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Examining the Engineering Attitudes and Experiences of URM Summer Camp Participants

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Minorities in Engineering Division Technical Session 3

Tagged Division

Minorities in Engineering

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

9

DOI

10.18260/1-2--30469

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/30469

Download Count

455

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Paper Authors

biography

Jessica Symone Whipple Kennesaw State University

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Jessica Whipple is a student that majors in Industrial Engineering Technology at Kennesaw State University. Her research focuses on examining STEM experiences in mentoring-intervention and academic-intervention programs from high school to higher education.

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biography

Shelbie P. Prater University of Michigan Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-9998-0691

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Undergraduate student studying Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

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biography

Joi-lynn Mondisa University of Michigan Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3959-6548

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Joi Mondisa is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial & Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor and holds a PhD in Engineering Education, an MS in Industrial Engineering, an MBA, and a BS in General Engineering. Her research focuses on examining STEM mentoring experiences and mentoring intervention programs in higher education.

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Abstract

Existing research studies provide an overview of the programmatic outcomes of academic intervention programs that target underrepresented minority (URM) populations, but lack empirical evidence about the personal experiences of program participants. To address this deficit, in summer 2017, we conducted a pilot study in which we examined the experiences and attitudes of participants of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s Wolverine Pathways (WP) program. Wolverine Pathways is an academic intervention program serving high school students from metro Detroit. Specifically, the study population (n=13) consisted of 11th graders who participated in a weeklong, engineering and healthcare focused summer camp held at the Ann Arbor campus. In this research inquiry, we used an explanatory mixed methods approach to collect quantitative data (pre- and post-surveys) and qualitative data (semi-structured interviews). Descriptive statistics were used to draw inferences from the data. Then, interview data was analyzed to identify trends and insights. Preliminary results indicated that participants completed the program with more positive attitudes toward engineering. Future research will focus on increasing and diversifying the sample population by including participants from other grade levels to provide a comparative analysis of participants’ experiences across various ages.

Whipple, J. S., & Prater, S. P., & Mondisa, J. (2018, June), Examining the Engineering Attitudes and Experiences of URM Summer Camp Participants Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30469

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