impact Educational Practices (HIP) and their educational outcomes in undergraduate engineering and computer science (E/CS) programs. To understand the effects of HIP participation among E/CS students from groups historically underrepresented and underserved in E/CS, this study takes place within the rural, public university context at two western land grant institutions (one of which is an Hispanic-serving institution). Conceptualizing diversity broadly, this study considers gender, race and ethnicity, and first-generation, transfer, and nontraditional student status to be facets of identity that contribute to the diversity of academic programs and the technical workforce. This sequential, explanatory, mixed-methods study is guided by the following research questions: 1. To what extent do E/CS students participate in HIP? 2. What relationships (if any) exist between E/CS student participation in HIP and their educational outcomes (i.e., persistence in major, academic performance, and graduation)? 3. How do contextual factors (e.g., institutional, programmatic, personal, social, financial, etc.) affect E/CS student awareness of, interest in, and participation in HIP? During Project Year 1, a survey driven quantitative study was conducted. A survey informed by results of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) from each institution was developed and deployed. Survey respondents (N = 531) were students enrolled in undergraduate E/CS programs at either institution. Frequency distribution analyses were conducted to assess the respondents’ level of participation in extracurricular HIPs (i.e., global learning and study aboard, internships, learning communities, service and community-based learning, and undergraduate research) that have been shown in the literature to positively impact undergraduate student success. Further statistical analysis was conducted to understand the effects of HIP participation, coursework enjoyability, and confidence at completing a degree on the academic success of underrepresented and nontraditional E/CS students. Exploratory factor analysis was used to derive an "academic success" variable from five items that sought to measure how students persevere to attain academic goals. Results showed that a linear relationship in the target population exists and that the resultant multiple regression model is a good fit for the data. During the Project Year 2, survey results were used to develop focus group interview protocols and guide the purposive selection of focus group participants. Focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 27 undergraduates (12 males, 15 females, 16 engineering students, 11 computer science students) across both institutions via video conferencing (i.e., ZOOM) during the spring and fall 2021 semesters. Currently, verified focus group transcripts are being systematically analyzed and coded by a team of four trained coders to identify themes and answer the research questions. This paper will provide an overview of the preliminary themes so far identified. Future project activities during Project Year 3 will focus on refining themes identified during the focus group transcript analysis. Survey and focus group data will then be combined to develop deeper understandings of why and how E/CS students participate in the HIP at their university, taking into account the institutional and programmatic contexts at each institution. Ultimately, the project will develop and disseminate recommendations for improving diverse E/CS student awareness of, interest in, and participation in HIP, at similar land grant institutions nationally. 

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3. Work in Progress: Comparing Metrics of Student Success Across Academic Fields

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10342979  

   Lord, Susan M.; Long, Russell A.; Ohland, Matthew W.; Orr, Marisa K.; Layton, Richard A. (October 2023, Frontiers in education)

   Multiple stakeholders are interested in measuring undergraduate student success in college across academic fields. Different metrics might appeal to different stakeholders. Some metrics such as the fraction of first-time, full-time students who start in the fall who graduate within six years, the graduation rate, are federally mandated by the U.S. Department of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). We argue that this calculation of graduation rate is inherently problematic because it excludes up to 60% of students who transfer into an institution, enroll part-time, or enroll in terms other than the fall. By expanding the starters definition, we propose a graduation rate definition that includes conventionally excluded students and provides information on progression in a specific program. Stickiness is an even more-inclusive alternative, measuring a program’s success in graduating all undergraduates ever enrolled in the program. In this work, programs are grouped into six academic fields: Arts and Humanities, Business, Engineering, Other, Social Sciences, and STM (Science, Technology, and Mathematics. Stickiness is the percentage of students who ever enroll in an academic field that graduate in the same field. We use the Multiple Institution Dataset for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) 2023 which contains unit-record data for over 2 million individual students at 19 institutions. For the academic fields studied, Engineering has the highest graduation rate and third highest stickiness. Social Sciences and Business also have higher graduation rates and stickiness than the other fields. We also track the relative fraction of students migrating to and from each academic field. This paper continues our work to derive better metrics for understanding student success. 

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4. Developing a Culturally Adaptive Pathway to Success

   Kang, E.; Dong, J.; Jackson, M.; Allen, E.; Lopez, G. (June 2019, ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   The financial disadvantage of many students in the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology (ECST) at California State University, Los Angeles, is often in parallel with inadequate academic preparation through K-12 education and limited family guidance. Hence, many students, including those who are academically-talented, experience significant challenges in achieving their academic goals. In 2018, the College of ECST received an award from NSF SSTEM program to establish a Culturally Adaptive Pathway to Success (CAPS) program that aims to build an inclusive pathway to accelerate the graduation for academically talented, lowincome students in Engineering and Computer Science majors. CAPS focuses on progressively developing students’ social and career competence via three integrated interventions: (1) Mentor+, relationally informed advising that encourages students to see their academic work in relation to their families and communities; (2) peer cohorts, providing social support structure for students and enhancing their sense of belongings in engineering and computer science classrooms and beyond; and (3) professional development with difference-education, illuminating the hidden curricula that may disadvantage first-generation and low income students. This paper presents our progress and core program activities during the first year of the CAPS program, including the recruitment process and mentor training program. In Fall 18, group and individual mentoring sessions have taken place following the culturally responsive mentoring strategy. In addition to program activities, the paper will also share the data collected through focus groups and report the lessons learned during the first-year implementation phase. 

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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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