address certain challenges facing first-generation, low-income graduate students. In addition, measures of participants’ self-efficacyrelated to persistence in graduate school improved with participation in the program and changesin self-efficacy were greater than the general population of first-year graduate engineeringstudents. Future efforts will include a refinement of practices and resources creating moresuccessful strategies for increasing numbers of low-income, academically-talentedunderrepresented engineers with graduate degrees in the workforce.IntroductionRecent federal budgets for STEM education are based on the belief that “the United States mustequip students to excel in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to meet the
this manuscript forcompleteness. The survey had 82 Likert-type items, with selections on agreement with each statementranging from 1-4 and 0-100. The survey took approximately 20 minutes to complete and wasemailed to all students enrolled in the two courses listed above. Measures of the followingandragogical measures and outcomes are as follows: Self-Directed Learning Dimensions AptitudeScale (SLDAS)24, Engineering Expectancy and Value Scale (EV)25, Epistemological BeliefsAssessment for Engineering (EBAE)26, Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood(IDEA)18, and Engineering Design Self-Efficacy Instrument (EDSE)27. Details on the individualmeasures can be found in the original manuscripts, however EBAE questions were adjusted
engineering.ConclusionIn engineering, HC is not well understood, including its mechanisms or potential constructs. Toour knowledge, there is no research that has attempted to explore the mechanisms and potentialconstructs behind HC in engineering. In this work, the authors have summarized some potentialconsiderations and constructs that can be measured for the exploration of HC in engineering.Collectively, the considerations posit that HC identification is central and could be tied to anindividual’s emotions, self-efficacy, and self-advocacy. It is believed that when individualsexperience scenarios, via vignettes, that center around HC in engineering, they can identify the HCthrough a frame of reference that can enable them to respond and react to the witnessed
persistence and retention in the field [28], [29]. Godwin [30]dissociates identity into three separate factors: recognition from others, interest in engineering,and performance/competence, which is tied closely with self-efficacy. Similar measures are thusused in the survey instrument for this work. Also tied to engineering interest is the exposure ofstudents to seeing the ways in which engineers contribute to society, how they change the world,and how they make it a better place. Explicitly showing this can help encourage futureengineering interest and broaden participation in the field [31].The literature shows that much has already been implemented in the way of promoting equity inengineering and science. Much of what has been done has been in the
the 25 girlsin the FEMME program, 18 had attended the 4th grade FEMME program, 5 had attended the 4thgrade mixed-gender program, and there were 2 new students. One of the girls who hadpreviously attended the 4th grade FEMME program attended one of the mixed-gender programs.Except for the FEMME programs which had approximately 70% returning students, each of theother programs had approximately 40% returning students.The positive effects on female students acquired during the summer of 2015 were sustainedthrough the school year and were still evident from pre-measures for girls who returned duringthe summer of 2016. At the beginning of the 2016 program, the girls who had attendedFEMME4 showed higher levels of self-efficacy and demonstrated a
based on geography. Engineeringeducation research have largely focused on issues and challenges, such as unsupportive academicenvironments, dissonant cultures; lack of role models; limited student-faculty interactions; andindividual differences in levels of self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and engineering identity [3] –[13]. Some studies have tied high school level factors to participation in engineering. For example,Tyson et al. [14], [15] investigate course-taking in high school and find that more courses highschool math and science courses is associated with majoring in a college STEM field. Other pre-college factors, such as math achievement and levels of self-efficacy also contribute to students’college major choice [5], [10], [16], [17
measures focus on student learning outcomes, as well as student attitudestoward science and engineering and self-efficacy. This paper examines the overall STEM-Inc project design and outcomes, especially the yearover year changes in project implementation based on both research needs and findings fromprior year. Results from three years of project implementation showed positive indicators in bothformative and summative data, which supported the use of business entrepreneurship practicesfor engaging middle school students, especially those from underrepresented groups, in STEMlearning.IntroductionSTEM workers drive America’s innovation and competitiveness by generating new ideas,companies and industries. The National Science Board (2010) cites
. Turner, J. E., Husman, J., & Schallert, D. L. (2002). The Importance of Students' Goals in Their Emotional Experience of Academic Failure: Investigating the Precursors and Consequences of Shame. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 79-89. doi:10.1207/S15326985EP3702_3 18. Carberry, A. R., Lee, H., & Ohland, M. W. (2010). Measuring engineering design self-efficacy. Journal of Engineering Education, 99(1), 71-79. 19. Hutchison, M. A., Follman, D. K., Sumpter, M., & Bodner, G. M. (2006). Factors influencing the self- efficacy beliefs of first-year engineering students. Journal of Engineering Education, 95(1), 39-47. doi:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2006.tb00876.x 20. Marra, R. M., Rodgers, K. A
exercises. In the lecture time, the instructor focused on the subjectsthat were problems to students from their quiz results and questions raised after groupdiscussion. Then the instructor used question sets for group activities and discussions. Thestudent group discussion was led by the assigned group leaders. Pre- and post-tests wereconducted for the AFL. The survey results were analyzed to compare students’ learningengagement, empowerment, self-efficacy, and satisfaction between the traditional classroomand with the AFL. It was found that the AFL model, by taking advantage of advancedtechnology, is a convenient and professional avenue for engineering students to strengthentheir academic confidence and self-efficacy in Engineering Mechanics by
success of the new school. “IntroductoryMathematics for Engineering Applications” is an integral part of the model which has aproven success rate of not only improving retention and consequently graduation rate butalso improving self-efficacy of students with above average high school GPA’s. It is believedthat, “The hard workers make it through because the course helps them believe they can doit.”4 This was especially true for females who, “Felt more strongly that the course hadincreased their chances of success in engineering than did males. It helped them believe thatthey had chosen the right major, and the result was an even greater impact on ultimategraduation rates.”4Therefore, the purpose of implementing this course for the student is to
-making after participating in an integrated science,technology, engineering, and mathematics academic/ career summer camp. Using a case studymethodology, we examine three of the students in detail regarding their changes in self-reportedfuture academic major choices and career goals utilizing measures of motivation, self-efficacy,and self-determination.Interview data provides qualitative evidence that participants’ experiences during camp mayindeed impact their short-term outlook towards their informed decision making and motivationrelated to pursuing STEM careers. Repeat participants (two or more years) are highlighted as casestudies and their survey and interview input is analyzed to determine to what extent, if any, studentsattribute changes
commonand uncommon viewpoints from students of different backgrounds to seek out and join suchresearch programs. Another purpose of this study was to gauge the impacts of summer researchexperiences on US and non-US students. The following research questions guided this study: 1. What is the REU impact on the students’ career goals? 2. What is the REU impact on the students’ self-efficacy about making decision about graduate school and success therein? 3. How do the REU participants perceive any changes on their research knowledge, skills, and engineering career path? 4. What is the difference in the impact of the REU between national and international students?II. MethodA. SettingA.1 Objectives of the REU Program
Women in MississippiAbstractThe NSF INCLUDES Mississippi Alliance for Women in Computing (MSAWC) strives to:generate interest and participation of women in computing; improve recruitment and retentionrates of women in undergraduate computing majors; and help post-secondary women make atransition to the computing workforce. Activities designed to engage girls and young womenwith computing, emphasizing computational thinking and cybersecurity knowledge andawareness, and to illuminate a pathway forward are hosted and facilitated through Alliancepartnerships.The authors will describe a project-based approach to facilitating learning among K-12 students.By engaging students at an early age, we believe we can promote the development of self-efficacy
2 6 17 complex systems. The Arduino kit manual was useful for learning 0 1 3 13 8 the kit basics. We received sufficient instruction on using the 0 1 4 9 11 Arduino kit to complete the final project. In the future, the class should continue using the 0 2 7 7 9 Arduino kit. Completing this course has made me well- prepared going into the 0 0 6 12 7 junior-level Mechatronics and Measurement Systems course …Self-efficacy results show some similar
Characterize Latent DiversityOn the survey, we measured multiple aspects of students’ mindsets and affective states usingestablished instruments and newly developed questions from pilot interviews with 12 diversestudents. These students were purposefully sampled to maximize demographic diversity includinggender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, students with disabilities, and first-generationcollege students. We measured engineering identity, motivation, epistemic beliefs (students’perceptions of engineering as a discipline), personality, and self-efficacy for innovation to namesome of the constructs. We also measured students’ career intentions on this survey. Below, wedescribe the different dimensions that we measured on the survey and
, and 2) to study the impactof the mentorship experience on the graduate student and postdoctoral mentors. The specific research questions explored included the following: 1) How did participationas a mentor impact mentors’ self-efficacy in research, leadership, or mentorship?; 2) Didworking with an REU student increase the mentors’ perceived research productivity, teachingskills, or communication skills?; 3) What types of approaches did the mentors utilize to superviseand mentor the REU students?; and 4) What challenges related to mentoring and/or the REUprogram did mentors report?Methods The study took place at a large mid-Atlantic research university. The REU program,funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), was in its
to be inadequately prepared and lack the confidence to teach theengineering components of the standards, leading to avoidance or misrepresentation of theengineering practices in the classroom [4]. This paper describes the development of aprofessional development experience for science teachers designed to address these potentialpitfalls and support the implementation of the NGSS in science classrooms. The overarchingresearch question driving this work is: How do science teachers rate their self-efficacy inengineering knowledge and instruction, as well as the importance of engineering practices inlearning science? This paper reports on theoretical foundations, pre-treatment data, and a novelintervention design for improving science teachers
expressedincreased interest in attending college, increased interest in majoring in engineering, anappreciation of soldering as a useful skill, and recognition of how specific physics concepts wereapplied to electrical engineering design. Qualitative data allowed the researchers to elicitthematic elements of student impacts, including appreciation of hands-on tasks related topotential engineering careers, novelty of using circuit boards for a practical technological device,and self-efficacy in creating and building designs as part of a team effort to maximize deviceefficiency and performance. Future science and engineering curricular efforts may leverage thesefindings to replicate and design similar curricular activities for secondary
strengths – collectively contributing to a cohortculture of collaboration and enhanced work ethic.With the measured gains in student success, self-efficacy, and identifying with their path inengineering, the ETS program has shown preliminary success in achieving these main outcomesfor students. The team will continue to provide special attention to getting students connected toeach other and continue building the teamwork and communication skills essential to strongacademic success, rewarding careers, and fulfilling lives.References1. Landivar, L. (September 2013). Disparities in STEM Employment by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin. American Community Survey Reports. Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
freshmen’stransition into pursuing science, math and engineering degrees at the UIW. In order to achievethis goal, the objectives of the camp were (1) To address students’ academic readiness and self-efficacy for a rigorous STEM degree; (2) To strengthen incoming freshman students’ skills incommunication, effective collaboration, and data analytics through coding and hands-on roboticsactivities. The Summer Engineering Academy was a free one-week camp that provided serviceto a low-to-moderate income student population in STEM major. The camp participants werefrom diverse STEM fields that included engineering, biochemistry, nuclear medicine science,biology, computer information systems, meteorology, 3-D animation & game design. Weobserved that upon
integration). At her free mobile makerspace for K-12 students and teachers, The MAKE Lab (http://themakelab.wp.txstate.edu), she is currently researching how recurring experiences with these design-based technologies impact visual spatial skills, self-efficacy, and positive attitudes toward failure (e.g. persistence in the face of obstacles; reconceptualization of failure as a paradigm for creative learn- ing) with teachers and K–12 students. These concepts are also part of her research as Co-Director of Bobcat Made, which is the collaborative university makerspace.Dr. Araceli Martinez Ortiz, Texas State University Araceli Martinez Ortiz, PhD., is Research Associate Professor of Engineering Education in the College of
(enjoyment) (Matusovich,Streveler, & Miller, 2010). More work on this construct in engineering education canhelp us better understand interest and its relationship to identity and persistence.Engineering performance/competence is also important to measuring engineeringidentity. For instance, Jones, Osborne, Paretti, and Matusovich (2014) found a positiverelationship between perceived ability and identity. As this area of research progresses,clear distinctions should be made between performance/competence and other similarconstructs in the literature such as self-efficacy. The significance of recognition in themodels of engineering identity points to a type of support that may be critical toengineering identity development. For example, role
to take ‘gatekeeper’ courses such as Pre-Calculus and Calculus (NCES, 2016).Purpose StatementAlthough, only in the preliminary stages of data collection, the primary goal of this work is toaddress the challenge of broadening participation in STEM, particularly among UR boys bybuilding on a pilot afterschool STEM program for UR boys. Specifically, this project proposesthe STEM Engagement through Mentoring (SEM) model as a way to address the followingquestions:1) In what ways do fathers/mentors motivate students to become aware of, interested in, and prepared for STEM careers?2) To what extent does involvement in SEM shape the students’ STEM identity?3) What impact does working with the SEM program have on the self-efficacy of pre-service
experience of inventing. What evidence do we have that this assumption is correct? What types of benefits doinvention-focused educational curricula and experiences confer to students? While there is a general sense that students benefit from involvement in these types of experiences, the formalliterature reflects a limited understanding of what specific benefits to students occur throughparticipation in invention education, as well as a lack of reliable and validated measures of theseoutcomes. Limited empirical evidence, gathered through interviews with educators, suggests thatstudents who engage in maker-centered education may experience gains in problem-solving,risk-taking, teamwork skills, self-efficacy, and sense of community; the
the face of challenges. Beliefs about the nature of intelligence havebeen identified as a key lever across these critical behaviors linked to academic success and life-long learning [3].Beliefs are recognized as powerful sources of behavior and various outcomes, and they are awell-established construct of interest in engineering education research. For example, students’beliefs about their own capabilities, or self-efficacy beliefs are important [4-9], and theycorrelate with retention in educational pursuits [10, 11]. Prior work has shown the importance ofbeliefs held by engineering students about the self (i.e. identity) [12-14] and how those beliefsframe their interactions with others [15]. Theory has been generated that connects
groups.Key Program FeaturesThe EE program at Suffolk University has many of the features and support services that researchindicates promote success in engineering students, such as faculty support [1] [2], project-basedlearning that promotes self-efficacy which is a belief in one’s own abilities to succeed [3] [4], asense of community [5] [6], and role models [7] [8].Faculty support Our current students and alumni consistently list faculty support as one of the chiefqualities of the program. For instance, in the last alumni survey, 70% of alumni respondentsgave the EE program a 5 (highest) and 30% gave it a 4 (second highest), in level of academicsupport. In student surveys in response to the question “What are the features of the EE
differences between sites for the second objective of the project.Next StepsBuilding on what we learned during this baseline year, we are developing adjusted plans ofassessment for SEEK students, mentors, and site leaders. In the forthcoming SEEK cycle,student assessments will continue to measure grade-specific conceptual knowledge, motivation,and self- perception. In addition to these constructs, student collaboration and classroom culturehave been added to the assessment plan. Mentor and site leader experiences are to be examinedthrough a series of research methods that both measure mentor and site leader attitudes andcapture different aspects of their experiences (e.g., motivation, self-efficacy, classroompreparation). These adjustments are the
, intrinsic value, and self-efficacy. Motivation is measuredagainst the final grade in the course.The major contribution of this paper is the ability to examine the impact of motivation on gradesin design courses. The motivation and performance is also measured with regard to student gender,residency (domestic or international), family income, and highest degree attained by parents todetermine if a correlation is realized.Additionally, the study focuses on a single cohort of 32 students. This affords the ability for theexamination of the differences in motivation between the students’ freshman and senior year todetermine if this can be correlated to student gender, residency (domestic or international), familyincome, and degree attained by
%), personal impact (91.4%) and overallexperience (92.3%). Quantitative responses from weekly program surveys show increasing levelsof program satisfaction (in seven of eight categories) throughout the duration of the RETprogram. Ongoing work includes evaluation of qualitative survey responses to further measureprogram effectiveness and to assess self-efficacy in teacher participants. Results will helpformulate the remaining summer WE2NG programs as well as future K-12 outreach at theColorado School of Mines.I. IntroductionResearch Experience for Teachers OverviewThe Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program is a National Science Foundation (NSF)funded summer research opportunity that is hosted at various post-secondary researchinstitutions in
analyses provided additional information about the effectiveness of the intervention.A comparison of the pre-intervention responses of male and female participants (Table 2) showedthat there were some differences in attitudes. Of the four dimensions on which the difference wasstatistically significant, males ascribed higher importance to math for getting a good job (D1).However, females exhibited higher self-efficacy in math (D2) and good aptitude for science (D3).Females also indicated that the use of flight simulator in learning math and science can be helpful(D5).A comparison of the post-intervention responses of males and females showed a higher impact ofthe intervention on females (Table 2). Females had a higher recognition of the usefulness