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Creating Social Capital: Developing Resources in a Cohort Program

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Engineering Programs and Institutional Factors

Tagged Division

Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)

Page Count

17

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42818

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42818

Download Count

268

Paper Authors

biography

Kiara Lynn Steinhorst University of Nevada, Reno

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Kiara is a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno in the Department of Engineering Education. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the same institution in 2022. Her research interests include facets of undergraduate engineering student experiences relating to social capital, hidden curriculum, barriers to entry and engagement on campus.

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Kelsey Scalaro University of Nevada, Reno

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Kelsey is a doctoral student in the School of Engineering Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. There she completed her Bachelor’s and is working on her Master of Science in mechanical engineering. Her research focuses are on undergraduate engine

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Rachael Ciara Young

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Rachael has experience working in kindergarten through college engineering education and is passionate about fostering access and excitement for STEM studies. She graduated with dual bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and environmental science in 2022. Rachael currently works in aerospace with an emphasis on avionics and electrical power systems.

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Indira Chatterjee University of Nevada, Reno

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Indira Chatterjee received her M.S. in Physics from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio in 1977 and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah in 1981. Indira is Associate Dean of Engineering and Professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, NV.

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Ann-Marie Vollstedt University of Nevada, Reno

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Ann-Marie Vollstedt is a teaching assistant professor for the College of Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Dr. Vollstedt completed her dissertation at UNR, which focused on exploring the use of statistical process control methods to assess course changes in order to increase student learning in engineering. Dr. Vollstedt teaches courses in engineering design as well as statics and runs the Engineering Freshmen Intensive Training Program. She is the recipient of the Paul and Judy Bible Teaching Excellence Award, F. Donald Tibbitt's Distinguished Teaching Award, The Nevada Women's Fun Woman of Achievement Award, and the UNR College of Engineering Excellence Award.

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Adam Kirn University of Nevada, Reno Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-6344-5072

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Adam Kirn is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education at University of Nevada, Reno. His research focuses on the interactions between engineering cultures, student motivation, and their learning experiences. His projects involve the study of studen

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Abstract

This qualitative research paper explores how undergraduate engineering students utilize social capital through the resources of a cohort program. Presented are the emerging themes generated from the data featuring descriptions of which parts of the cohort program were meaningful to undergraduate engineering students. This paper draws on social capital theory as an anti-deficit approach to guide the development of educational systems that support historically excluded students leveraging, developing, and utilizing relationships. The 16 participants in this study were in a four-year-long cohort and took part in focus groups at the end of each semester. This work focuses on the first two focus groups, representing the participants' first year in their engineering programs. Questions about how the cohort program helped the students prompted reflections on their experiences with the different facets of the program. These experiences were used to create themes representing the shared sentiment regarding the specific components of the program. Findings are presented to illustrate the importance of social capital development opportunities to first-year undergraduate students.

Steinhorst, K. L., & Scalaro, K., & Young, R. C., & Chatterjee, I., & Vollstedt, A., & Kirn, A. (2023, June), Creating Social Capital: Developing Resources in a Cohort Program Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42818

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015