Paper ID #12057Reflections on Experiences of a Successful STEM Scholarship Program forUnderrepresented GroupsDr. Sedig Salem Agili, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg Sedig S. Agili received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Marquette University in 1986, 1989, and 1996, respectively. Currently he is a Professor of Electrical Engineer- ing teaching and conducting research in signal integrity of high-speed electrical interconnects, electronic communications, and fiber optic communications. He has authored numerous research articles which have been published in reputable peer refereed
student teams. Interrogating theinteractions African-American males experience within multiracial teams enhances ourunderstanding of how they experience engineering and what peer interactions reduce spotlightingand disconnection. Page 26.1545.2IntroductionTeam projects in undergraduate engineering programs are critical sites for professional skillsdevelopment. Designed to simulate engineering work, team projects allow students to try onprofessional roles as they interact with peers and faculty. Also, engaging in engineering activitiessuch as a team project can help students establish a sense of identity within their field, which inturn influences
beyond graduate school. Such training must include multi-facetedprofessional development (e.g., grant writing, public speaking, and publishing research), as wellas social dynamics such as networking within the STEM community.10Logically, the challenges posed by the lack of financial resources and lack of peer and facultymentorship are cumulative from high school through graduate school and beyond. URM studentsare more likely to complete their baccalaureate educations with higher debt burdens than theirmajority peers, thus the prospect of a long slog to a STEM doctorate with the likely prospect offurther training at the postdoctoral level makes the alternative of a career in medicine or a STEMjob in industry more appealing. Meanwhile, the
) line-by-line coding for cross-comparison, 3) identifying common experiencesfor initial themes, 4) supplementary review of transcripts for confirmation of themes anddevelopment of a proposed model/initial theory, and 5) memo-writing to acknowledge the ideasand thoughts related to the context of the experiences of the participants. While we have listedthe steps in grounded theory here, this was a non-linear process that involved comparingstatements within and between interviews and checking one’s ideas with the data.5Throughout the interviewing and analysis process, Julie and Stacey met regularly to discussinterpretations, salient themes and theoretical gaps in understanding. Periodic peer debriefingwith the Stephanie helped hone the wording of
, subject to areview of academic progress and financial eligibility. Some students were offered less than twoyears of support due to limited availability of project funds near the end of a grant period, and asmall number of students left the program.Activities. All S-STEM program activities were run or coordinated through the CoE’s EventsOffice with assistance from the Diversity Programs Office (DPO). The mission of the DPO is toprovide academic and non-academic support to increase enrollment, retention, and graduationamong under-represented minorities and women, but DPO services are available to all CoEstudents. The DPO collaborates with the university’s Learning Resource Center (LRC) toprovide academic support services and essay writing support
highereducation environments have been repeatedly demonstrated to overcome these factors. The“Tinto Model of Student Retention”7 provides a useful framework for discussion of academicand social integration, adopted by existing successful programs such as National ScienceFoundation (NSF) funded Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), whichaims to “build productive capacity and output within institutions having significant enrollment ofminority populations” 8 in STEM fields. Specifically, Tinto’s theory recommends tailoredintervention to meet the needs of specific cohorts (e.g. transfer students, academically “at risk”students, “non-traditional” students). Interventions take the form of undergraduate researchexperiences, faculty and peer
and have strong existing ties to the land-grant universitythrough programs funded by Federal and private agencies. Each Alliance institution identifiednew initiatives for this project to complement those already in place, providing synergy towardthe overall project goal. These initiatives include focused and enhanced recruiting; developmentof detailed transfer guides; training for admissions personnel and academic advisors; studentenhancement programs such as student research opportunities, internships, math immersion, andalternative spring break; a focus on career counseling; formal and peer tutoring; andimplementation of improved student tracking. A particular focus of the KS-LSAMP isrecruitment and retention of military veterans in STEM
in Engineering Education (FREE, formerly RIFE, group), whose diverse projects and group members are described at feministengineering.org. She received a CAREER award in 2010 and a PECASE award in 2012 for her project researching the stories of undergraduate engineering women and men of color and white women. She received ASEE-ERM’s best paper award for her CAREER research, and the Denice Denton Emerging Leader award from the Anita Borg Institute, both in 2013. She helped found, fund, and grow the PEER Collaborative, a peer mentoring group of early career and re- cently tenured faculty and research staff primarily evaluated based on their engineering education research productivity. She can be contacted by email at
design and/or solve engineering problems using theoretical, experimental, and numerical approaches, while appreciating the applicability and limitations of these approaches. Students will be able to think critically, analyze data, and generate appropriate data if needed. They will also be able to communicate their results and findings both orally and in writing. Above all, they will be prepared to successfully complete their engineering education.These objectives were distilled down to specific student learning outcomes (SLOs) that areshown in the figure below. By focusing on the objectives and SLOs of the core program, wewere able to avoid focusing on the traditional linear progression of core content and have begundeveloping
. Data analysis, in short, proceeded in several stages using the constantcomparison method by reducing a preliminary set of codes into larger themes through aniterative process of reading, categorizing, and comparing categories/codes both within and acrosstranscripts.33 Several strategies were employed to establish credibility: member checking (i.e.,asking a participant to review his transcript for accuracy and completeness), triangulation of datasources (e.g., interviews, demographic questionnaire), and peer debriefing (i.e., researcherstalked with colleagues regularly for the purpose of exploring implicit aspects of the study).ResultsCategory 1: Confident and resilient (Buoyant Believers)Using Strayhorn’s typology as a guide for the first time
Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP) Deputy Direc- tor and managed its Summer Bridge, Academies of Engineering, and University Success components. I earned a BS in Civil Engineering from University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in 2005 and a MS in En- gineering Management from UAA in 2009. I have taught the Introduction to Engineering course at UAA 5 times. I have more than five years of construction and engineering professional experience in Alaska. I specialized in water and sewer projects in remote Alaskan villages. My responsibilities have included design assistance, technical report and permit writing, feasibility studies, and business plan preparations. Previous work includes conceptual design of
. Page 26.105.7 These relations are: δ1 = y1 + y3 & δ2 = y2 – y3.] Scaffold # 2 Attempting to solve for three variables (y1, y2, and y3), students developed only two equations for the free-body diagrams for the two bars, and therefore a third equation was needed. Another soft scaffold was then given to reveal a hidden key concept for the problem: [Assuming smooth pulleys, the force in the left upper spring k1 is equal to the force in the right upper spring k2. This force equality is k1*(y1+y3) = k2*(y2-y3) and is the third needed equation.] Scaffold # 3 The instructor offered this final dose of scaffolding to help students write the
Sukumaran, Rowan University Beena Sukumaran has been on the faculty at Rowan University since 1998 and is currently Professor and Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Under her leadership, the Civil and Environmental Engi- neering Program has seen considerable growth in student and faculty numbers. Her area of expertise is in micro-geomechanics and has published over 100 peer reviewed conference and journal papers including several papers on engineering education and the unique undergraduate curriculum at Rowan University, Page 26.1006.2 especially the Engineering Clinics. She has been involved in