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Eight semesters of qualitative data, collected over four academic years, are presented from a project that resulted in the development of a student professional learning community of high-achieving, low-income engineering and engineering technology student veterans. In the context of this project, student veterans received academic, professional, and financial support that helped them to be successful in school and to prepare them for a career in the STEM workforce. As adult learners, students in this learning community were a vital part of the curriculum development which resulted in increasing the students’ interest and buy-in. Typically, adult learners have lower levels of engagement than tradition-age students due to their non-traditional status. However, by engaging students in the development of a seminar course which served as the foundation for the student learning community, the course curriculum addressed student needs while being built on faculty expertise. Focus groups were conducted at the end of each semester to determine if students perceived the course as an effective professional development intervention. The course was comprised of various guest speaker who addressed different topics related to engineering, and the course also addressed other topics of professional development. In addition to hearing from various guest speakers, students also learned critical professional skills including how to search for an internship and/or permanent position; how to develop a cover letter, resume, and follow-up letter; how to prepare for and respond to questions during interviews; how to present themselves, how to dress, eat and hold a professional conversation at a formal meal during an interview; and how to network and follow-up after meeting people professionally. The guest speakers, veterans themselves, were excited to present to these highly motivated student veterans and to share their stories, and in the process, they inspired this next generation of engineers and engineering technologists. 

Adult learners have different needs than traditional college-aged students. We present the first year results of a targeted learning community for high-achieving, low-income engineering and engineering technology adult students. Students in this project received academic support and mentorship to prepare them for entering the engineering workforce. By including the adult learners in the development of their learning outcomes, students increased their sense of engineering connectedness, comfort, and security to enable them to confidently enter the engineering and engineering technology workforce. 

A model for facilitating veteran students’ learning and retention is presented based on andragogy - the science of adult learning. Adults are independent self-directed learners who accept responsibility for their own learning. Adults can be skeptical and challenge new information but are particularly motivated when the information presented is applicable and relevant to their careers. With a growing number of veterans entering higher education and the challenges associated with retention, it is important to understand and incorporate the basics of andragogy in curriculum and course development to facilitate veteran and adult students’ learning and degree completion. STEM education, and in particular engineering education, continues to be a major focus in K-12 and higher education. Funded by the NSF, this S-STEM project proposes interventions to retain and graduate students with academic promise and strong financial need. The researchers for this project seek to develop innovative, reliable, and replicable ways in which to affect the learning and retention of engineering students, with a focus on veteran students and adult learners. Drawing on the lessons of andragogy, in this paper, faculty share the processes implemented, content derived, and preliminary data from a faculty-student partnership in the development of a mid- to near-degree completion seminar as a model of an evidence-based practice that is affecting student learning and retention. 

The gap in the area of advanced manufacturing skilled workforce and the efforts in guiding veterans towards STEM careers are merged in the NSF funded project presented in this paper. While most of the products and STEM educational programs focused on a maker concept that are currently available are specifically designed for the young population, at various K-12 grade levels, to increase their interest in STEM and engineering careers, in particular, there is limited availability of such programs to address adult population. The study presented in this paper focuses on developing and implementing a series of workshops for veterans, using bio-inspired robots as a learning platform. The design, making and controlling of bio-inspired robots require knowledge of mechanical, electrical, computer, and material science engineering, and have the potential to spark interest in a wide variety of engineering pathways. The paper discusses the topics covered by the workshops, the scaffolding of the activities, and the assessment conducted on how the bio-inspired robotics activities may influence veterans’ attitude towards advanced manufacturing careers.