Impact of Dual Credit Introduction to Engineering Course on Female High School Students' Self-Efficacy and Decisions to Follow a Career in Engineering (Evaluation)

J. Jill Rogers; Amy Annette Rogers; James C. Baygents

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Pre-College: Perceptions and Attitudes on the Pathway to Engineering (2)
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education Division
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--28463
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/28463
Download Count: 956

Paper Authors

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J. Jill Rogers University of Arizona

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J. Jill Rogers is the assistant director for ENGR 102 HS at the University of Arizona. ENGR 102 HS is an AP-type, dual credit college level, introductory engineering course offered to high school students. In 2014, the ENGR 102 HS program won the ASEE best practices in K-12 and University partnerships award. Over the years Rogers has developed K-12 science summer camps, conducted K-12 educational research, developed engineering curricula for formal and informal education venues, and developed robotics outreach programs for children’s museums and K-12 schools. Rogers is a certified teacher and holds a Master’s of Science in Education. Her Master’s thesis topic examined middle school student attitudes towards robotics and focused on gender differences. She is a member of the National Science Teachers Association, Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O) and American Society for Engineering Education. Her interest lies in the K-12 pipeline to engineering and ways to bring young people, particularly under represented populations, into STEM careers.

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Amy Annette Rogers

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James C. Baygents University of Arizona

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James C. Baygents, Ph.D., is the associate dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Arizona. His primary responsibilities include academic affairs and recruitment, admissions and retention programs. Prof. Baygents is a member of the Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering (ChEE) and the Program in Applied Mathematics at the UA. He joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1991, the same year he received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton University. He also holds an M.A. (Princeton, 1981) and a B.S. (Rice, 1980) in chemical engineering. Jim has received the Arizona Mortar Board Senior Honor Society award for outstanding faculty service and the College of Engineering Award for Excellence at the Student Interface. In 1997, he was awarded an International Research Fellowship by the National Science Foundation for study at the University of Melbourne. Jim is lead for the ENGR 102 HS team that was recognized in 2014 by ASEE for best practices in K-12 University partnerships. In 2015, Jim was recognized by the SPE/ASCE as Southern Arizona Post-Secondary Educator of the Year.

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Abstract

ENGR 102 HS is a dual credit, introduction to engineering course offered in 38 high schools across Arizona and Southern California. ENGR 102 HS is taught by high school teachers in public, charter and private high schools. Since its pilot effort in academic year 2008-09, the ENGR 102 HS program has provided 2,131 high school juniors and seniors with three units of college credit while they explore the field of engineering as a possible career choice.

Many young people do not understand what engineering is and the creative work that engineers do. This is why a dual credit introduction to engineering course offered to high school students is so important. ENGR 102 HS curriculum focuses on presenting engineering as a helping profession that improves the human condition. Engineering service learning and biomedical projects are presented to pique the interest of a broad population of students. ENGR 102 HS allows students to try hands-on, design and build projects while still in high school where the risk is low and teacher scaffolding and contact time is high. This broad approach to an introduction to engineering course at the high school level is important to attracting the most diverse and brightest creative problem solvers into the profession.

This paper will briefly describe the ENGR 102 HS course curriculum. Five years of student course evaluation survey data (2011-2012 to 2015-2016) for 1469 students both female (N= 289) and male (N=1180) were explored. Statistically significant differences were found in the overall engineering self-efficacy of male and female students using independent sample t-tests. Univariate Analysis of Variance also revealed gender differences in the importance of various elements of self-efficacy to a student's interest in becoming an engineer. Specifically, self-efficacy in traditional STEM coursework predicted interest in becoming an engineer for male but not female students. For female students, experience in the ENGR 102 HS course was found to predict interest in becoming an engineer. This finding demonstrates the positive impact the ENGR 102 HS course has on female students.

Citation
Format

Rogers, J. J., & Rogers, A. A., & Baygents, J. C. (2017, June), Impact of Dual Credit Introduction to Engineering Course on Female High School Students' Self-Efficacy and Decisions to Follow a Career in Engineering (Evaluation) Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28463

TY - CPAPER
AB - ENGR 102 HS is a dual credit, introduction to engineering course offered in 38 high schools across Arizona and Southern California. ENGR 102 HS is taught by high school teachers in public, charter and private high schools. Since its pilot effort in academic year 2008-09, the ENGR 102 HS program has provided 2,131 high school juniors and seniors with three units of college credit while they explore the field of engineering as a possible career choice.

Many young people do not understand what engineering is and the creative work that engineers do. This is why a dual credit introduction to engineering course offered to high school students is so important. ENGR 102 HS curriculum focuses on presenting engineering as a helping profession that improves the human condition. Engineering service learning and biomedical projects are presented to pique the interest of a broad population of students. ENGR 102 HS allows students to try hands-on, design and build projects while still in high school where the risk is low and teacher scaffolding and contact time is high. This broad approach to an introduction to engineering course at the high school level is important to attracting the most diverse and brightest creative problem solvers into the profession.

This paper will briefly describe the ENGR 102 HS course curriculum. Five years of student course evaluation survey data (2011-2012 to 2015-2016) for 1469 students both female (N= 289) and male (N=1180) were explored. Statistically significant differences were found in the overall engineering self-efficacy of male and female students using independent sample t-tests. Univariate Analysis of Variance also revealed gender differences in the importance of various elements of self-efficacy to a student&#39;s interest in becoming an engineer. Specifically, self-efficacy in traditional STEM coursework predicted interest in becoming an engineer for male but not female students. For female students, experience in the ENGR 102 HS course was found to predict interest in becoming an engineer. This finding demonstrates the positive impact the ENGR 102 HS course has on female students.

AU - J. Jill Rogers
AU - Amy Annette Rogers
AU - James C. Baygents
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Impact of Dual Credit Introduction to Engineering Course on Female High School Students' Self-Efficacy and Decisions to Follow a Career in Engineering (Evaluation)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/28463
DO - 10.18260/1-2--28463
ER -