Search for: All records

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many colleges and universities to remain on a completely online or remote educational learning for more than a year; however, due to distraction, lack of motivation or engagement, and other internal/external pandemic contributing factors, learners could not pay attention 100% to the learning process. Additionally, given that transportation classes are very hands-on, students could not do the experiment from home due to limited resources available, thereby hampering all three phases of learner interactions. The limitation of the implementation of physical, hands-on laboratory exercises during the pandemic further exacerbated students’ actualization of the critical Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) outcomes in transportation: An ability to develop and conduct experiments or test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and use scientific judgment to draw conclusions. Subsequently, this paper highlights the development and implementation of experiment centric pedagogy (ECP) home-based active learning experiments in three transportation courses: Introduction to Transportation Systems, Traffic Engineering, and Highway Engineering during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative student success key constructs data was collected in conjunction with the execution of classroom observation protocols that measure active learning in these transportation courses. The results reveal a significant difference between the pre, and post- tests of key constructs associated with student success, such as motivation, critical thinking, curiosity, collaboration, and metacognition. The results of the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) show more active student engagement when ECP is implemented. 

The Bureau of Statistics identified an urgent demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals in the coming years. In order to meet this demand, the number of students graduating with STEM degrees in the United States needs to increase by 34% annually [1]. Engineering for US All (E4USA): A National Pilot Program for High School Engineering Course and Database is a NSF-funded first-of-its-kind initiative designed to address this national need. The E4USA project aims to make engineering more inclusive and accessible to underrepresented minorities, while increasing racial, ethnic, and gender representation in higher education and the workforce. The “for us all” mission of E4USA encompasses both students and educators. The demand for engineering educators has increased, but relying on practicing engineers to switch careers and enter teacher preparation programs has been insufficient [2, 3, 4]. This has led schools to turn to educators with limited training in engineering, which could potentially have a significant national impact on student engineering education [5, 6, 7]. Part of the E4USA pilot year mission has been to welcome educators with varying degrees of experience in industry and teaching. Paramount to E4USA was the construction of professional development (PD) experiences and a community of practice that would prepare and support teachers with varying degrees of engineering training instruction as they implemented the yearlong course. The perspectives of four out of nine educators were examined during a weeklong, intensive E4USA PD. Two of four educators were considered ‘novices’; one with a background in music and the other in history. The remaining two educators were deemed ‘veterans’ with a total of 15 years of experience as engineers and more than 20 years as engineering educators. Data sources consist of focus groups, surveys, and artifacts created during the PD (e.g., educators’ responses to reflection prompts and letters written to welcome the next cohort). Focus group data is currently being analyzed using inductive coding and the constant comparative method in order to identify emergent themes that speak to the past experience or inexperience of educators with engineering. Artifacts were used to: 1) Triangulate the findings generated from the analysis of focus group, and 2) Further understand how the veteran educators supported the novice educators. We will also use quantitative survey data to examine descriptive statistics, observed score bivariate correlations, and differences in mean scores across novices and veterans to further examine potential common and unique experiences for these educators. The results aim to highlight how the inclusion of educators with a broad spectrum of past experiences with engineering and engineering education can increase educators’ empathy towards students who may be equally hesitant about engineering. The findings from this study are expected to result in implications for how PD and a community of practice may be developed to allow for reciprocal support and mentoring. Results will inform future efforts of E4USA and aim to change the structure of high school engineering education nationwide. 

The percentage of minority males in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce is about half of their representation in the US population. Roadblocks that continue to challenge minority males include: disparity in access to high quality STEM educational resources, a lack of role models, and a shortage of highly trained, minority STEM educators. This work describes an INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot that builds on an existing regional partnership of four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that are working together to improve STEM outcomes for middle school minority male students. Using collective impact-style approaches such as implementing mutually reinforcing activities through a Network Improvement Community (NIC) these partners are addressing the larger goal of improving STEM achievement in minority males, particularly in middle school. Activities of the NIC included a workshop to share best practices and define the NIC, workgroups to engage in improvement cycles, a website that will contribute to the knowledge base regarding effective strategies for enhancing STEM educational opportunities for minority males, and webinars. The project partners have also created a roadmap for a NIC to address the challenges described above. This paper describes a work in progress and will provides an update on the NIC to the broader engineering community. 

The percentage of minority males in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce is about half of their representation in the US population. Roadblocks that continue to challenge minority males include: disparity in access to high quality STEM educational resources, a lack of role models, and a shortage of highly trained, minority STEM educators. This work describes an INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot that builds on an existing regional partnership of four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that are working together to improve STEM outcomes for middle school minority male students. Using collective impact-style approaches such as implementing mutually reinforcing activities through a Network Improvement Community (NIC) these partners are addressing the larger goal of improving STEM achievement in minority males, particularly in middle school. Activities of the NIC included a workshop to share best practices and define the NIC, workgroups to engage in improvement cycles, a website that will contribute to the knowledge base regarding effective strategies for enhancing STEM educational opportunities for minority males, and webinars. The project partners have also created a roadmap for a NIC to address the challenges described above. This paper describes a work in progress and will provides an update on the NIC to the broader engineering community. 

The percentage of minority males in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce is about half of their representation in the US population. Roadblocks that continue to challenge minority males include: disparity in access to high quality STEM educational resources, a lack of role models, and a shortage of highly trained, minority STEM educators. This work describes an INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilot that builds on an existing regional partnership of four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that are working together to improve STEM outcomes for middle school minority male students. Using collective impact-style approaches such as implementing mutually reinforcing activities through a Network Improvement Community (NIC) these partners are addressing the larger goal of improving STEM achievement in minority males, particularly in middle school. Activities of the NIC included a workshop to share best practices and define the NIC, workgroups to engage in improvement cycles, a website that will contribute to the knowledge base regarding effective strategies for enhancing STEM educational opportunities for minority males, and webinars. The project partners have also created a roadmap for a NIC to address the challenges described above. This paper describes a work in progress and will provides an update on the NIC to the broader engineering community. 

African-American and Hispanic males are significantly underrepresented in STEM. While youth start narrowing their career choices in middle school, National Maker programs rarely specifically target minority males. Four Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs), in partnership with The Verizon Foundation, have established Maker communities in underserved urban and rural communities. The Minority Male Maker Program allows middle school students and their teachers to develop science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills while expressing their creativity. The long term goals of this project are to increase participant interest in STEM careers and college attendance. In the short term, we anticipate increased technology proficiency, STEM engagement and academic achievement. Additional outcomes include increased teacher and mentor understanding of STEM instruction delivery and mentorship. Panelists will discuss disparities facing men of color and a new National program designed to provide early exposure to STEM. Recommendations for developing programs targeting minority male students will be discussed.