Engaging Underrepresented Community College Students in Engineering: A Model of Collaboration between Two-year and Four-year Institutions

Amelito G. Enriquez; Wenshen Pong; Hamid Shahnasser; Hamid Mahmoodi; Hao Jiang; Cheng Chen

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Attracting Young Minds: Part II
Tagged Division: Minorities in Engineering
Page Count: 19
Page Numbers: 25.532.1 - 25.532.19
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21290
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21290
Download Count: 489

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Paper Authors

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Amelito G. Enriquez Cañada College orcid.org/0000-0002-1259-0680

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Amelito Enriquez is a professor of engineering and mathematics at Cañada College. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Irvine. His research interests include technology-enhanced instruction and increasing the representation of female, minority, and other underrepresented groups in mathematics, science, and engineering.

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Wenshen Pong San Francisco State University

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Wenshen Pong received his Ph.D. degree in civil/structural engineering from SUNY, Buffalo, in 1994. He is currently a professor of civil engineering in the SFSU School of Engineering. His research interests focus on structural control and earthquake engineering. Pong has published more than 60 refereed journal or conference proceeding articles since he joined SFSU. Pong has received funding supported by the NSF, NASA, Department of Education, CSU, and private sectors. Overall, Pong has brought more than $2.2 million of funding to SFSU and has participated in grants of more than $8 million as a PI or Co-PI. Dr. Pong is a registered Professional Engineer in California. He is a member of ASCE, SEOAC, ASEE, and AISC. He actively interacts with professionals in various engineering communities and has served as a consultant for various engineering projects.

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Hamid Shahnasser San Francisco State University

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Hamid Mahmoodi San Francisco State University

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Hamid Mahmoodi received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 1998 and the M.S. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran, in 2000. He received his Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., in 2005. He is currently an Associate Professor of electrical and computer engineering in the School of Engineering at San Francisco State University. His research interests include low-power, reliable, and high-performance circuit design for nano-scale technologies. He has many publications in journals and conferences and five U.S. patents. He was a recipient of the 2008 SRC Inventor Recognition Award, the 2006 IEEE Circuits and Systems Society VLSI Transactions Best Paper Award, 2005 SRC Technical Excellence Award, and the Best Paper Award of the 2004 International Conference on Computer Design. He is a technical program committee member of the International Symposium on Low Power Electronics Design and the International Symposium on Quality Electronics Design.

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Hao Jiang San Francisco State University

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Hao Jiang has been with San Francisco State University since Aug. 2007 as an Assistant Professor in electrical engineering. Prior to joining SFSU, he worked for Broadcom Corporation, Jazz Semiconductor, and Conexant Systems, Inc. His research interests are in the area of applying wireless communication circuits into biomedical applications.

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Cheng Chen San Francisco State University

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Cheng Chen received his Ph.D. in structural engineering from Lehigh University. He joined the School of Engineering at San Francisco State University in 2009. His research interests include earthquake engineering and large-scale structural testing. Chen is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and the Structural Engineers Association of California.

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Abstract

Engaging Underrepresented Community College Students in Engineering: A Model of Collaboration between Two-year and Four-year InstitutionsAbstractCañada College, a Hispanic-Serving community college in California’s Silicon Valley attracts alarge number of students from underrepresented groups in engineering. Although many of thesestudents enter with high levels of interest in engineering, their success and transfer rates have beenlow primarily due to low levels of preparation for college-level work, especially in math, resultingin years of additional remedial coursework. To keep these students engaged and motivatedtowards achieving their academic goals, Cañada College’s Engineering Department collaboratedwith San Francisco State University School of Engineering to develop the Creating Opportunitiesfor Minorities in Engineering, Technology, and Science (COMETS) program. This three-yearprogram funded by NASA through the Curriculum Improvements Partnership Award for theIntegration of Research (CIPAIR) program includes a number of strategies developed to enhancethe success of underrepresented community college students in engineering. To increase studentengagement and success in foundational math and engineering courses, contextualized teachingand learning approaches that incorporate NASA-related content as hands-on activities and projectsare developed. A ten-week summer research internship program specifically designed forcommunity college students has also been developed. During the internship program, sophomorecommunity college students participate in research on various engineering topics includingperformance-based earthquake engineering, circuit design for biomedical applications, andembedded systems design. The COMETS program also gives an opportunity for communitycollege students to participate in year-long upper-division and senior design courses at SanFrancisco State University to help develop skills and attributes needed to succeed in a four-yearengineering program. Results from the first year of implementation of the program show successin achieving program objectives as evidenced by positive student responses to the curriculumenhancements, the quality of the results of student research activities, the overwhelming positivefaculty evaluation of student performance both the in the summer internship program and in theupper-division courses, and the encouraging student feedback on the various program componentsand activities. The partnership between Cañada College and San Francisco State Universitydeveloped through the COMETS program has the potential to serve a model of collaborationbetween a community college and a four-year engineering program to increase the participationand improve the success of underrepresented students in the engineering profession.

Citation
Format

Enriquez, A. G., & Pong, W., & Shahnasser, H., & Mahmoodi, H., & Jiang, H., & Chen, C. (2012, June), Engaging Underrepresented Community College Students in Engineering: A Model of Collaboration between Two-year and Four-year Institutions Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21290

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -             Engaging Underrepresented Community College Students in           Engineering: A Model of Collaboration between Two-year and                             Four-year InstitutionsAbstractCañada College, a Hispanic-Serving community college in California’s Silicon Valley attracts alarge number of students from underrepresented groups in engineering. Although many of thesestudents enter with high levels of interest in engineering, their success and transfer rates have beenlow primarily due to low levels of preparation for college-level work, especially in math, resultingin years of additional remedial coursework. To keep these students engaged and motivatedtowards achieving their academic goals, Cañada College’s Engineering Department collaboratedwith San Francisco State University School of Engineering to develop the Creating Opportunitiesfor Minorities in Engineering, Technology, and Science (COMETS) program. This three-yearprogram funded by NASA through the Curriculum Improvements Partnership Award for theIntegration of Research (CIPAIR) program includes a number of strategies developed to enhancethe success of underrepresented community college students in engineering. To increase studentengagement and success in foundational math and engineering courses, contextualized teachingand learning approaches that incorporate NASA-related content as hands-on activities and projectsare developed. A ten-week summer research internship program specifically designed forcommunity college students has also been developed. During the internship program, sophomorecommunity college students participate in research on various engineering topics includingperformance-based earthquake engineering, circuit design for biomedical applications, andembedded systems design. The COMETS program also gives an opportunity for communitycollege students to participate in year-long upper-division and senior design courses at SanFrancisco State University to help develop skills and attributes needed to succeed in a four-yearengineering program. Results from the first year of implementation of the program show successin achieving program objectives as evidenced by positive student responses to the curriculumenhancements, the quality of the results of student research activities, the overwhelming positivefaculty evaluation of student performance both the in the summer internship program and in theupper-division courses, and the encouraging student feedback on the various program componentsand activities. The partnership between Cañada College and San Francisco State Universitydeveloped through the COMETS program has the potential to serve a model of collaborationbetween a community college and a four-year engineering program to increase the participationand improve the success of underrepresented students in the engineering profession.
AU  - Amelito G. Enriquez
AU  - Wenshen Pong
AU  - Hamid Shahnasser
AU  - Hamid Mahmoodi
AU  - Hao Jiang
AU  - Cheng Chen
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engaging Underrepresented Community College Students in Engineering: A Model of Collaboration between Two-year and Four-year Institutions
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21290
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21290
ER  -