Engineering Education, 2019 Reflections on Eight Years of Undergraduate Research at Our Community CollegeAbstractSince 2010, San Antonio College (SAC) has been the center of a continuously increasing familyof undergraduate research projects hosted by Texas’ first Math, Engineering, and ScienceAchievement (MESA) Center. A paper presented at the 2012 ASEE Conference in San Antoniodescribed the start of this program at this community college. It has been widely reported thatundergraduate research programs at four-year institutions increase retention, improve students’success, and produce higher quality graduates. Results demonstrate that two-year institutions canalso initiate and maintain successful
from one of the state colleges in our state. In order to create a shared understanding of the assetsthat transfer students bring to our institution, two faculty worked closely with two undergraduate studentsand one adviser. Data collection involved guided reflection writing by the two students and adviser ontopics as informed by the theoretical framework. These reflections bring to light some psychological,social, cognitive, and environmental resources that students in transition can draw on to maximizesuccess and minimize the transfer shock phenomenon.IntroductionTransfer students and their transitions to four-year institutions from two-year/community collegeshas been the focus of many investigations and programs. Research has shown that
, demonstrate, and maintain), reflected a 15% similarityamong the top 20 most frequently mentioned verbs found in the compared documents.Total and Unique Verb Match. There were 438 total verbs in the AM Curriculum Framework to415 in the AM Competency Model, and of those 16.21% (n=71) and 43.13% (n=179) wereunique verbs, respectively. The UM between the AM Framework and AM Competency Model is23.03% (Low), while TM has a DMS of 0.34 (Very low).Categorized Verbs. Verbs were categorized according to the Cognitive Dimension of Bloom’sRevised Taxonomy to identify similarities and differences between AM Framework and the AMCompetency Model. In Table 3, we see the frequency verbs in each of the categories and thecorresponding percentage of verbs in each of
possible.(Table 1). Students were then 3. If you were to describe your cohort to someone that has no experiencesasked to reflect on their midpoint with your cohort, what would you say? Please be as specific as possible.written responses and provide any 4. Describe how your cohort functions on assignments related your undergraduate research project, such as the concrete mix design and labamendments to these responses report. Be as specific as possible.during an interview with the 5. How do you think others perceive you in the cohort? Be as specific as possible.researcher at the
transcribedand coded using Dedoose software. A coding scheme was developed inductively based oncommonly occurring themes and themes relevant to existing literature. The aim of this study wasto identify factors contributing to persistence of women in engineering, so particular attention waspaid to respondents’ reflections on both supports received and barriers faced in their pursuit ofengineering at a community college. Detailed demographic characteristics of interviewrespondents are reported in Appendix B.FindingsMotivation to study engineering and choice of majorResearch indicates that about 70% of students who complete bachelor’s degrees in engineeringintended to do so as early as their senior year in high school and motivations for
havelimited documented evidence of their effectiveness. To better address their needs and provide afoundation for future efforts to support transfer student success at four-year institutions such asUC Davis, it is necessary to obtain relevant knowledge regarding barriers to facing thesestudents.The objective of this paper is to present identified barriers to UC Davis College of Engineeringtransfer student success and to document perceptions and experiences of these transfer students.Data was obtained through an analysis of survey data from upper division engineering studentsand three focus groups of transfer students. Current transfer students both confirmed previouslyreported barriers and identified new barriers, reflecting their struggle with a
grants departments andlimited support staff. While a handful had previously received grants or funding from otheragencies, most had no culture of grants at the organizational level and limited capacity to managethem. In several cases, the college administration had encouraged the teams to pursue Mentor-Connect or ATE applications more generally, lending critical support. Three of the colleges hadpursued mentoring after previous failed attempts at ATE proposals.Benefits and SuccessesUpon reflection of the successes associated with their involvement in Mentor-Connect, collegerepresentatives reported a number of benefits and improvements within their institutions andbeyond. These are presented at three levels: 1) institutional-level benefits; 2
) participate in an organizedservice activity that meets identified community needs, and (b) reflect on the service activity insuch a way as to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of thediscipline, and an enhanced sense of personal values and civic responsibility” (p. 112). Service-learning has been found to enhance students’ collaboration skills [5], civic engagement,interpersonal skills [6], [7], and their ability to apply knowledge to problem-solving [8].There is a large variety of service-learning projects developed at other institutions of higherlearning [9] – [11] such as EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service), PROCEED(PROGRAM FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN ENGINEERING DESIGN), PublicService Design
, the CC faculty attended 4 research seminars throughout the summer that focusedon the research being conducted by faculty on UCB campus in various areas. The CC facultyalso attended sessions by the leaders of the research topics (alternative energy, cyber security,wearable medical devices, green and sustainable manufacturing, and nanotechnology) that gavethem an overall view of current research goals and progress. The goal of hosting these seminarsis to describe real world problems being worked on, as well as providing access to leading-edgeresearch outside of their own primary laboratory.Beyond these seminars and workshops, CC faculty were asked to complete weekly homeworkassignments that asked them to reflect on their research progress and
opportunities.Qualitative ResultsQualitative feedback from KickStarter participants collected in regular surveys during theprogram indicate that the KickStarter process is highly valuable in building strategic STEMeducation research capacity at the 24 participating 2-yr HSIs. Participants have also reportedimproved ability to achieve other federal grants. Examples of qualitative comments include:KickStarter has provided us with the infrastructure to develop a strong leadership team,evidence-based goals and a strategic action plan, and well-written proposals that reflect NSF'sambitions.Everyone at the college involved in STEM agrees about the goals in the STEM plan. Making thegoals more tangible and focused is helping us to anchor proposals in a way we
, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, or some EnvironmentalSciences. If we consider attrition from subsequent courses in these sequences, only about 33% ofstudents who enter the CHEM I and II sequence complete it, and only 40 of every 100 do so inthe Physics sequence.These attrition points reflect the reality that the vast majority of Skyline College students,including many interested in pursuing STEM-related careers, are not ready for college-levelmath when they get to the college. On the math placement test administered to students enrollingfor the first time in Fall 2014, only 16% of students placed in Transfer-Level Math(Trigonometry). Far fewer Latinos (5.4%), African Americans (7.1%), or Pacific Islanders(11.1%) did so. In fact, 60% of the
] indicates is one way to ensure robust qualitative research.The research team also wrote analytic memos after each interview and openly discussed broadthemes that emerged from discussions with transfers. Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña [36]assert that analytic memos allow scholars to “reflect on and write about how [they] personally[relate] to the participants” (pp. 34-35). All transcripts were systematically and inductivelycoded individually by at least two members of the team; after coding transcripts individually, theteam then convened as a group of two or more to openly discuss and categorize themes thatcaptured crucial elements of participants’ experiences.In consideration of prior studies involving underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities
fromtalent identification up to bachelor’s or master’s degree completion. This paper outlines thedevelopment, implementation, and evaluation of the Holistic Programmatic Approach for Transfer(HPAT) model. The model is built on a well-thought-out program design reflected in a transferarticulation agreement and a joint commitment to quality and student success. Integral to theapproach is the requirement that the rigor of the curriculum at the community college matches thatof the 4-year partner. In addition, faculty, administration, and staff work synchronously andcollaboratively to provide intentional student support at each institution, with financial assistanceup to the master's degree completion. Holistic student support implements the
Kudo Cards to praise students for their achievements, critical reflection journalingand collaborative inquiry to improve teaching practice, and formation of a cross-institutionalaffinity group among EESTEM II participants to magnify equity-mindedness by developingequity agents. A total of 72 people attended the webinar out of the 128 registered. Seventeen oftwenty responses to the post-webinar survey indicated that the webinar exceeded or mostly mettheir expectations for learning how to build equitable learning environments in CTE and STEM.Fifteen agreed that their confidence level for implementing strategies to foster an equitableSTEM/CTE learning environment improved. All participants agreed that some or many of theirquestions were answered
of academic careers for fellows across theintersectional identities of race/ethnicity, gender, first-generation status, personal experience as acommunity college student, and Pell Grant status as an undergraduate. Given the need forcommunity colleges to hire faculty in STEM fields that are reflective of their racially and ethnicallydiverse student population, the research findings will serve to offer recommendations for futurework that is geared towards effectively preparing Hispanic STEM doctoral students to consideracademic careers at teaching-intensive institutions such as community colleges.To achieve the above-referenced goals in this grant, three research tasks are being pursued. Theprimary, and most labor intensive, is conducting semi
fastest-growing segment reaching 30% of the U.S. populationwhile becoming the youngest group comprising 33.5% of those under 18 years by 2060 [14].The demand for skilled workers in STEM fields will be met when workers reflect the diversity ofthe population [15], therefore more students—of all ages and backgrounds—must be broughtinto community colleges and supported through graduation: a central focus of communitycolleges everywhere [16] [17]. While Latinx students are as likely as Caucasian students tomajor in STEM, their completion numbers drop dramatically [18] as Latinx students often havedistinct needs that evolved from a history of discrimination in the educational system [19] [20][21].HSIs do not by default support Latinx students in
’ awareness of and preparation forcareers in instrumentation and manufacturing.This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation's AdvancedTechnological Education Program under Grant #1801177. Any opinions, findings, andconclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.Rationale for ProjectThe United States workforce faces a shortage in skilled workers, especially in jobs requiringindustry relevant skills but not necessarily four-year degrees. According to a report by theNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 3.4 million skilled technical jobsare expected to be unfilled by 2022 [1]. Additional
prerequisite structures present ina curriculum, the instructional complexity intends to capture the curriculum’s qualitativecomponents. Heileman et al. [14] admit this is a difficult task, especially in terms of quantifyinglatent qualities of such a system. Like structural complexity, we associate each course with ameasure that reflects its position in the overall curriculum – however, it does not appear to have aspecific name like ‘cruciality.’ The individual course instructional complexity is proxied by thepass/fail rate of the course. One could find the average pass/fail rate for the curriculum,mirroring the use of summing blocking and delay factors to calculate structural complexity, butthis could be a weak measure. Order and concurrency or
a collaboration betweenLouisiana Delta Community College (LDCC) and Louisiana Tech University (LA Tech), withpilot partner Bossier Parish School for Technology & Innovative Learning (BPSTIL), to expandinstrumentation workforce pathways for high school students in Louisiana. This material is basedupon work supported by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological EducationProgram under Grant No. 1801177. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendationsexpressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views ofthe National Science Foundation.This paper presents a detailed account of the course mapping process; a final table of learningobjectives that meet LDCC dual enrollment and
. • REU Collaboration: The REU program joined another REU program site to build unity, professional skills, and share research. The REUs were then exposed to different types of research as well as receive feedback from a different perspective. • Electronic Portfolios (e-portfolios): Students used e-portfolios to document their deliverables, experiences, and research throughout the ten weeks. The REU Program selected the Portfolium platform due to its similarity to other social media sites. Students created ten posts that focused on reflection. Posts included descriptions, teammate tagging, and the skills learned. The intention was for students to develop stronger transferable skills [3
semester; they didnot start at Penn State as a first-time freshman due to transfer or being readmitted.A summary of the cohort demographics is provided in Table 1. On average, the freshman cohortsincluded about twice as many men as women. The demographics also reflect the regionalcampus population of fewer underrepresented minority (URM) students and higher percentage offirst generation college students. In general, first generation students are less likely to participatein undergraduate research [14].Table 1. Demographics of Research Program Participants Grouped by Cohort Freshman Total Head Gender FIRST Cohort Count F M URM INT GEN 2012 7
and Marshall College. Hye Rin’s research interests are self-reflection, academic interventions, online learning in education, mea- surement, temporal motivation, and resilience in students with disabilities. Specifically, her research focuses on (1) creating an effective intervention that helps URMs persist and continue on in STEM ma- jors via the social media platform, YouTube; (2) examining the nuances related to various measures of academic self-related motivational beliefs; (3) resilient students who achieve high levels of academic per- formance despite their disability; and (4) combining aspects of cognitive and positive psychology to study individual differences in motivation, particularly in exploring
community college faculty can contact the MNT-ECor visit our website (micronanoeducation.org) for more information on joining this program.AcknowledgementsThis project was supported by the Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC), NSF ATEDUE 200028, and by the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN), NSF EEC 1227110. Theopinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.References: 1. J. A. Hewlett, “Broadening Participation in Undergraduate Research Experiences (UREs): The Expanding Role of the Community College,” CBE-Life Sciences Education, Aug. 2018. 2. G. Bangera, S. E. Brownell, “Course-Based
awareness activities, transfer transition support, cohesive learningcommunities, and scholarships. The program’s emphasis on an uncommon pathway toengineering reflected both the anticipated attraction of new students plus the shift of students totwo-year pre-engineering programs in response to the Tennessee Promise initiative, whichprovides free tuition at all state community colleges beginning in the fall of 2015. The proposedpathway to a senior engineering school was designed to pre-empt the unintended but wellrecognized consequences of students starting their engineering training at two-year schools byimproving student preparedness for transfer, providing structured support for students preparingto transfer, and rapidly establishing connection
barriers to student success in highereducation. The goal is to provide participants with opportunities to critically examine theintersections of their strengths with their social/cultural identities to support students as theytransfer from community college to a highly selective predominantly white institution. Ultimately, though the data currently reflects a small number of transfer studentparticipants, our plan is to gather more information over the course of the next academic year toquantify how and how many transfer students participate in extra- and co-curricular activities.Ultimately, we intend to describe the impact participation has on their sense of belonging and thedevelopment of their engineering and computer science identity, and
infacilitating communication between stakeholders and for helping to achieve many importantgoals of the project. These personnel include Mr. Daniel Sullivan, the STEM-NSF Grant ProjectManager, Ms. Elaine Young, the NSF Grant Coordinator, Ms. Eileen Swiatkowski, SeniorGrants Specialist, and Ms. Kathryn Strang, Director of Compliance, Assessment and Research.The authors also wish to gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation(NSF), through the Division of Undergraduate Education DUE), which made this effort possibleunder DUE-1601487. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed inthis material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NationalScience Foundation.The authors
diversity efforts with ETSscholarships and matriculation activities. The targeted transfer institutions and communitycolleges had high student enrollments of African American and Hispanic American students, twohistorically underrepresented groups in STEM fields in the US. Twenty-two (22) of the thirty-five (35) ETS participants were underrepresented minority (URM) students. Almost half (17/35)of ETS participants transferred to TAMU as electrical and computer engineering (ECE) (13) orcomputer science (4) majors. Ultimately, 29 of the 35 (about 83%) ETS participantscompleted bachelor degrees after transferring to TAMU. This paper discusses activities,successes, and challenges during the project implementation and reflections on importantfindings
supporting students.Project Mission and Reflection on the COVID-19 Impact on ProjectThe COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant impact across all sectors of the economy, education,and even people’s daily lives have challenged us to embrace system-wide digital transformationinitiatives and rapid-cycle innovations. Like many post-secondary institutions, FAU isreconfiguring itself and the education it is providing students in ways previously unexpected. TheTitle III Leadership Team has been working within our own College of Engineering and ComputerScience as well as in close collaboration with our State College partners to maximize our strengthsand resources in ways that enable us to more efficiently reach every student desiring to completea quality post
theadvantage of one of the largest and most diverse populations of learners in the state of Florida. TheBC and PBSC student populations reflect the socioeconomic and ethnic diversity of the SouthFlorida area, with a majority of the enrolled students hailing from minority backgrounds.The articulation program has intended to build a sustainable and growing pipeline of studentsenrolling in Computer Engineering and Computer Science majors. The implementation of theprogram has centered on student success. As we prepared the program, we asked, “What dostudents need to successfully decide/get into college?” In addition to the reducing the worryabout how they would pay for College, we recognized that students need support in terms ofmentoring and advising
18 8 Figure 16: To what extent do you expect Social Issues to be challenging at our university?Overall, their expectations reflected their earlier experiences with maybe a slightly higheramount of angst being at a bigger, and perceived to be more rigorous school.Conclusions: Overall, our findings were fairly consistent with existing studies. The studentswere for the most part concerned with financial aspects of their education. Most chose going to a2-year school first in order to lower their overall educational costs. They also reported a higherlevel of concern over financial resource issues than most of the other issues addressed by thesurvey.Our findings also supported the idea that proximity to home was important to low