Toys and Mathematical Options for Retention in Engineering (Toys’n MORE) Intermediate Outcomes for STEM Students Who Participated in Math Tutoring, a Toy-Based Freshman Engineering Design Course, or a Summer Bridge Program
- Conference
- Location
-
Atlanta, Georgia
- Publication Date
-
June 23, 2013
- Start Date
-
June 23, 2013
- End Date
-
June 26, 2013
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
-
NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
-
28
- Page Numbers
-
23.1256.1 - 23.1256.28
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--22641
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/22641
- Download Count
-
511
Paper Authors
Catherine L. Cohan Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Dr. Catherine Cohan is a research psychologist with over fifteen years of experience and expertise in quantitative assessment and measurement.
Alexander Yin Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Amy Freeman Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Dr. Amy L. Freeman is assistant dean of engineering diversity at Pennsylvania State University where she received her Ph.D. in Workforce Education and her M.S. in Architectural Engineering. She is co-PI on the NSF-sponsored Toys’n MORE grant and currently manages several retention programs targeting over 2000 women and underrepresented technical students at all levels of the academic and career development pipeline. She is also an executive member of the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA) organization.
Javier Gomez-Calderon Penn State NK
Dr. Javier Gomez-Calderon is a professor of mathematics and mathematics coordinator at Penn State-New Kensington. He is the author or co-author of 31 articles, four textbooks, four in-house booklets, and the faculty mentor of eight student publications. Dr. Gomez-Calderon served as the head of the Mathematics Division (fourteen campuses) from 2002 to 2006, as the Mathematics Division coordinator from 2010 to 2011, and obtained his Ph.D. in 1986 from the University of Arizona. Dr. Gomez-Calderon was the recipient of the 2007 Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching, the 2002 Commonwealth College Outstanding Research Award, and the 2001 Valley News Dispatch Coach of the Year, the 1997 New Kensington Excellence in Teaching Award, the 1996 Theresa Cohen Mathematics Service Award, and the 1989 New Kensington Excellence in Teaching Award.
Janice M. Margle P.E. Pennsylvania State University, Abington
Janice M. Margle is an associate professor of engineering at Penn State-Abington. She received her M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. She is co-PI and project manager of the NSF-Sponsored Toys’n MORE grant and currently teaches introductory thermodynamics and introductory engineering design courses. She is active in promoting activities to increase the number of women and minorities in engineering. She is a licensed professional engineer and has worked for IBM, the Navy, NASA, PPL, and private industry.
Jill L Lane Clayton State University
Dr. Jill Lane has more than fifteen years experience working with faculty and teaching assistants on methods to enhance teaching and learning. She has conducted various workshops on teaching methods at universities and at international conferences. While at Penn State, she worked with numerous departments on course restructuring and collaborated with more than 300 faculty members on the design, assessment, and evaluation of their courses. She is currently the dean of assessment and instructional development at Clayton State University, where she oversees faculty development and accreditation activities. Lane holds a doctorate of education in Instructional Systems from Penn State, a master’s of education in Computing in Education from Rosemont College, and a bachelor of science in Mathematics Education from Penn State. Her research centers on the sustainability of innovations in education.
Dhushy Sathianathan California State University, Long Beach
Dr. Sathianathan has been the associate dean for academic programs in the College of Engineering at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) since 2009. He has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University, and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University. Dr. Sathianathan has been actively involved in engineering education initiatives since 1994. Especially focused on retention, he led several NSF-funded initiatives to enhance engineering education. He is the co-founder of the Center for Engineering Design and Entrepreneurship. He is a Boeing Welliver faculty fellow. He has received the Boeing Outstanding Educator Award, and DOW Outstanding Faculty Award for his work in engineering education.
Renata S. Engel P.E. Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Dr. Renata Engel is the associate dean for academic programs in the College of Engineering at Penn State and has been a member of the Penn State faculty since 1990. Dr. Engel’s research couples her interest in design and manufacturing with advanced materials with a focus on computational modeling. She has been involved in the scholarship of teaching and learning primarily to infuse design into the curriculum. For her contributions, she has received several individual and collaborative teaching awards, and is a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education. She has held several leadership positions in ASEE including those in the Middle Atlantic Section, and Mechanics Division. She has served on ASEE’s Board of Directors, and was ASEE President from 2010 to 2011.
Abstract
Toys and Mathematical Options for Retention in Engineering (Toys’n MORE) Intermediate Outcomes for STEM Students Who Participated in Math Tutoring, a Toy-Based Freshman Engineering Design Course, or a Summer Bridge ProgramThis paper presents data based on the implementation of a project referred to as Toys andMathematical Options for Retention in Engineering (Toys’n MORE). Funded by the NationalScience Foundation (NSF), the goal of this project is to increase the number of Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors by 10%.The Toys’n MORE project is being conducted by the College of Engineering at _____ throughan NSF-sponsored Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent ExpansionProgram grant (STEP grant #0756992). The project involves the College of Engineering and 13geographically-dispersed campuses in the _____ system. These campuses are feeder schools forthe main campus and offer associate and bachelor degrees in STEM majors. The project is basedon four strategies, including three interventions plus one assessment and evaluation component.The three interventions include: (a) tutoring programs that serve four foundational mathematicscourses (three pre-calculus and one calculus); (b) a freshman toy-based engineering designcourse (called Toy FUN-damentals) in which dissection and re-design of toys are used to engagestudents in a positive environment; and (c) a summer bridge program at three regional campusesto facilitate the transition from high school to college for incoming underrepresented engineeringstudents. The strength of this project lies in the comprehensive scope of the interventions as wellas its large sample size.Moving into the final year of data collection, the focus is on assessing how successful theinterventions are in increasing the proportion of STEM majors. Because none of the cohortshave yet graduated, graduation data are not available. However, intermediate outcome measuresare available for review at this time. Covering six semesters of data collection, this paperfocuses on intermediate outcomes for each of the three interventions. First, this paper presentsdata on math course grades and cumulative grade point averages for students enrolled in theenhanced math tutoring program compared to students who are not enrolled in the math tutoringprogram. Second, this paper discusses an indicator of retention in engineering (proportion ofstudents who passed the entrance-to-major criteria) for students enrolled in a toy-based freshmanengineering design course compared to students enrolled in other freshman design courses.Third, this paper examines the success of the summer bridge programs by examiningparticipants’ grade point average for the fall semester of their freshman year, their freshman yearmath course grades, and their likelihood of fulfilling the entrance-to-major criteria for a STEMmajor.
Cohan, C. L., & Yin, A., & Freeman, A., & Gomez-Calderon, J., & Margle, J. M., & Lane, J. L., & Sathianathan, D., & Engel, R. S. (2013, June), Toys and Mathematical Options for Retention in Engineering (Toys’n MORE) Intermediate Outcomes for STEM Students Who Participated in Math Tutoring, a Toy-Based Freshman Engineering Design Course, or a Summer Bridge Program Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--22641
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: © 2013 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