Columbus, Ohio
June 24, 2017
June 24, 2017
June 28, 2017
Two Year College Division
Diversity
7
10.18260/1-2--27495
https://peer.asee.org/27495
521
Araceli Martinez Ortiz, PhD., is Research Associate Professor of Engineering Education in the College of Education at Texas State University. She leads a comprehensive research agenda related to issues of curriculum and instruction in engineering education, motivation and preparation of under served populations of students and teachers and in assessing the impact of operationalizing culturally responsive teaching in the STEM classroom. As executive director of the LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research, she collaborates on various state and national STEM education programs and is PI on major grant initiatives through NASA MUREP and NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education and NSF DUE . Araceli holds Engineering degrees from The University of Michigan and Kettering University. She holds a Masters degree in Education from Michigan State and a PhD in Engineering Education from Tufts University.
Undergraduate student attending Texas State University pursuing a bachelors of science in computer science and mathematics. Currently working at the LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research.
Dr. Bahram Asiabanpour is an Associate Professor of Manufacturing Engineering at Texas State University and a Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE). He received his Ph.D. from the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California. His main research interest is Additive Manufacturing, Product Development, and Renewable Energy. Since joining Texas State, Dr. Asiabanpour has secured 27 externally funded projects from NSF, NASA, Toyota, USDA, DOE, and several local industries. He is currently the PI for the $614K grant from the DOE (2014-17), called “REENERGIZE: Recruitment and Retention of Students in STEM Programs through a Renewable Energy Research and Education Partnership with Five Minority Institutions.” He was the founding Editor In Chief of the American Journal of Engineering Education (AJEE), serving between 2010 and 2014. He is currently Editor In Chief of the International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing (IJRapidM).
Many agree that one of the main challenges to increasing the number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career seeking individuals and increasing the retention of students preparing for this fields, is the lack of information and therefore low student motivation toward these careers. Students may also hold misconceptions regarding the nature of technological careers and this may also dissuade them from participating. Exposing students to green energy and sustainability topics as a STEM context may be a motivating approach and when coupled with clarifying career information, it may sharpen much of the generally ambiguous knowledge on these topics. The understanding students gain might then change their attitudes regarding STEM careers and lead to pursuit of academic studies leading to these careers. The Re-Energize program is a multi-university intervention program aimed at increasing and retaining the number of historically underserved and underrepresented minority students seeking STEM degrees at four community colleges. Re-Energize offers cutting-edge workforce development training programs in green technology and practices (GTP). The GTP training programs are introduced into existing college science and engineering courses as a means to broaden the scope of students’ exposure to these topics. The impact on students’ attitudes towards topics in sustainability, green energy, career interests and their desire to pursue a higher education is analyzed using pre and post survey data. This is a preliminary phase of the project, however, findings indicate that students’ attitude and concerns are influenced positively and follow-up data collection will confirm what academic and career choices these students make.
Ortiz, A. M., & Mata, E., & Asiabanpour, B. (2017, June), A Pilot Study Measuring Student Attitude Changes Resulting From Participating in Workforce Development Training Program in Green and Technology Practices Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--27495
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