. and Ph.D. degrees in Educational Psychology from the University of Kentucky. She also has nine years of industry experience. ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023 Peer Mentorship in a Virtual University Setting: A Hispanic Perspective on How Mentorship Broadens Participation in Advanced DegreesAbstract Mentorship is crucial in providing a platform for academic and leadership developmentand success among underrepresented groups in STEM. Studies on mentoring students fromunderrepresented groups in STEM demonstrate the characteristics of strong peer relationships,superior communication skills, and favorable academic and career development
new research emerges [7 - 11].Deliverable #5: Professional Learning Finally, stEm PEER Academy’s fifth deliverable is a toolbox of resources that guides Fellows’ professional development such as developing Broader Impact identities, Broadening Participation efforts, proposal development, and writing research papers. For example, stEm PEER Academy prepared an NSF-aligned proposal guideline for Fellows to use for requesting implementation funding from Engineering PLUS to launch their own Implementation Projects. The purpose of this NSF-aligned proposal exercise was to provide Fellows with a more accessible and less intimidating proposal format for developing their Implementation Project, especially if they were navigating
, and don't listen to my ideas or concerns” (Female student). “One time in a lab I was working with two white boys and when it came time to write up the lab report one of them would always give me the writing option that had no brain power, and they did everything else” (Female student).Students also reported bias in teamwork assignments within their group where they would beasked to complete less significant tasks or ignored. Consequently, students reported experiencinganxiety when working with non-Black peers on group projects because they feel stereotyped as“lazy”. To avoid this stereotype, many Black students would work harder than expected evenwhen they do not feel well because they are not afforded the same level
engineeringstudents with ASD that offers peer mentoring to help with the transition to and engagement incollege life. The mentors offer guidance in honing executive functioning skills, identifyingessential resources, fostering social connections, developing self-advocacy skills, and effectivelynavigating the campus environment. Through an undergraduate research initiative, undergraduateengineering researchers have immersed themselves into this program, conducted research onneurodiverse learning and communication skills, and developed a prototype applicationspecifically for the peer mentoring program. Initially the student researchers developed surveysto determine the needs and interests in a customized application. Using the survey results, theydeveloped a
majors. Student services included peer mentoring, career development, anda science communication learning community. The project emphasized community engagementthrough first-year courses and faculty and alumni mentoring. Evaluation findings indicated thatself-reported survey data showed that 75% of the initial program participants stayed with theprogram the second year. Additionally, scholars demonstrated a strong commitment tocompleting undergraduate and graduate STEM degrees, with likelihood ratings ranging from 3.0to 3.5/4.0.At Tennessee State University (TSU), a public R2 land-grant HBCU in the southern UnitedStates, the 5-year S-STEM project — Scholars to Attract and Retain Students (STARS) inGraduate Engineering and Computer Science
can be accessed easily through the CATME®website [12] as the authors used the default set of questions.The qualitative data in this paper consists of open-ended responses provided by students in their peerevaluations. As part of these evaluations, students are expected to complete peer-to-peer comments, inwhich they provide comments to each teammate, as well as write comments about themselves [14]. Theinstructor then releases these comments so that they are visible to the entire team via CATME®.This paper looks at the peer-to-peer comments submitted by students as part of their third peer evaluationassignment, completed at the end of the semester. Data analysis consisted of open coding, in whichcodes and categories emerged from the data [15
institutions will be presented.IntroductionVirtual mentoring is not a new practice, it has been in existence for over 20 years [5], [6] [7], [8],[9]. The online setting can seamlessly connect undergraduate students across the country withmentors, and the GradTrack program was initially started in 2021 during the COVID-19pandemic. Virtual mentoring has also been shown to increase sense of community, STEMachievement, career self-efficacy, and drive to persist in mentors and mentees [10].The GradTrack mentoring structure is a scalable group and peer mentoring model, with 2graduate student mentors from Purdue with 5-7 URM undergraduate student mentees fromacross the United States and Puerto Rico joined in a mentoring circle. The second iteration of
in the areas of research, teaching, and service. LEGACY wasintentionally developed to prepare and diversify the next generation of engineering leaders inacademia. Rybarczyk et al. (2011) argue that postdoctoral training should include independentresearch experience, productivity in the form of peer-reviewed publications, and improvement inscholar’s skills in grant writing (Rybarczyk et al., 2011). To prepare scholars, LEGACY trainsscholars in grant creation and management, research program development, and career mapping.Additionally, as LEGACY Director, Dr. Cox works with scholars to independently brandthemselves using social and professional networks so that more people can learn about thescholar and their work. Scholars also receive
, course expectations, and selecting a major. They alsoreceive tutoring for two core STEM courses in both fall and spring semesters. These sessionsreinforce classroom learning, offer a space for questions, and foster a collaborative learningenvironment among peers. Tutoring helps students understand lecture material, preventprocrastination, and prepare for exams (Louie, Knight, & Sullivan, 2011). Academic coaching ismandatory for first-year scholars and available to upperclassmen on an as-needed basis.Academic coaching covers topics such as time management, note-taking strategies, andacademic goal setting.Each first-year BEST scholar is paired with an upperclassman peer mentor based on theirintended major and interests. Mentors and mentees
higher rates than theirpeers. Students who are likely to persist in engineering reported supportive relationships withmentors, positive near peer role models, a strong sense of community, and an intention tocomplete their engineering major. Yet, accessing these support systems is often challenging forlow-income students, who are more likely to work long hours and spend more time off campusand less likely to have adequate opportunities to interact with others in their major and seethemselves in role models and as part of that community. The COVID-19 pandemic disruptedthe higher education plans and financial viability of UCSB engineering students, especially thosefrom low-income families. In addition to increased financial hardships, these
first workshop by Lindsay Marshall was focused onhelping PhD students overcome barriers to writing their dissertation, which is a source of anxietyfor PhD students and was a topic requested by members of the program. Students learned aboutmethods to organize their writing and overcome writing blocks. Resources for PhD graduatestudents to support their thesis writing were also shared with the group. The second workshopwas on time management for the busy student offered by the UIC Wellness Center. Finally, therewas a seminar on leadership by Dr. Jarrad Hampton-Marcell on science and being competitive inSTEM. We had a seminar on how to prepare for the postdoctoral search and maximizing theexperience as part of supporting their professional
discipline), and anarticle published in 2013 or later. The sources consulted to find the peer review articles for thismapping review were the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) PEER DocumentRepository and the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). In the remaining of thisarticle, we will refer to students with physical and sensory disabilities as students withdisabilities.Among the exclusion criteria, we chose to exclude studies that focused on students’ experiencesin online education, settings and accessibility in online or learning systems. K-12 and graduateeducation-focused students were also excluded for this review. Studies that focused on theperceptions and experiences of engineering educators, instructors or teachers
research. The students in the proposed undergraduate research programwere recruited from student organizations and success programs at the University of Texas atAustin that predominately target first-generation and/or socioeconomically disadvantagedstudents. The program bookends the research experience with a lecture series at the start and aresearch conference at the end. The lectures are an instructional component designed to providestudents with the skills to write a research question, create effective search strings, andcommunicate technical subject matter. The lecture series springboards students into a researchexperience where they are matched with a graduate student or faculty member that will mentorthem on their research. Thus, this work
, stereotype threat, and impostersyndrome [2], [3]. The systemic racism that BLI students experience manifests through STEMcurriculums that center the experiences of white1 people and exclude minoritized populations,BLI stereotypes that assume academic incompetence, persistent microaggressions, intersectionaloppression, exclusion and isolation, and lack of representation among faculty and peers of thesame race or ethnicity [4]–[7]. Systemic racism leads to heightened stereotype threat andimposter syndrome in BLI students, by increasing the pressure to prove one's academic ability,1 We deliberately chose to capitalize the terms Black, Latinx, and Indigenous while intentionally using lowercasewhen discussing whites and whiteness. In doing so, we resist
. ● Flexible Attendance: The attendance policy was revised to allow students to make up quizzes or assignments with prior arrangement, providing flexibility while maintaining accountability. ● Collaborative Homework: Students were permitted to complete homework assignments in groups of two or three. Student performance on subsequent homework- based quizzes was monitored to assess the impact on SLOs. This practice also fostered increased student interaction. ● Peer Support: Extra credit was offered for students who assisted classmates with assignments. The STEM center also offered in-person and remote peer tutoring. ● Group Projects: Semester-long, in-class group projects and accompanying papers were
students to explore and critically examine topics rarely addressed in traditionalcoursework. By engaging with readings about the history of engineering, students areempowered to re-evaluate their own positions within the field, recognize the diverse experiencesof others, and gain a broader understanding of the historical and societal contexts that shape theirwork. These discussions, combined with reflective writing and opportunities for personal andpeer-to-peer connections, facilitate deeper processing of the material. Without these interactiveelements, the impact of reading alone would be significantly diminished. Pláticas are
draw upon theirLinguistic, Familial, and Social Capitals more readily when compared to non-First-Generationstudents (see Table 5). The understanding and belief that First-Generation students possessunique cultural resources to their peers are evident in many other additional studies [Verdin &Godwin, 2015] and our survey results suggest these differences are emergent in the Linguisticand Familial capitals they possess and leverage.First-Generation students readily draw upon their Linguistic Capital assets as it relates to having(and sensing importance) to speak or write about engineering in more than one language (ItemsB and H). Moreover, First-Generation students tend to agree that it is necessary to speak or writeabout engineering in more
limited number of Graduate Research Assistantships, International Research Programs, Peer Mentoring, Professional Development Institute, Weekly Research Presentations, Global CUNY Conference. Ongoing Program Components - Collaborative Infrastructure, Institutionalized Workshop Instruction in Gatekeeper courses, Research AssistantshipsWhile in Phase I, the Learning Centers formed the hub of the activities for the NYC LSAMPproviding tutoring in STEM courses and workshops for the restructured gatekeeper courses, theACs did not require a STEM background and were full time positions at each campus. Initiallyfocused on the operation of the STEM Learning Centers across the LSAMP in Phase I (1992-1997), the role was institutionalized and changed to
LSAMP Scholars were also allowed to participatein BTD activities and are encouraged to apply directly to doctoral programs nationally and tocompete for Graduate Research fellowships. BTD scholars also act as peer mentors and rolemodels to undergraduate NYC LSAMP Scholars. Workshops on science and engineeringpresentations, writing workshops, the transition to graduate school, and survival skills ingraduate school are conducted by NYC LSAMP doctoral students and BTD Scholars. BTDScholars come from a variety of disciplines, have graduated from ten BA/BS degree grantingunits of CUNY, with five graduating from non-CUNY schools.Table 1. Bridge to the Doctorate Program Activity Bridge Scholar Activity Description 1
apply the knowledge acquiredin the first semester, for example, to replicate in a controlled laboratory environment, real-worldmissions like flight surveillance operations. Students’ schedules in the laboratory overlap toincrease peer interaction, collaboration, and mutual support. This study’s goals were to explore the high-impact research-oriented learning experiencesfor the Latinx undergraduate participants of the ROLE program and how they built strongtechnical skills while sharing space and knowledge with their fellow peers and mentors. Tworesearch questions framed this study. The first research question addresses the qualitative data,and the second research question informs the quantitative section of the study: 1. How did Latinx
marginalization in engineering settings, specifically focusing on students’ hiddenor non-apparent identities that their peers or professors are unaware of or maybe do not understand. Forrecruitment, we adopted an intentional nationwide strategy. We conducted 21 zoom interviews withstudents, each lasting 45 to 90 minutes and representing a variety of marginalized identity groups.As a way to establish rapport during the interview, we utilized a scaffolding strategy of showing aniceberg or identity wheel [14] containing many identities, including the concept that some identities aremore visible and/or apparent. In contrast, depending on context and person, some are less visible or non-apparent. Some prompts for all participants included: 1) How do you
outexternal means of support. Without the proper support systems within the institution, studentscan become isolated and unable to build the necessary support networks to persist [13]. It iscrucial to gain a better understanding of the current challenges that first-generation graduatestudents are facing as a result of current anti-DEI legislation. The present pilot study aims toexplore the range of experiences first-generation graduate students undergo at three HSI’slocated in three different states and are undergoing different outcomes since the Supreme Court’sdecision. At the time of writing, the current political climate is volatile and still evolving, whichcould influence our overall study and findings. For example, University C residing in a
Studies. She has served as Chair of her department and Associate Dean for Equity, Inclusion, and Faculty. Dr. Peele-Eady’s research examines African American students’ learning and identity formation and, more broadly, the social, cultural, and linguistic contexts of teaching and learning. Her publications appear in several peer-reviewed journals and edited books, including the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, the Anthropology and Education Quarterly, and the Handbook of the Cultural Foundations of Learning.Prof. Tahira Reid, Penn State University Dr. Tahira Reid Smith (publishes under ”Reid”) is a Professor at Pennsylvania State University in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Design
Articulation Programs; established the. Urban University Conference Series; established. NASA-Institute on Climate and Planets; and NASA Teacher Prep Program. Phase III 2002-2007 Bridge To the Doctorate began; Bridge to Teaching Program; DOE-MOU/Brookhaven National Lab Partnerships. Phase IV 2007-2012 Integrating Research Strategies (Course restructuring); CUNY Collaborations – College- Science and Technology Entry Programs, and the CUNY Black Male Initiatives; Bridge to the Doctorate Program ended. Phase V 2012-2018 Undergraduate and a limited number of Graduate Research Assistantships, International Research Programs, Peer Mentoring, Professional Development Institute, Weekly Research Presentations, Global CUNY Conference. Ongoing Program Components
on studentteams in engineering education into contact with the research on Black male experiences inengineering education. For example, while a key asset to Black men is their ability to draw onsame-gender support networks and friendships, Cross and Paretti (2020) observed that theirexperiences on student teams involved limited opportunities to develop friendships amongtheir peers. Additionally, while the positive expectations of mentors and professors could serveas a “self-fulfilling prophecy” (Burrell et al., 2015) students in Cross and Paretti’s study usedproactive efforts to dispel stereotypes among their peers in order to prevent negative self-fulfilling prophecies.To situate our proposed research among the broader scholarship on Black
-term and long-term educational planning, and discussing time management. Advocating. Recommending or supporting the protégé. Examples: writing support letters for graduate school applications, serving as a reference for scholarship applications, and nominating the protégé for special recognition. Facilitating. Assisting to make processes easy to bring about an outcome. Examples: Guiding conversations in the classroom or laboratory, referring the protégé to a campus resource or office. Mitigating. Lessening the adverse effects of circumstances, undue burden, or mistakes. Examples: sharing tactics to deal with micro-aggressions, giving words of encouragement, and providing perspective
and fewer of those who complete are women or minorities [5]. Studies [6] [7] observedthat the URMs are disadvantaged in STEM. On average, these URMs are 16 times less likely tobe ready for credit-bearing STEM coursework in college than their majority peers. TheCommittee on STEM Education of the National Science and Technology Council in its 2018report [8] identified goals to “increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM”, and “preparethe STEM workforce for the future” for the US to be the global leader in STEM literacy,innovation, and employment. Rendón et al. [10] reported several perceived challenges thatprecluded the success of Latinx (gender neutral term) STEM students, which are the same asobserved by several other social scientists
, Vancouver Dr. Dave Kim is Professor and Mechanical Engineering Program Coordinator in the School of Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Vancouver. His teaching and research have been in the areas of engineering materials, fracture mechanics, and manufacturing processes. In particular, he has been very active in pedagogical research in the area of writing pedagogy in engineering laboratory courses. Dr. Kim and his collaborators attracted close to $1M in research grants to study writing transfer of engineering undergraduates. For technical research, he has a long-standing involvement in research concerned with the manufacturing of advanced composite materials (CFRP/titanium stack, GFRP
students to illustrate a concept from waterchemistry. Details of the project have been published; see [10]. At the beginning of the semester,students were randomly grouped into teams of 4-5 (in one case a student dropped the courseresulting in a team of 3 students). Teams and/or individuals were assigned to write shortReflective Memos (RMs) throughout the semester in order to scaffold their learning throughtypes of innovative behaviors and cognitive skills (under Dyer’s innovator’s model [2-3]). Asdepicted in Table 1 below, two RMs were given as individual assignments (RM2 Observing andRM4 Networking), and three were assigned to be completed as a team (RM1 Questioning, RM3Experimenting, RM5 Associational Thinking).Table 1- Reflective Memo (RM
therealities around them to then act on this reality as intelligent subjects. As Charmaz (2014) writes,it is “situated in conceptions of justice and injustice”. For example, in discussing the role ofconscientizão in revolutionary leadership, Friere writes (p.67): The revolutionary leaders must realize that their own conviction of the necessity for struggle (an indispensable dimension of revolutionary wisdom) was not given to them by anyone else—if it is authentic. This conviction cannot be packaged and sold; it is reached, rather, by means of a totality of reflection and action. Only the leaders’ own involvement in reality, within an historical situation, led them to criticize this situation and wish to change it.Here