With Active Flipped Learning (AFL) model, some STEM instructors and education instructors at HBCUs provided instructional video, audio, lecture notes, and reading materials while initiating active learning activities in class to engage students in active flipped learning. By monitoring students’ engagement, instructors formulated a custom-tailored plan to fit each under-representative student in STEM. After practicing the longitudinal research for three years, some results were found during the procedure. The AFL model is effective in improving the performance of under-represented students in various science disciplines, including engineering, physics, and mathematics. It helps foster a deep understanding of STEM disciplines among these students, encourages them to engage more in STEM learning, and eventually leads to personalized data-driven learning in STEM education for them.

Authored by
Dr. Jing Yan (Tennessee State University) and Dr. Lin Li P.E. (Tennessee State University)

The Alternative Pathways to Excellence (APEX) Program at the University of St. Thomas, funded by NSF as an S-STEM Track 2 project, aims to solidify transfer pathways, and assist Engineering students by providing financial, academic, and practical support.

The successful integration of transfer students into engineering programs presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for higher education institutions. The APEX program offers a spectrum of student support services, both structured and informal mentoring, curricular and co-curricular supports, and collaborative activities. The program is designed to forge accessible pathways into engineering careers for students with high academic potential, who are facing financial constraints by granting annual S-STEM scholarships to a select group of students.

This paper describes a layered mentoring approach adopted by our team that encompasses both pre-application and post-application phases. We explore the pivotal roles played by peers, faculty members, and industry advisors in mentoring aspiring engineers through their educational journey.

The paper describes the support structures and strategies implemented before students apply to engineering programs, shedding light on how early mentoring can influence students' preparedness and motivation to pursue engineering degrees. This paper also reports on the ongoing mentoring and support mechanisms vital for transfer students during their engineering studies. Peer mentoring, faculty mentoring, and industry advisor mentorship are all integral components of this stage. Furthermore, the paper discusses the training routines and strategies employed to prepare faculty, industry advisors, and peer mentors for their roles in supporting engineering students. This training ensures that mentors are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to guide students effectively, foster their academic growth, and nurture their professional aspirations.

Authored by
Dr. Katherine Acton (University of St. Thomas), Dr. Jennifer E. Holte (University of St. Thomas), Dr. Deborah Besser (University of St. Thomas), and Dr. Kundan Nepal (University of St. Thomas)

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the S-STEM project, STEM CONNECT (Award No. 1930211) involves a partnership among three institutions (including one bachelor’s degree-awarding and two associate’s degree-awarding institutions) aimed at supporting cohorts of low-income, high achieving students (“Scholars”) to succeed in obtaining a STEM degree that emphasizes computer science and mathematics. The project is particularly interested in supporting women, underrepresented minorities, first generation students, transfer students, and rural students. The project uses a variety of mechanisms to support Scholars, including providing academic support through tutoring, connecting Scholars with faculty and peer mentors, developing community-building activities (e.g., Puzzle Hunts, documentary viewings), and providing career development activities (e.g., tours of local engineering and technology businesses).

In this poster session, we present an analysis of data on students’ academic progress (e.g., grades, graduation rates) and STEM work experiences (e.g., internships, research opportunities) as well as a qualitative analysis of student interview data to describe to what extent and how project structures and activities have helped Scholars to persist in their selected STEM majors and STEM career pathways. Specifically, we conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of data from student focus groups held over a period of three years (three in Spring 2021, nine in Spring 2022, and eight in Spring 2023), during which Scholars were asked to reflect on and evaluate components of the project, as well as interviews with five women Scholars about their experiences. We used theories of capital (e.g., social capital theory, Yosso’s cultural wealth model) to aid in the development of themes. Overall, Scholars valued the extent to which the project invested in their educational and professional success. Major themes highlight the importance of mentors, positioning Scholars as STEM professionals, and academic support structures in increasing Scholars’ sense of belonging and desire to persist in STEM. Mentors were shown to play a critical role in a.) supporting times of transition (e.g., transitioning from applied to proof-based courses, transitioning from small class sizes at a community college to large enrollment courses at a bachelor’s degree-awarding institution) b.) helping Scholars get “a foot in the door” to obtain relevant work experiences and c.) assisting students in navigating academic structures perceived as barriers to their academic pathway. Scholars also valued project opportunities that allowed students to envision themselves as professionals (e.g., through speakers who talked about their professional journey, by interacting with “like-minded peers” that have similar “goals and drives”) and that positioned Scholars as professionals (e.g., by inviting Scholars to serve as panelists at local events, by giving students funding to attend a STEM conference). Further, Scholars appreciated the project’s efforts to enroll scholars in the same sections of courses, as Scholars saw the value in being able to collaborate with peers that they know. Finally, an overarching theme from these data was that project structures and activities were often successful because they built upon the assets (e.g., aspirations) that Scholars brought with them to college.

Authored by
Dr. Rachel Funk (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Jim Lewis (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Leilani Pai (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Johan Benedict Cristobal (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), and Brittany Rader (Affiliation unknown)

The mission of this National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) National Center is to cultivate and nurture partnerships with advanced manufacturing stakeholders, creating a national network throughout the United States to further develop a diverse technical workforce. According to a study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, “Over the next decade, 4 million manufacturing jobs will likely be needed, and 2.1 million are expected to go unfilled if we do not inspire more people to pursue modern manufacturing careers.” Through the collaboration of this National Center and project grant, both funded by the NSF ATE program, a series of mechatronics professional development workshops have been expanded to include participants from nine additional states and will continue to expand nationally. This paper will provide overviews of the aforementioned NSF ATE grants, the related advanced manufacturing programs and dual enrollment pathway in mechatronics, and the professional development workshops offered to high school and community college educators.

During the professional development workshops, participants learn about a pathway that gives high school students access to four online entry-level, hands-on mechatronics courses and best practices for delivering those courses. They also build a mechatronics trainer based on which of the four levels the workshop is covering. Participants keep the trainer for use in their own classrooms along with corresponding curriculum. Upon completion of the workshop participants complete a survey and are contacted an additional two times throughout the following year to discuss impacts of the professional development including if the mechatronics curriculum or pathway were implemented and any enrollment, completion, and workforce data improvements.

Authored by
Dr. Karen Wosczyna-Birch (National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing) and Wendy Robicheau (Affiliation unknown)

In recent years, engineering has been increasingly incorporated into K-12 classrooms, even though K-12 teachers commonly have no prior experience with engineering or training in how to teach engineering. Therefore, schools cannot scale their programs to meet the criteria needed to teach engineering effectively. As a result, many teachers hold common misconceptions about what engineers do and have low self-efficacy with teaching engineering, leading to a lack of interest in engineering among K-12 students. Research indicates that students tend to hold stereotypical and narrow perceptions of engineering, which in turn limits their interest in engineering as a future career choice. Previous research indicates that to improve engineering literacy in the United States and support the professional formation of engineers, there is a critical need to provide engineering education training to pre-service teachers, especially those mathematics and science teachers who are most likely to be teaching standalone engineering courses and other related courses where engineering practices can be most effectively integrated into the curriculum. However, there are currently very few colleges of education that provide any training to prepare pre-service teachers to teach engineering.
In this study, pre-service teachers and engineering undergraduate students worked together to learn about engineering education and develop engineering-focused activities for use in K-12 classrooms. A new course model was created that utilized a hybrid community of practice where students learned about engineering education and worked together to support local K-12 schools by engaging in service learning. This project explored the ways in which participation in this course impacted pre-service teachers’ perceptions of engineering and engineering teaching self-efficacy. We first administered a survey designed to measure engineering teaching self-efficacy to pre-service teachers at the beginning and end of the course. In addition, pre-service teachers also completed reflective journals throughout the course in which they were asked to reflect on how specific aspects of the course impacted their understanding of the nature of engineering and their confidence in their ability to teach engineering. Finally, students who completed the course were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. During interviews, participants were asked about their perceptions of engineering and were asked to sort a list of characteristics that an engineer must or must not have. They were also asked to reflect on their confidence in their ability to teach engineering in the future and on how their perceptions of engineering and self-efficacy had changed after participating in the course. All interview transcripts and reflective journals were analyzed qualitatively using an open coding method to identify common themes in the responses.
The quantitative survey results demonstrated that the engineering teaching self-efficacy of pre-service teachers increased after participating in this course. Furthermore, in both interviews and reflective journals, students indicated that they felt more confident in their ability to teach engineering by the end of the course, with many saying that they now had a better understanding of engineering as a field and how to teach it than they had before. Participants also stated that they felt like more exposure to engineering and training on how to teach engineering would further increase their self-efficacy and willingness to teach engineering in K-12.

Authored by
Dr. Betsy Chesnutt (University of Tennessee at Knoxville)

There are well-known and widespread issues that come with recruiting and retaining a diverse group of students into STEM majors. Financial strain for students (Xu, 2016), course workload (Sithole et al., 2017), and institutional quality are highlighted in the literature (Ash & Schreiner, 2016; White et al., 2018; Xu, 2016). Our program, The High Achievers in STEM (BHAS), utilizes the concept of a learning community as the central nexus for providing services to students in order to recruit and retain students in STEM majors. Along with full academic scholarships, BHAS scholars are members of a learning community that extends into various aspects of life on campus. The learning community concept has been shown to facilitate the development of relationships between students by combining their academic and social interests (Hoffman et al., 2002; White et al., 2019). Learning communities have also been shown to increase student retention, especially for students in STEM majors who may be faced with some of the challenges noted above (Solanki et al., 2019; Hoffman et al., 2002). During the COVID-19 pandemic, connection to the BHAS learning community sustained the Sense of Community (SOC) (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) experienced by our scholars, enabling them to persist (Authors, 2021). By empowering and sustaining the SOC within our learning community throughout the life of the BHAS program, we have successfully recruited and retained a diverse group of STEM scholars. One hundred percent of BHAS scholars across all five years came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. On average, 46.34% of BHAS scholars were non-White, which is more than double the percentage of racial or ethnic diversity in our overall student population (19%). Overall retention rates for the five STEM majors who participated in BHAS ranged from 96.0% to 100%. Graduation rates ranged from 89.7% to 95.7%. Non-BHAS students in the same five STEM majors had retention rates that were 22-23% lower than BHAS scholars across time. From the beginning of BHAS (fall 2018) until the end of the last academic year (spring 2023), the program has served a total of 63 students, with 54 students graduating from either an undergraduate or a graduate degree to date. BHAS programming consists of a three-pronged approach, including a weekly seminar, a research team led by a faculty mentor, and a study hall. Research teams comprised students in the same major or a diverse group of students from various complementary disciplines. At the beginning of each academic year, social events were hosted to help new BHAS students assimilate into the learning community. At the end of each semester, research teams met to present progress and findings for their projects in a mini research conference-style session. BHAS scholars across all five years of data reported high levels of satisfaction with the BHAS program in general, with the research team and mentoring rated higher than study halls. SOC was consistently rated as high, and STEM Affinity, as measured by the STEM Affinity Scale, was also consistently high.

Authored by
Dr. Rahman Tashakkori (Appalachian State University), Dr. Jennifer R. McGee (Appalachian State University), and Dr. Cindy Norris (Appalachian State University)

This paper describes an NSF S-STEM-funded scholarship program, representing a collaborative five-year grant project among three prominent universities in the Southeast region of the United States. Its primary objective is to support dedicated scholars in graduating and finding a professional pathway. Each institution recruited a cohort of 15-20 scholars annually for three years. The project offers scholarships and provides curricular and co-curricular support to academically talented but financially challenged students in the computing disciplines, including Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, and Information Technology majors, starting from their junior years. The program aims to impact 150 scholars, most of whom are underrepresented in computing. Scholars receive support throughout their graduation and beyond should they pursue graduate studies in a STEM discipline at any of the three participating institutions.

While the previous section highlights the basic program structure and how the program is intended to work, there are more subtleties and challenges to achieving these programmatic objectives. We think that more institutional programs should include reflections by those who carry out the program to help reveal the nuances, challenges, lessons learned, and strategies associated with the practice. In other work, we have documented student impacts through surveys, interviews, and observations [redacted]. In this paper, we highlight the reflections of a key personnel practitioner to reveal the challenges that emerge once the plans are being carried out.

While the paper is not organized by a formal research question, the lead author’s reflections were organized to answer a question of practice. The overarching question being answered in the following reflections is: How can mentorship be executed effectively, in light of various constraints?

We investigate challenges of time and quality individual mentorship at scale. Our reflections can help other similar programmatic efforts think strategically and collaboratively about how to solve collective problems.

Authored by
Mrs. Tiana Solis (Florida International University), Dr. Stephen Secules (Florida International University), Ms. Nivedita Kumar (Florida International University), Mrs. Jacqueline Faith Sullivan (University of Central Florida), Dr. Michael Georgiopoulos (University of Central Florida), and Dr. Mark Allen Weiss (Florida International University)

Variability is ubiquitous, but often ignored in engineering. Loading conditions, material properties, and human behavior all exhibit variability, but are often treated with fixed constants in engineering analysis. A first step towards improving the treatment of variability is to understand the conditions under which a person recognizes the consequences of variability and chooses an analysis to mitigate negative consequences---a process called targeting variability. We provide updates on Year 2 of our project, including the development of an instrument to measure the targeting behavior.

Authored by
Dr. Zachary Del Rosario (Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering), Jin Ryu (Affiliation unknown), and Erika Saur (Affiliation unknown)

As the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have been adopted and implemented across the US, K-12 teachers are tasked with finding ways to incorporate engineering practices in their science lessons, despite having little formal training as part of the teacher certification process. This has led to an increased need for professional development to guide educators in engineering practices (such as defining problems, designing solutions and optimizing solutions) while simultaneously learning pure science concepts. Even though there are grade-level specific and discipline-specific learning standards, there are generic practices and lessons that can be used across grade levels and disciplines. Introducing teachers to the general mind-set of engineers and how engineering practices can help students to apply science concepts has become critical in professional development for science teachers.

A professional development program was developed and implemented over a period of several months during the school year through a university outreach program. Teachers were recruited from a variety of suburban school districts and included teachers at the elementary through high school levels. Participants met at the university and were given time to explore the science and engineering practices in NGSS and the progression of expected student competency from kindergarten through graduation. The workshop engaged teachers in hands-on engineering experiences, included direct instruction on engineering practices, and provided time to reflect on ways to incorporate these practices in their science classroom. In addition, each participant was required to complete a final project from a list of options provided. Many of the teachers created and instructed new engineering lessons for their classrooms, while being observed by university staff. Several teachers used university-based lessons as a means of providing engineering lessons to their students. Upon completion of the program, a feedback survey was administered and participants provided overwhelming positive feedback and expressed a desire for further professional development.

Authored by
Mrs. Kathleen Ann Dinota (Stony Brook University) and Dr. Monica Bugallo (Stony Brook University)

There is substantial opportunity for engineering graduates to enter the workforce to engage in a fulfilling career and achieve social mobility, but there is a lack of adequate support for low income, academically talented students. The purpose of this poster is to describe the interventions designed to support S-STEM scholarship students at [blinded for review] University in the first year of our S-STEM project. Our S-STEM project objectives are threefold: 1) Provide scholarships to encourage talented students with low incomes and demonstrated financial need to initiate and graduate from engineering majors in the College of Engineering at [blinded] University and subsequently enter the engineering workforce or a graduate program; 2) Develop a support system that integrates multiple elements and services to foster a learning environment that motivates scholarship students to persist in their engineering studies; and 3) Foster an inclusive learning environment by engaging all engineering students in diversity, equity, and inclusion experiences and nurturing an equity mindset in student leaders through participation in training programs.
To accomplish these goals, we identified 10 low-income, academically talented students to receive scholarships. We also identified 80 additional engineering students who wished to participate in the Engineering Living/Learning Community (ELC). The scholarships students and other interested students were placed in the ELC starting in Fall 2023, where they are experiencing first year engineering as a cohort. This cohort experience includes required seminars, required attendance of Engineering I and Calculus I in a designated section, and the option of living in a shared dorm to facilitate further collaboration. Seminars that are part of the ELC are focused on adjusting to college life (e.g., time management, course registration, resume design) and diversity, equity, and inclusion subjects, including upstander training and coping with imposter syndrome. Scholarship students are also being encouraged to engage in leadership training offered through the University. This leadership training also focuses on DEI topics, and encourages students to be informed advocates.
Finally, this project is assessed by an external evaluator to determine the project’s impact on students’ motivation, sense of belonging, and their equity mindset. Evaluation data involve pre- and post-surveys of all first-year engineering students, and focus groups of project leaders, ELC mentors, scholarship students, and other engineering students.

Authored by
Dr. Kaitlin Mallouk (Rowan University), Dr. Juan M Cruz (Rowan University), Dr. Stephanie Farrell (Rowan University), and Abagael Anne Riley (Rowan University)

This paper reports preliminary findings from a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research targeting the enhancement of Engineering and Mathematics (EM) education. The project's central objective revolves around explaining the critical role of students’ metacognitive knowledge about task (MKT) and self-regulation in action (SRA) during problem-solving activities. This research paper seeks to understand the interplay between MKT and SRA, and how it leads to their problem-solving performance in two second-year engineering and mathematics (EM) courses, Engineering Statics and Ordinary Differential Equations.

Qualitative data were collected through one-on-one interviews before, and think aloud verbalization while, solving problem. Qualitative data were generated with 20 undergraduate students (i.e., 7 females, and 13 males) across both courses (i.e., 11 and 9 students from mathematics and engineering, respectively) through one-on-one interviews before, and think aloud verbalization while, solving problem. During data generation, each student engaged in four EM content-driven problem-solving activities of varying levels of difficulty. Data generation resulted in a total of 80 problem-solving qualitative data generation events with 20 unique participants.

The qualitative data is analyzed by using systematic and iterative techniques based on constant comparative analysis (CCA). Further, the analysis involves the deployment of initial and focused level codes, where initial codes directly reflect the raw data, while focused codes refine the seven significant problem-solving cases or patterns observed across the dataset.

Based on the analysis, the seven cases were clustered into four quadrants based on their low/high MKT level and low/high SRA levels. Each case describes a unique interplay between students’ knowledge about task and self-regulation. In this paper, we focus on two possible cases belonging to the second quadrant (i.e., Adaptive Learning, and Faulty Adaptive Learning). In the adaptive learning environment, effective self-regulating deployment could enhance students’ inadequate metacognitive knowledge about tasks to achieve a satisfactory task performance. Faulty adaptive illustrates a problem-solving episode where adequate self-regulating strategies with lacking metacognitive knowledge about task could also potentially lead to an unsatisfactory task performance. Brief discussion is included at the end of the paper.

Authored by
Dr. Oenardi Lawanto (Utah State University), Dr. Angela Minichiello (Utah State University), Mr. Talha Naqash (Utah State University), and Zain ul Abideen (Utah State University)

Abstract

The research associated with this project is made possible by a National Science Foundation grant. Minoritized students (MS) (defined in this work as African American and Latinx) often experience increased instances of exclusionary academic environments compared to their non-minoritized counterparts [1]. As a result, MS are more likely than their peers to attrit from their STEM majors. Faculty play a significant role in the development of either a positive or negative academic culture. For this reason, there is a need to bring meaningful faculty engagement into the classroom to address the challenge of STEM degree completion disparities between MS and non-MS students. To directly address STEM faculty’s perception of access, diversity, equity, and inclusion, this project examines the impact of participation in a two-year professional development series on faculty conceptions of diversity and inclusion in the classroom to strengthen MS undergraduate degree completion.

To assess faculty perceptions before, during, and after the first year of the professional development series (PDS), we deployed Likert Surveys, while also soliciting their responses to open ended questions, about the PDS which is focused on enhancing their understanding of inclusion and equity. The PDS is supported by STEM school deans, academic personnel, the leadership overseeing undergraduate education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion; underscoring the importance of institutional commitment to providing STEM faculty with meaningful ways to strengthen their understanding of access, diversity, equity, and inclusion towards enhancing their pedagogy and academic practices.

Preliminary findings from this research demonstrates that STEM faculty often are not confident about having conversations with colleagues about anti-racist and culturally inclusive curricula. Further, they desire more developmental experiences whereby they can learn more about access, diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, and expressed discomfort having conversations with students about STEM inequity and how it is relevant or related to their social and cultural lived experiences.

Findings from this work have significant implications for policy and practice at higher education institutions, particularly related to STEM disciplines. Specifically, with increasing student diversity in STEM, faculty must have access to tools, resources, and strategies that aim to enhance their pedagogy. Postsecondary institutions must support efforts that are focused on creating an inclusive culture for STEM faculty that seek to strengthen their pedagogy to reach more students. The preliminary findings from this study shows that STEM faculty are able to develop an enhanced understanding of the STEM culture and practices that contextualize degree completion disparities between MS and non-MS students. Moreover, faculty are able to employ an intervention that advances access and equity for MS in STEM. Given this work requires a nuanced approach, institutional policies must provide faculty in STEM with opportunities that allow them to access information to further understand the ways in which they influence the academic outcomes of MS.

KEYWORDS
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, STEM, minoritized-students

Authored by
Dr. Pheather R. Harris (University of California, Irvine) and Tayloria Adams (University of California, Irvine)

The inclusive transformation of engineering culture stands as a central objective for ensuring the growth and sustainability of a diverse engineering workforce. Engineering faculty members play a critical role in this transformation by supporting and shaping the academic journeys and eventual careers of their students. However, despite their central role in workforce development, faculty members often lack the resources and training needed to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse experiences and identities their students bring to the engineering classroom. This is especially challenging for students with minoritized identities that are non-apparent or hidden and cannot be easily observed by faculty. As part of the on-going Audio for Inclusion (A4I) Project, this paper and poster discuss the initial findings from focus groups with nine engineering faculty members from three universities nationwide. We delve into the intricacies and logistics of developing, designing, and facilitating these focus groups and highlight significant alterations and overall recommendations shared by participants. These perspectives can serve as a valuable resource for engineering educators seeking to incorporate similar audio dissemination methods into their work and for those interested in implementing strategies for cultivating a more inclusive engineering education culture.

Authored by
Dr. Cassandra McCall (Utah State University), Dr. Stephen Secules (Florida International University), Gabriel Van Dyke (Utah State University), Maimuna Begum Kali (Florida International University), and Vanessa Tran (Utah State University)

The Mechanical Engineering Department at a private, mid-sized university was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Revolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments (RED) grant in July 2017 to support the development of a culture that fosters students’ engineering identities. This culture of “engineering with engineers” was built through a strong connection to industry and through changes in the four essential areas of a shared department vision, faculty, curriculum, and supportive policies.

During the last year of this project, we conducted a thorough audit to review all of our activities over the course of our project, with an eye toward what was particularly impactful for us, the relative levels of ease as seen in retrospect, how educative the activity was to us, and the potential for others to make use of the activity. This audit process helped us identify ten significant endeavors, each of which included multiple activities. These ten endeavors include creating a mission statement to drive culture change, fostering the new culture in retreats, improving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the program, hiring staff to support DEI, teaming to build trust, including students in curriculum design, positioning seniors as professionals, developing innovative teaching, and changing the annual performance review (APR).

To investigate how to share these endeavors effectively, we invited engineering educators, the potential adopters of our endeavors, to an iterative series of virtual co-design workshops. Nearly 70 collegiate educators agreed to participate and each workshop was attended by over 40 co-designers. During each of these workshops, co-designers engaged with the endeavors through listening, viewing, free-writing, and discussion. The idea of an “inspiration kit” emerged. Based on co-designers’ collective feedback, a dedicated website, SURED.org, was built to share these endeavors.

In this paper, we summarize the endeavors in our “inspiration kit” and present key activities and artifacts crucial to each endeavor. We share the process of how we co-designed and constructed SURED.org. It is our hope that sharing our experience and our inspiration kit provides transferrable knowledge other departments may use to improve their programs and change their cultures.

This project was funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) IUSE/PFE: RED grant through NSF.

Authored by
Dr. Yen-Lin Han (Seattle University), Dr. Kathleen E. Cook (Seattle University), Dr. Jennifer A Turns (University of Washington), Dr. Gregory Mason P.E. (zyBooks, A Wiley Brand), and Dr. Teodora Rutar Shuman (Seattle University)

Faculty advisors perform a vital role in doctoral students’ experiences in their programs, but they often lack training in how to provide essential psychosocial support to their doctoral advisees. This can result in negative graduate experiences, especially for underrepresented groups. While research into psychological safety in the corporate world has highlighted its importance, the importance of psychological safety is less understood in academia, particularly in the context of graduate engineering education. This study seeks to understand how engineering faculty advisors influence the psychological safety of doctoral students they advise and the impact of psychological safety on the student’s graduate experience. We use a mixed methods design and in-depth qualitative study to address the research aims. The mixed methods design uses a survey followed by exploratory interviews. Additional narrative interviews will be conducted to gather rich data on student experiences with psychological safety and how they evolve over time.

Authored by
Larkin Martini (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Dorian Bobbett (University of Michigan), Jeanne Sanders (University of Michigan), Dr. Karin Jensen (University of Michigan), and Dr. Mark Vincent Huerta (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

To provide industry and government with STEM graduates that have the skillset to help our country be competitive on a global scale, students need to learn how to become innovators. With funding from a National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM) grant, researchers at the University of Arkansas aim to increase the number of STEM graduates with innovation training and experience. The Closing America’s Innovation Gap through Collaboration with Industry (DUE 2030297) program (INNOV) provides academic innovation opportunities while also providing scholarships and retention programming to help students succeed.

INNOV was informed by an earlier S-STEM grant program, Closing the STEM Labor Gap through a Path to Graduation (PTG) for Low Income, Rural Students (DUE 1742496). PTG graduates felt that their credit-bearing bridge program was important to their success. To take it a step further, INNOV provided two first-year innovation courses. PTG identified specific student struggles which allowed the INNOV team to address these issues from the beginning to improve retention.

The INNOV program components include a credit-bearing innovation bridge program during the intersession immediately before the students’ first semester on campus, a two-semester first-year sequence of innovation courses with industry-partnered projects, and innovation-related field trips to industry. It also has a non-course related portion called the Path program which includes a first-year living community, peer mentoring, professional mentoring, faculty mentoring, monthly cohort meetings, and teambuilding activities.

Cohort 1 began in fall 2021 with 12 students (9 from historically underrepresented groups (HUG), 7 female) and the fall 2022 cohort had 16 students (10 HUG, 6 female). Spring 2023 ended with 26 students in the program, a 93% retention rate. Entering students are low-income Pell Grant recipients, have an ACT of 23-27, and a high school GPA of 3.50+.

INNOV program sophomores were surveyed at the end of their sophomore year and asked to reflect on their experience. Related to the innovation experience courses in their first year and how it impacted them in their sophomore year courses and/or in life outside the classroom,
• 81% felt the courses helped them feel more comfortable expressing their ideas.
• 76% said the courses helped them feel more comfortable with taking risks.
• 63% felt that the courses were valuable to their future educational and career goals.
• 54% said that the courses helped them be more creative and innovative.
• 54% felt that the courses helped motivate them to continue in their STEM degree program.

Related to the non-academic Path program portion of the grant program,
• 73% felt that Path was an important factor in continuing their chosen degree program.
• 73% felt that Path was important in promoting their sense of belonging.

This paper will discuss the academic and retention components of INNOV including new strategies informed by lessons learned from an earlier grant. Student success and achievement data, as well as student survey data, will be presented.

Authored by
Dr. Karl D. Schubert FIET (University of Arkansas), Dr. Carol S Gattis (University of Arkansas), Xochitl Delgado Solorzano (University of Arkansas), Jennie S Popp Ph.D. (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Paul D Adams (University of Arkansas), Mrs. Leslie Bartsch Massey (University of Arkansas), Mr. Thomas Carter III (University of Arkansas), and Chunhua Cao (The University of Alabama)

Architectural Engineering and Construction (AE/C) education encounters challenges in cultivating students’ proficiency and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workforce due to a lack of students’ interest and self-efficacy in the early years of their degree. This paper introduces the Virtual/Augmented-Reality-Based-Discipline Exploration Rotations (VADERs) project, aiming to address these issues by incorporating extended reality technology in an educational approach. VADERs is a set of three virtual AE/C educational modules created based on the Model of Domain Learning framework. Over the first two years of the project, VADER-1 and VADER-2 were developed to enhance first- and second-year students’ self-efficacy and retention in AE/C programs. VADER-R, aimed at recruiting high school and community college students into AE/C programs, is under development. VADER-1 and VADER-2 were implemented in 10 courses (405 students) across three institutions in Fall 2023. The impact of VADERs was assessed through reflection surveys guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory, pre- and post-domain knowledge quizzes, and time-stamped click-stream data reflecting student interactions within the virtual environment.

Authored by
Mr. Jae Hoon Ma (Georgia Institute of Technology), Ece Erdogmus (Georgia Institute of Technology), Erica Ryherd (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Prof. Heidi A. Diefes-Dux (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Kyungki Kim (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), and Prof. Catherine Armwood-Gordon (Tennessee State University)

This paper presents a study on the impact of class delivery mode (remote vs. in-person) on students’ learning experience when Immersive Simulation-Based Learning (ISBL) modules are used as course assignments. ISBL involves problem-based learning via a 3-dimensional (3D) simulated environment that mimics real-life applications such as manufacturing and healthcare systems, airports, and other service systems. Within the simulated environment, students can observe the corresponding system, collect data, understand relationships between the system components, make changes to the model and observe the impact of those changes, and learn by doing. ISBL is advantageous when access to real-world facilities is difficult or impossible due to geographical barriers or safety concerns as well as in remote and online learning due to geographically dispersed students. This study compares two groups of students. Both groups are taught by the same instructor and use the same course material, including the ISBL modules. The only difference between the two groups is the course delivery mode, where one group is taught remotely through synchronous online sessions, and the other is taught in person in a traditional classroom setting. We collect data on demographics, prior preparation, motivation, experiential learning, usability scale, and self-assessment of learning objectives based on Bloom’s taxonomy. We then perform statistical comparisons to investigate the impact of delivery mode when ISBL modules are used. We use the comparison results to test the hypothesis that ISBL modules will help maintain remote students’ motivation and learning outcomes compared to in-person students. The results show no statistically significant difference between the two groups on any measure, suggesting that ISBL is equally effective in the two delivery modes.

Authored by
Dr. Omar Ashour (Pennsylvania State University, Behrend College), Dr. Sabahattin Gokhan Ozden (Pennsylvania State University, Abington), and Dr. Ashkan Negahban (Pennsylvania State University, Great Valley)

The overall goal of this project was to establish an NSF REU site that integrates undergraduate students in team-based research projects focused on converting biological wastes into products of value. This site has operated for two summers at Auburn University and has graduated 19 REU fellows from diverse backgrounds. Each fellow was paired with a faculty mentor but conducted research on an interdisciplinary team-based project. We hypothesized that this team-based approach would improve confidence and knowledge regarding effective team and research practices. The objective of our project evaluation was to determine how the REU site affected fellow confidence in effective team and research practices. A summative assessment of the project consisted of a pre-post survey instrument focused on perceived self-efficacy in universal teamwork and research skills. This instrument was an adaptation of the Research Self-efficacy scale. Of the 19 REU participants to date, 17 signed the letter of consent to participate in the IRB-approved evaluation research. However, only 10 chose to complete both the pre- and post-assessment instruments. In the first year, we were surprised to see that fellows actually scored lower or showed no change in multiple aspects of research self-efficacy after participation in the program. This data contrasted with weekly qualitative survey data that suggested that fellows had learned a great deal about research from the program. Upon review of the pre- and post-test data, we determined that the disconnect between quantitative and qualitative data may have been related to vague and sometimes programmatically misaligned measure items in the Research Self-efficacy scale (which uses a Likert scale). From focus groups conducted with fellows at the end of the experience, it was apparent that fellows had learned enough about research that they could identify how much more they had to learn to become experts. To better quantitatively measure fellow perceptions of learning, we modified the pre- and post-test survey statements to assess research fellows' self-efficacy in various research-related skills, such as understanding research components, data analysis, and independent project work.. Across all summative questions, we saw an average score increase of 12% in year 1. The percent improvement was determined as the change in score for the question divided by the highest point value on the Likert scale. In year 2, with the revised set of questions, the average score increase across all questions was 19%. After revising to address year 2’s data, the pre- and post-test will be used again in year 3 to see if similar levels of improvement are achieved again. In year 3, positive incentives will also be used in an attempt to increase participation and completion of the survey instrument, guided by a commitment to ethical standards, transparency, fairness, and protecting participants' rights and privacy. We note that the limited sample size, resulting from incomplete survey participation and a small study population, may affect the findings' generalizability. This research informs and enhances assessment of undergraduate research experiences and provides a framework for continuous program improvement.

Authored by
Prof. Brendan Higgins (Auburn University), Laura Parson (North Dakota State University), Dr. Sushil Adhikari (Auburn University), and Fredricka Saunders (North Dakota State University)

One reason that students struggle in introductory physics classes, which are often key entry points for STEM majors, is that certain topics are difficult to mentally visualize and manipulate in two dimensions. Vectors and fields, for example, are challenging in their own right, and even more so when presented using static imagery in textbooks or on whiteboards in the classroom. To address this barrier to physics learning, we developed a series of augmented reality (AR)-based environments designed to engage groups of students in explorations of physics phenomena represented in 3D space. In this paper, we present the results of a study on physics learning from the first of our AR environments, which focused on electric charges, from point charges to line and planar charges.

Our research questions and consequent evaluation methods are based on an embodied view of learning wherein all senses--including sight, sound, gesture, and social interactions--are seen as critical components contributing to students’ ongoing sense-making processes. We first present our design cycle model, an iterative process of design and research documenting undergraduate physics students’ interactions with the electric fields environment. Next, we present outcomes from student surveys completed after the learning experience. Analysis of the survey data illustrate that students' initial reactions to the environment were overwhelmingly positive, that most students felt like the experience was beneficial for their learning, and that most students strongly believe it should be used in classrooms.

In addition to the surveys, we recorded and systematically coded the interactive learning sessions. We present results from this qualitative data coding, which demonstrate that this environment creates unique affordances for learning. For example, the embodied experiences of moving one’s hand around an electric field led to new opportunities for perspective taking and modeling the directional behavior of the field. Being able to walk around the point charge and view the field in 3 dimensions further helped students understand why, for example, a positive charge released from rest might take a curvilinear velocity path away from a positive electric field rather than a linear one.

We conclude with implications for the utilization of AR technology in physics education, as well as implications for further research on active and embodied learning in STEM.

Authored by
Ms. Elizabeth Flynn (San Diego State University), Molly Horner (San Diego State University), Adrian Larios (San Diego State University), Ryan Thomas Rios (Affiliation unknown), India Elizabeth Wishart (San Diego State University), Janet Bowers (San Diego State University), Dr. Dustin B. Thoman (San Diego State University), and Matthew E Anderson (San Diego State University)

Wayne State University’s Division of Engineering Technology (ET) offers upper division only programs (2+2) leading to 4-year degrees. The typical challenges facing transfer students are in this case compressed into 2-year upper-division-only program offerings, which provides manifold opportunities to acquire new insights into how to help this sub-group of students, especially those with low social-economic status. In this project that in its early stages, PIs will (a) provide financial support to 4 cohorts of 12 high-achieving, low-income ET transfer students with unmet financial need (48 total unique students with each cohort running for two years); (b) implement evidence-based techniques to improve overall student retention rates, 4-year graduation rates, and average time-to-degree; and (c) foster professional identity and prepare students to enter the STEM workforce or graduate school. Authors hypothesize that (i) early engagement, and (ii) continuous support play a key role in fostering identification with the engineering profession, retention, and persistence of ET transfer students, thus improving their academic and professional outcomes. Accordingly, multiple evidence-based social, academic, and professional activities have been designed to engage and continuously support the scholars through their degree completion.
The first cohort of students (10 students) are already recruited and enrolled for Fall 2023. In this process, PIs examined different recruitment strategies and learned important lessons for the next year. For example, the full-time enrollment requirement was changed to a minimum of 8 credit hours per semester to avoid the potential to cause negative impacts on students' performance and allow students more flexibility as most of them already have other work and familial responsivities. Also, minimum of credit hours to transfer at the time of application was lowered to a) be able to attract a larger pool of applicants, and b) address the inconsistency in how the applicants’ transfer credit hours were calculated. Most of students were coming with more transferrable credit hours than the number of credit hours that could actually be counted toward their degree. There were also some applicants who were enrolled for a good number of transferrable credit hours at the time of application that could count toward their degree when admitted. However, those credit hours were not visible in their official transcript when they applied for the scholarship. In the next round of application, PIs will request for unofficial transcripts as well to find a more accurate idea on the number of credit hours they could use toward their ET degree.
So far, PIs have a) organized an orientation meeting for the scholars, b) created a Canvas group for the scholars for effective communications, and c) introduced the scholars to their faculty mentors. They have also distributed the first survey to both scholarship recipients and non-recipients and are eager to analyze the preliminary results for the continuous improvement of the project.

Authored by
Dr. Mohsen Ayoobi (Wayne State University), Dr. Mukasa E. Ssemakula (Wayne State University), David Merolla (Wayne State University), Dr. Ece Yaprak (Wayne State University), and Mr. Mark A Jager (Wayne State University)

Engineering is a field of innovation for solving complex challenges. Creative solutions, however, require divergent thinking to consider alternatives rather than converging on a single correct solution. Few studies have focused on the impact of engineering education, structures, resources, and environments on students' abilities to explore and divergent options. While often considered during design concept generation, divergent thinking can be pursued throughout engineering projects when building an understanding of a problem, gathering information and considering stakeholders, choosing problem solving strategies, evaluating possible solutions, and foreseeing implications of decisions.

In order to understand how divergent thinking occurs within engineering problem solving, we investigated engineering students' reported project experiences. Data were collected from 20 mechanical engineering students using a flexible, semi-structured interview protocol and analyzed based on themes regarding structures and environments surrounding projects. This analysis examines one student’s description of their experiences through narrative storytelling to identify divergent thinking (or barriers to it) as they encountered it. The narrative describes this participant’s experiences and illustrates the ways in which the factors surrounding their project influenced their consideration of multiple perspectives and options.

We identify varied influences on the occurrence of, or barriers to, divergence during engineering processes. These include mentor influence, knowledge and skills of the participant, access to others’ views, which support or inhibit considering alternatives. Specifics from project and course structures, requirements to explicitly encourage exploration, and research and material resources available, such as documentation, databases, and equipment and facilities, directly affect engagement in divergent thinking. This suggests attention to structural support for divergence may be effective in encouraging divergent practices.

The narrative serves as a tool for educators, students, and practitioners to consider and understand the importance of exposure to varied viewpoints and structuring projects to tangibly support engineers in exploring alternatives as critical in promoting divergent thinking practices in engineering for more creative and impactful outcomes.

Authored by
Shannon M Clancy (University of Michigan), Dr. Shanna R. Daly (University of Michigan), and Dr. Colleen M. Seifert (University of Michigan)

In this paper supporting a poster for the ASEE NSF grantee session, CISTAR and NSBE SEEK celebrate four years of successfully partnering in a combined summer Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program funded, in part, by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The summer REM program begins in the first 6 weeks of summer with participating students receiving a stipend and engaging in the summer research program for the Engineering Research Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR). For their last 4 weeks of summer, REM students receive a stipend and are part of the National Society of Black Engineer’s Summer Engineering Experiences for Kids (NSBE SEEK) program.

The rationale for this combined summer program rests on the Identity-Based Motivation literature showing positive outcomes for students who identify more as an engineer and feel a sense of belonging in the field. Further, the design of the REM program aligns with research specifically showing that a diverse, inclusive culture, and a culture that reinforces having altruistic cultural values (i.e., giving back to one’s community; valuing social justice; helping others), is motivating, particularly for students from racial/ethnic groups underrepresented in engineering/STEM. It is these commonalities across the two summer experiences that, we argue, are critical to the success of the REM program.

In other papers, the positive outcomes of CISTAR’s part of the REM program have been well documented based on external evaluation reports that include a host of pre- and post-surveys and interviews. Similarly, NSBE SEEK’s program outcomes have been described in papers, and document the positive outcomes for SEEK kids, mentors, parents, and stakeholders. In this paper, we focus on the success of the partnership by turning the lens only on the REM students–first as CISTAR researchers and then as NSBE SEEK mentors–and capture the synergies across both parts of the REM program.

Overall, the REM program has helped to increase the number of Blacks and other underrepresented groups in engineering. Reflecting the applicant pool, CISTAR has been able to attract a diverse cohort of engineering students (~75% are Black; ~50% are female) who are curious about research, but also want to spend part of their summer “giving back” by mentoring kids. Similarly, the partnership has helped NSBE SEEK offer their SEEK mentors, who are passionate about mentoring kids, an option to spend part of their summer learning research skills that will help them grow professionally. Most importantly, the REM program is a win for participating students who want to have two experiences in one summer that:

(i) grow their engineering identities;
(ii) increase their feelings of inclusion and belonging in engineering; and
(iii) support altruistic cultural values by showing that mentorship and “giving back” is
an integral part of being a good engineer.

Coming up on our fifth year, CISTAR and NSBE SEEK are excited to continue this partnership and grow this program to scale. In closing, we hope that reading about this partnership between CISTAR and NSBE SEEK–why and how it has been successful–will inspire and help to propagate similar types of programs in other Centers that share goals of broadening representation and supporting altruistic cultural values in engineering.

Authored by
Dr. Denise M. Driscoll (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Mr. Thomas Harris (National Society of Black Engineers), and Maeve Drummond Oakes (Purdue University)

Academic makerspaces are often framed as informal learning spaces to support innovation as through student centered communities of practice. While prevalent in both higher education and K-12 settings, it is only recently that research in these spaces explores student support and interactions. Academic makerspaces have the ability to support or not support students on a spectrum; meaning there are instances and reflections from students where they share feeling excluded and instances where they share feeling included and practices that support a sense of belonging. This research is part of a larger NSF funded project that explores interactions within engineering makerspaces; specifically between university staff, student staff, and undergraduate students. One key component of supporting students in the space is the intentional and purposeful hiring of student staff. Student staff in academic makerspaces support peer to peer learning opportunities as well as day to day management. Over the course of three years at a minority serving institutions, this research explores best practices and lessons learned for recruitment and hiring, training, and supporting student staff in engineering makerspaces. Data analysis of student staff interviews, university staff interviews, and observations inform practices that can be incorporated to support the important innovators in these spaces- the students.

Authored by
Audrey Boklage (University of Texas at Austin)

Although the term “Digital Divide” was coined some 25 years ago, most steps to address this problem have focused on inequalities in physical infrastructure or financial barriers. A Pew study found that 34% of older Internet users have “little to no confidence in their ability to use electronic devices to per- form online tasks” and 73% of older adults cannot set up new devices without assistance. Mentoring and training for those with less digital experience can help to resolve these problems, but is often restricted to specific geographical areas, such as our outreach program BASIC. We want to design a system that can bring quality human tutoring to digital learners regardless of their physical location.
Since 2011, our group has run an outreach program that pairs technologically savvy students at our institution with community members seeking help in navigating computing technology. Wider-scope problem solving strategies, more transferable between tasks, are emphasized in our program. Strategies allow users to explore (understand the full space of affordances available to them) and tinker (understand how their actions affect the system state) in a safe, methodical way. Exploration and tinkering are enabled by a set of certain attitudes on the user’s part, including confidence, creativity, attentiveness, and perseverance. Together these strategies and attitudes provide a foundation for lifelong, independent learning. Social Cognitive Theory provides guiding principles for our community program: Tutors model problem solving and exploration, work with learners to articulate goals, and put the learner in the driver’s seat as much as possible to build self-efficacy.
Using a design-based methodology, we are developing a sociotechnical framework that blends digital technology and human interaction, providing digital technology instruction. We want to: (1) Reach learners whenever they need help, (2) Connect learners to tutors directly through common digital devices, and (3) Make the personal, interactive nature of a community-based tutoring program available anywhere.
Contact with human tutors is invaluable in helping individuals overcome obstacles, build skills, and gain confidence in the use of digital technology. Public libraries and other institutions can provide shared physical spaces to facilitate this kind of learning, but there are limitations: learners may have difficulty accessing these spaces, and the technology issues they face may be inextricably situated in their homes, offices, or other locations. The Illuminated Devices project seeks to complement in-person tutoring with online assistance that meets learners where they live and work. Each Illuminated Device is an iPad with a custom portal application that facilitates communication with a human tutor, providing a broad view of user activity across hardware and software applications, and conveying tutor input to learners in a way that minimizes distraction and maximizes flow. The Illuminated system allows tutors to record learner progress and to confer with one another on technical issues. The poster provides an overview of our design and implementation and includes a system walkthrough.

Authored by
Kirk Thelen (Michigan Technological University), Timothy Lawrence Perr (Michigan Technological University), Briana C Bettin (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Kelly Sheridan Steelman (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Leo C. Ureel II (Michigan Technological University), and Dr. Charles Wallace (Michigan Technological University)

The field of computer science remains highly skewed toward White and Asian males at institutions of higher education and the workforce. The demographic characteristics of students in Computer Science (CS) nationwide are typically not representative of the general population. The overarching goal of this NSF project is to explore when and to which degrees these imbalances are greatest and how the imbalances may influence students’ opportunities to enter and paths throughout CS undergraduate programs. This poster/paper will present a portion of our findings obtained during a pilot qualitative study related to strategies and support for overcoming obstacles through a variety of actions (policies, programs, pedagogy) towards student success. The pilot was run in three different institutions of higher education in California and is designed to dive into the students’ lived experiences describing their pathways to and through the CS degree.
We designed the pilot study to validate our study instrument, namely, to test our protocol and questions. The pilot was running until we reached saturation when we did not obtain any new data from the introduction of the new participants, resulting in a total of seven participants. The pilot study used a population of convenience: a limited population of students who are soon to be graduated or graduated. Three of the participants self-identified as women and four as men. We also explored whether focus groups or individual interviews provided the most effective means for elucidating meaningful data. We organized one focus group (all women) and four individual interviews (men). The focus group provided a comfortable environment and might have facilitated synergistic outcomes through participant interaction.
Our findings illustrate lived experiences and brought several issues to light. Positive experiences included engaging pedagogy, prior CS experiences, a summer bridge program, a research experience, and a feeling of belonging. Negative experiences included dry pedagogy, competitive situations, cliques being formed, and challenging team dynamics. The collaborative work environment showed positive and negative aspects, pointing to the need for a well-defined collaboration policy. Collaboration and team dynamics influenced social engagement and a sense of belonging that has been known to significantly increase success, retention, and graduation rates. We noticed the differences in the level of preparedness and its influence on the students’ journey. We also explored the influence of soft skills, outlook, scholarly attributes, and support on the perception of the journey through the program. Although our participants have reported that they did not perceive any overt sexism or racism, we present the findings correlated with gender and race/ethnicity.
Our future work will include possible fine-tuning of the protocol to discuss demographics and reflect upon the situations where the students might feel minoritized. Additionally, the students in the future study will be purposefully selected to examine experiences at multiple stages of the major with different support and preparation for a CS major (SES and first-generation status), or the students who are at risk of dropping out or who have already dropped out as they may reveal reasons and circumstances for attrition.

Authored by
Dr. Jelena Trajkovic (California State University, Long Beach ), Dr. Lisa M Martin-Hansen (California State University, Long Beach), Anna Bargagliotti (Loyola Marymount University), Dr. Christine Alvarado (University of California, San Diego), Cassandra M Guarino (University of California, Riverside), Janel Ancayan (California State University, Long Beach), Joseph Alex Chorbajian (California State University, Long Beach), and Kent Vi (California State University, Long Beach)

The recent rapid development in Natural Language Processing (NLP) has greatly enhanced the effectiveness of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) as tools for healthcare education. These systems hold the potential to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes, especially for low-literacy populations such as the Hispanic community with limited reading and writing skills. However, despite the progress in pre-trained multilingual NLP models, there exists a noticeable research gap when it comes to code-switching within the medical context. Code-switching is a prevalent phenomenon in multilingual communities where individuals seamlessly transition between languages during conversations. This presents a distinctive challenge for healthcare ITS aimed at serving multilingual communities, as it demands a thorough understanding of and accurate adaptation to code-switching, which has thus far received limited attention in research.

The hypothesis of our work asserts that the development of an ITS for healthcare education, culturally appropriate to the Hispanic population with frequent code-switching practices, is both achievable and pragmatic. Given that text classification is a core problem to many tasks in ITS, like sentiment analysis, topic classification, and smart replies, we target text classification as the application domain to validate our hypothesis.

Our model relies on pre-trained word embeddings to offer rich representations for understanding code-switching medical contexts. However, training such word embeddings, especially within the medical domain, poses a significant challenge due to limited training corpora. In our approach to address this challenge, we identify distinct English and Spanish embeddings, each trained on medical corpora, and subsequently merge them into a unified vector space via space transformation. In our study, we demonstrate that singular value decomposition (SVD) can be used to learn a linear transformation (a matrix), which aligns monolingual vectors from two languages in a single meta-embedding. As an example, we assessed the similarity between the words “cat” and “gato” both before and after alignment, utilizing the cosine similarity metric. Prior to alignment, these words exhibited a similarity score of 0.52, whereas after alignment, the similarity score increased to 0.64. This example illustrates that aligning the word vectors in a meta-embedding enhances the similarity between these words, which share the same meaning in their respective languages. To assess the quality of the representations in our meta-embedding in the context of code-switching, we employed a neural network to conduct text classification tasks on code-switching datasets. Our results demonstrate that, compared to pre-trained multilingual models, our model can achieve high performance in text classification tasks while utilizing significantly fewer parameters.

Authored by
Dr. Zechun Cao (Texas A&M University, San Antonio), German Zavala Villafuerte (Affiliation unknown), Ali Jalooli (Affiliation unknown), Renu Balyan (Affiliation unknown), Sanaz Rahimi Moosavi (Affiliation unknown), and Francisco Iacobelli (Northeastern Illinois University)

This paper presents the progress made in the first two years of a five-year NSF ER2 (Ethical and Responsible Research) project on ethical and responsible research and practices in science and engineering undertaken at a large public university in the southwestern United States. Overall objectives of the project include: 1) conduct a survey of incoming freshmen college students to assess their ethical research competency and self-efficacy at the beginning of their tertiary education and during their senior-level capstone course; 2) evaluate the ethical research competency and self-efficacy of university students and identify any significantly contributing factors to develop an intervention plan to improve their ethical research competency (ERC) and ethical research self-efficacy (ERS) levels; 3) develop learning materials on topics related to ethical STEM research and practices and integrate them into undergraduate curriculum in multiple engineering disciplines; 4) provide enrichment experience in ethical STEM research and practices to high school teachers.

Prior research shows that there is a lack of empirical work done with respect to engineering ethics education at the tertiary level. There is an even greater lack of ethics at the secondary level. According to a prior study, the authors saw significant improvements in ethical judgement and epistemological beliefs related to ethics as a result of incorporating ethics content into a high school course; these improvements were assessed using essays in response to ethical prompts. Other studies revealed a significant lapse in ethical practices in students’ work at the high school level. Researchers also point out that students who are able to make ethical decisions in schools are more likely to perform better academically than their peers. To that end, the objective of this paper is two-fold. First, it presents a snapshot of survey results of freshmen, seniors, and the capstone courses as stated in the above-mentioned objectives. Secondly, it discusses the summer enrichment program for high school teachers. A self-efficacy assessment of teachers (pre- and post-enrichment experiences) is presented in detail. In addition, the teachers’ work during the summer, including their sample lesson plans are discussed. Lastly, the paper also includes the challenges with the current survey instrument and how the research team is modifying the instrument to aid the overall objectives of the project.

Authored by
Dr. Michael Johnson (Texas A&M University), Prof. Amarnath Banerjee (Texas A&M University), Dr. Bimal P. Nepal (Texas A&M University), Rutwik Dehade (Texas A&M University), and Glen Miller (Affiliation unknown)

This paper describes results from the second year of a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science grant. The objective of this project is to establish an RET Site under CISE at Auburn University (AU) in Alabama. With the title "RET Site: Project-Based Learning for Rural Alabama STEM Middle School Teachers in Machine Learning and Robotics", it provides research experiences to a cohort of middle school math and science teachers in the 7th-8th grades each year via a 6-week summer program and 9-month academic year follow-up, with the research focused on machine learning and robotics.
Teachers in traditionally underserved rural areas of Alabama often lack content knowledge and pedagogical skills for teaching interdisciplinary curriculums that focus on math, science, and engineering. To engage students from underrepresented groups and these underserved areas in STEM experiences, it is of vital importance to support their teachers through professional development, so that they can prepare their students to become future scientist, engineers, innovators, and entrepreneurs in these areas.
In this RET project, teachers participate in education and research activities on state-of-the-art technologies in robotics and ML/AI, to explore various research topics encompassing faculty mentors' research areas, including machine learning, mobile robot, computer vision, virtual and augmented reality, and unmanned ariel vehicle. To support inquiry-based, hands-on research projects, we are leveraging an innovative platform of ML-based mobile robots that is friendly and accessible to teachers. Teachers collaborate with engineering and STEM education faculty to develop engaging project-based curricular modules on robotics and ML/AI for classroom education. Teachers practiced teaching the curricular modules that they have developed in a one-week camp and then they are implementing them in the own classrooms.
Seven teachers, one male and six females, participated in the second year RET project. Of the seven teacher participants four were African American, two were White, and one biracial. The Project Knowledge Scale, the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS), Computer Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale were used to measure teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, computer, and teaching self-efficacy changes before and after the summer six-week professional training. Results indicated that their knowledge, teaching attitudes, computer self-efficacy, and teaching self-efficacy slightly increased after the professional development.

Authored by
Dr. Xiaowen Gong (Auburn University) and Dr. Daniela Marghitu (Auburn University)

Discipline-based education researchers (DBERs) often adopt theories and methodologies that are finely tuned to the specific contexts of their respective disciplines. This localized approach is indeed valuable on a disciplinary level, but the greater efficacy of DBER as a field of study hinges on scholars finding a common ground to construct a broadly applicable understanding that transcends disciplinary boundaries. This NSF-funded project ventures into DBER that has the potential to be transformative in the field of STEM education, particularly in the emerging sub-area of STEM entrepreneurship education research. The project investigates entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) from a conceptual perspective, seeking to understand the factors influencing women faculty's participation in these educational programs. Specifically, this project draws from research conducted in disparate fields to capture the essence of adult participation theories and theoretical foundations from entrepreneurship education literature. This confluence of these theories culminates in creating a unified, overarching framework that serves as a model for systematic investigations into entrepreneurship program participation across various academic disciplines. Furthermore, it situates itself within the intricate socio-cultural landscape of STEM academia, ensuring that the developed conceptual understanding encapsulates the lived experiences of women STEM faculty within the systemic norms of STEM disciplines.

In this paper, we illuminate the complex and multifaceted factors influencing women STEM faculty's involvement in EEPs, shedding light on the interplay between personal experiences, systemic challenges, and the broader socio-cultural context. Moreover, we provide a synthesis of interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives that serve as a lens for conducting and analyzing in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of 32 women STEM faculty. Overarchingly, the project aims to contribute to the development of EEPs that engage a more extensive and diversified women STEM faculty population. The project's findings are anticipated to provide the entrepreneurship education community with a research-based conceptual understanding for the development of EEPs that are inclusive and, in turn, promote the participation of women STEM faculty.

In summary, this research endeavors to advance the understanding of factors influencing women STEM faculty's participation in entrepreneurship education programs and contributes to the creation of an inclusive and equitable landscape for entrepreneurship education across STEM disciplines. By merging multiple theories into a unified model, this project offers a creative way of leveraging interdisciplinary perspectives, underscoring the importance of a shared theoretical foundation for effective education research.

Authored by
Dr. Prateek Shekhar (New Jersey Institute of Technology) and Dr. Maya Menon (New Jersey Institute of Technology)

The development of the computing field creates a need for a robust and skilled computing workforce. However, there is a dearth of postsecondary students in computing majors or disciplines. This project, funded by the NSF DUE/HSI Program, is focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI) courses and an interdisciplinary certificate that will expose community college students to AI and lead to the development of a degree program in AI. The project aims to serve the national interest by increasing community colleges’ (CC) capacity to attract and train students in AI, specifically at a Hispanic-Serving Community College (HSCC). This four-year project is a collaboration between a community college, a university partner, a non-profit organization, industry partners, evaluators, and social scientists to more fully understand how to implement, assess, and expand computing pathways, particularly in the CC space and for a diverse student population.

The main objectives for the project include developing and implementing an interdisciplinary AI certificate at the HSCC. As a continuation of the project, the research team employed a phenomenological study, informed by computing identity development theory (Lunn et al, 2021; Rodriguez et al., 2022) and Hispanic-Servingness frameworks (Garcia et. al., 2019), to conduct semi-structured interviews to learn about their development. Thus far, the team has interviewed 19 students from a range of majors (i.e., data analytics, cybersecurity, and philosophy) and various background demographics (i.e., race, ethnicity, age, income, education-level).

Students were inspired to pursue courses and the computing certificate for career advancement or re-skilling purposes. Students found applications for their new-found skills in computing, such as coding, in their jobs and the jobs that they strive for in the future. Finally, throughout the coursework, students were often affirmed in their interests and provided opportunities to demonstrate knowledge from certificate course content. We found that students were recognized by their family, friends, and coworkers as computing people. Students’ broad support systems (e.g., faculty, friends, coworkers) reaffirmed their learning, aspirations, and identities within computing.

When asked about elements of Hispanic-servingness, students within the study were able to articulate several structures for servingness and validating experiences within structures (e.g. compositional diversity of students/faculty, general support groups). However, beyond compositional diversity, students did not describe other structures for servingness (e.g. mission, values, engagement with Latinx community) and reported some positive improvements of non-academic outcomes (self-concept), but not to others (critical consciousness, social justice orientation).

These findings are significant in thinking about how the HSCC AI certificate is structured as well as its delivery to students. Our findings highlight the need for the courses to be accessible to HSCC students who may be working full-time and in search of opportunities to add to their skillsets or explore new career possibilities. In addition, our findings suggest that there may be opportunities to consider how elements of Hispanic-servingness could be more integrated with efforts to improve computing identity within the AI certificate at this institution.

Authored by
Dr. Sarah L Rodriguez (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Taylor Johnson (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Yeny Jimenez (Miami Dade Community College), and antonio delgado (Affiliation unknown)

Black students belong in STEM career pathways but often experience a diminished sense of belonging in their college programs. Through informal conversations, the authors learned that some Black students felt they had not had the formal pre-college engineering training and extracurricular experiences that they perceived their peers had and therefore they did not feel they possessed engineering knowledge. There is little research that identifies the diverse engineering family practices of Black families and further finds ways to connect these practices to formal higher education learning environments. Acknowledging the rich history of Black engineering, design, and invention that occurs in Black households and communities, the authors explore the following question: In what ways can engineering practices emerge as Black families engage in design challenges?

This study is informed by asset-based frameworks and a systems theory of learning to center the role of the Black family in learning how to engage in and value engineering, design, and inventive practices. To date, 15 Families have participated in activities that were modified from the Invention Convention Curriculum. Their design sessions were video recorded and were analyzed using Python and qualitative methods. This work-in-progress manuscript will focus on identifying the engineering practices of one family who participated in a set of family engineering design activities. The authors will share insights from the family narrative (synthesis of all the data generated from the family’s participation) and results of how the family enacted specific engineering practices. Also, the authors will share a preliminary reflection on how these practices might serve as a vehicle to positively impact the sense of belonging of Black engineering students.

Authored by
Emmanuella Obiageli Ejichukwu (University of Michigan, Dearborn), DeLean Tolbert Smith (University of Michigan, Dearborn), and Hanadi Matar (University of Michigan, Dearborn)

This paper summarizes the first-year progress made on a research grant funded through the National Science Foundation EDU Core Research: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program. The research activity has two primary objectives. Those objectives are: (1) address the underrepresentation of Latinas in graduate engineering programs, and (2) establish an engineering education research program that focuses on the fundamental research of the experiences and support systems that foster the success of diverse students in engineering. The first objective will be investigated through a mixed- methods research approach. The second objective will be supported through specific activities that build the principal investigator’s capacity to mentor and sustain a research group focused on fundamental engineering education research. This research that delves into the undergraduate interest of graduate engineering programs and their identity as a researcher would illuminate strategies for addressing the underrepresentation of Latinas in national Ph.D. programs. This paper provides the details on the initial research results, accomplishments, and next steps for the research project.

Authored by
Dr. Lizandra C Godwin (University of New Mexico)

This work describes an effort to nudge engineering faculty toward adopting known best practices for inclusive teaching through a program called Engineering is Not Neutral: Transforming Instruction via Collaboration and Engagement Faculty (ENNTICE). This monthly faculty learning community (FLC) followed the three-year structure of the Colorado Equity Toolkit: Year 1 (reported in 2022) focused on self-inquiry including reflection; Year 2 (reported in 2023) focused on course design including training new engineering faculty; Year 3 (reported in the current paper) focused on building community. The emphasis on building community allows us to address our research question: To what degree does faculty participation in an FLC impact engineering college culture? Building community is measured through broadening participation by faculty in known best practices for inclusive teaching, including three elements of interest. First, we share within our engineering college the progress each department has made toward inclusive teaching participation, using thermometer-styled graphics like those used to illustrate progress toward a fundraising goal. Second, after reviewing certain sections of our engineering college’s plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), we submitted brainstormed ideas for implementation to our dean’s office. And third, after reviewing reports from student focus groups conducted in 2020/21, we evaluated progress and made recommendations for next steps; in this context the clarity and urgency of the student feedback is both motivational and difficult to ignore. The common theme in each of three elements is seeking to bridge the valley of neglect that so often divides scholarly work about DEI from concrete changes that benefit students, employers, and the broader community.

Authored by
Prof. Maryam Darbeheshti (University of Colorado Denver), Prof. Tom Altman (Affiliation unknown), Prof. Katherine Goodman (University of Colorado Denver), Dr. Heather Lynn Johnson (Affiliation unknown), Marie E. Evans (University of Colorado Denver), and Prof. David C. Mays (University of Colorado Denver)

The goal of this program, funded by the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (NSF ATE) program, is to provide additional professional and technical skills to cohorts of high school students through a Saturday Program. The program has provided inner-city high school students with out-of-school, hands-on educational experiences focusing on both professional and technical skills. Participant demographics will be discussed in this paper as diversity is a key objective of the program. The program utilizes industry-driven, project-based learning (PBL) and lessons in career and college readiness to prepare students for the workforce. Each student session consists of five consecutive Saturdays and is taught by a team of high school teachers, community college faculty, and instructors with expertise in professional skills, teambuilding, leadership, technical writing, coding, and STEM disciplines.

The program is held on community college campuses as a way to show students that they are welcome in a college environment, which has inspired participants to have confidence in their own abilities to attend college and pursue educational and career goals in technology fields. Principals from participating high schools have commented that students who attended the Program have demonstrated an improvement in their academics and behavior due to the knowledge of professional and technical skills that they have gleaned from the program.

The program’s leadership team disseminates best practices through presentations, social media, publications, and workshops at national conferences. The virtual four-day Summer Teachers’ Workshop allows high school and community college educators from throughout the United States to experience the same program that is used for the high school students. Although the workshop is virtual, participants are provided with materials and supplies, so they have the same hands-on experiences as the students in the Saturday program.

Authored by
Dr. Karen Wosczyna-Birch (CT College of Technology) and Wendy Robicheau (Affiliation unknown)

Assistive technology is highly interdisciplinary and requires experience working with a team of professionals that has not always been accessible to under¬represented student groups. With support from NSF’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program, California State University Northridge creates the first minority student development program that specifically targets students for careers in assistive technology by leveraging institutional commitment to engage underrepresented and underserved minority students in STEM fields by,1) building a support system for underrepresented students in STEM. 2) providing an authentic learning experience through tailored activities. 3) increasing our institutional capacity of creating a culturally sensitive learning environment and interdisciplinary STEM curriculum. The project uses student-centered principles and focuses on the significance of a learning environment applying an integrated STEM approach. So students take a more active role in their own education (Struyf et al.; 2019). Instructors use various active and student-centered learning methods including collaborative, cooperative, problem-based, and project-based learning. The emphasis of student learning activities is placed more on experiential learning and less on didactic teaching, with the instructor serving as both a mentor and a facilitator of learning. The project develops a strong professional identity critical to the persistence for students enrolled in a minority-serving institute in STEM majors and the motivation to pursue a STEM career, particularly in careers at the human-technology frontier. Project evaluation is in collaboration between the CARE evaluators, the project PIs and guided by the outputs, aims and outcomes about student STEM Identity theory by using both formative assessments and summative assessments.

Authored by
Dr. Li Liu (California State University, Northridge), Andy Lin (Affiliation unknown), Taeyou Jung (California State University, Northridge), and Mauro Carassai (California State University, Northridge)

The California Central Coast Community College Collaborative (C6-LSAMP, C6) is a National Science Foundation Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Bridge to the Baccalaureate grant project (NSF/LSAMP/B2B). C6-LSAMP is an innovative, cross-disciplinary, and multi-institutional collaboration developed by STEM leaders from eight California community colleges. The C6-LSAMP alliance leverages existing support structures and best practices across the member institutions to address inequities in STEM outcomes for a population of students comprised of the underserved: Hispanic/Latinx and other underrepresented minorities (URMs) in rural areas. Within the five counties served by the C6-LSAMP colleges, only 13% of Hispanic/Latinx residents 25 years or older hold a bachelor’s degree, compared to 47% of the five counties’ White, non-Hispanic population. At C6-LSAMP colleges, Hispanic/Latinx students transfer at a rate of 34% vs. 50% for White students. The success rates in key STEM gateway courses in C6 colleges are typically 13% less for Hispanic students than for White students, despite several prior and existing HSI projects at the individual institutions.

The C6-LSAMP project leverages the power of an alliance to support URM STEM students via three pillars: (1) Research Opportunities: Fall Research Symposium and university and LSAMP partnerships, (2) Academic Support: Embedded Tutors in gateway STEM courses, and (3) Professional Development/Career Exploration for students and for faculty: workshops, mentoring, and networking. Reinforcing each pillar is a commitment to creating culturally sensitive, relevant and responsive learning environments.

This work-in-progress poster will summarize some of the project activities, results, challenges and lessons learned during the first two years of the C6-LSAMP project.

Authored by
Dominic J Dal Bello (Allan Hancock College), Dr. Jens-Uwe Kuhn (Santa Barbara City College), Jason Curtis (Cuesta College), Christine L Reed (Allan Hancock College), Eva Schiorring (STEMEVAL), Sean Marc Gottlieb (Allan Hancock College), Sarah Hulick (Cabrillo College), Francisco E Jimenez (Cabrillo College), Gabriel Cuarenta-Gallegos (Cuesta College), Dr. Leila Jewell (Monterey Peninsula College), Mr. Thomas Rebold (Monterey Peninsula College), Marcella Klein Williams (Oxnard College), Justin William Miller (Oxnard College), Franco Javier Mancini (Santa Barbara City College), and Joe Selzler (Ventura College)

There is an urgent need to recruit, retain, train, and sustain a diverse engineering workforce able
to meet the socio-technical and environmental challenges of 21st century society. Together,
student veterans and service members (SVSM) are a unique yet understudied group that
comprises substantial numbers of those historically underrepresented in engineering based on
their race, ethnicity, gender, or ability. That, in combination with technical
interests and skills, maturity and life experience, and leadership and teamwork training, makes
SVSM ideal candidates for helping engineering education meet these demands.
This NSF CAREER project aims to advance full participation of SVSM within higher engineering
education and the engineering workforce. The project plan comprises a 1) Research Plan to
develop deeper understandings about how SVSM participate, persist, and produce professional
identities in engineering education, and an 2) Education Plan to place new understandings into
practice through collaborative development, implementation, and broad dissemination of an
evidence-based orientation, community building and mentorship workshop for SVSM in
engineering, and a set of modularized awareness/support training materials to introduce
engineering faculty, staff, and administrators, and the general engineering student populace to
military student issues. The research plan builds from previous work using a longitudinal,
narrative inquiry research approach and an innovative, two-strand theoretical framework. In
doing so, it aims to both critically examine higher engineering education structures and
interpretively explore SVSM professional identity development in engineering programs at 2- and
4- year public institutions in the western United States. The education plan draws from both
grounded theory methods and design based research approaches. Concurrent with the research
plan, the education plan works to connect local theory to practice by characterizing the current
support structures available for SVSM in engineering and higher education, and implementing
new supports based on SVSM identities and both required and preferred resources.
This paper reports on project activities conducted and substantial outcomes during project YEAR
3. Specifically, the following activities and outcomes are described: 1) Research Plan: qualitative
thematic and narrative findings centered on institutional structure and professional identity
development and constructed from SVSM personal narrative journal entries and one-on-one
narrative interviews, 2) Education Plan: progress to-date oncollaboratively developed and
member-checked military student awareness training for engineering faculty, staff,
administration, and students, and 3) Education Plan: preliminary findings from early activities to
develop an engineering workshop to support SVSM and other post-traditional students navigate
and find community within their engineering degree program.

Authored by
Dr. Angela Minichiello (Utah State University), Hannah Wilkinson (Utah State University), Samuel Shaw (Utah State University), and Allison Miles (Utah State University)

Although broadening participation efforts aim to transform who has access to engineering by targeting those historically excluded, Black and Brown students’ participation remains stifled by the exclusionary culture and practices ingrained in engineering education. Consequently, there is a need for scholarship that advances our understanding of systemic changes that center equity, challenge exclusionary cultural norms, and ultimately contribute to disrupting the status quo of who gets to be an engineer. This project uses Kotter’s change theory and Acker’s inequality regimes to identify and examine signature practices and change strategies within and across five exemplars. While previous executive summaries focused on the signature practices informed by the interviews with faculty and staff, this year’s executive summary will characterize the institutional values and commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This effort will inform future efforts to understand the intent-to-impact gap by comparing the institution's values to student’s lived experiences.

Authored by
Dr. Jeremi S London (Vanderbilt University), Dr. Brianna Benedict McIntyre (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering), and Ms. Nicole Adia Jefferson (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Technology-rich environments have been on the rise in educational settings for the past several decades. Access has been improved because low-cost cutting-edge technologies and technology adoption in public schools and libraries has increased. However, youth from underserved communities are not as comfortable being in these spaces as their more privileged peers. These youth are less likely to feel a sense of belonging and ownership in engineering spaces. One way to increase belonging in engineering and technology-rich environments is to provide pathways of ownership and leadership within the space. In the past, preventing harm to communities and the environment has not been central in engineering educational settings. The engineers of today and tomorrow need to reduce the harm caused by engineering and technology proactively and that mindset can start in the earliest stages of engineering education. Additionally, harm reduction offers real-world applications to engineering problems and can help youth address problems in their own communities.
This paper will discuss the preliminary findings from two middle school afterschool STEM clubs that are implementing youth-led design workshops into their program. Along with the research team and afterschool coordinators, youth leaders design and develop engineering workshops that promote belonging in engineering and center preventing harm (in engineering). In these design and development meetings, youth leaders learn about technologies that are new to them, identify problems in their communities, and work with the team to design each session of the workshop. In sharing ownership of the project, we hope to further the sense of belonging and solve community-based issues. In the full paper and poster-presentation, we will report on the early findings and lessons learned during the implementation of this program.

Authored by
Dr. Isabella Stuopis (Boston College), Kiana Alexa Ramos (Affiliation unknown), Caitlyn Hancock (Affiliation unknown), Emanuel Joseph Louime (Affiliation unknown), and Dr. Avneet Hira (Boston College)

The purpose of this poster paper is to present progress toward reaching the third research aim of an NSF CAREER-funded study, using qualitative methods to explore the intersection of LGBTQ and STEM identities. The overall project purpose is to explore LGBTQ students’ engagement in STEM disciplines. LGBTQ students often leave engineering and other STEM fields more than their peers due to unwelcoming environments, and engineering educators should tackle issues like heteronormativity and cissexism in the learning environment to promote diversity among future practicing engineers. The past year of the project has been focused on finishing data collection for the first research aim, investigating the influence of LGBTQ students' social networks on non-cognitive STEM outcomes, and securing data access agreements for the second research aim, comparing STEM degree completion rates between LGBTQ students and cisgender, heterosexual peers.
For this poster, we focus on the process of developing a qualitative, narrative study exploring how LGBTQ STEM students experience discipline-based identities. Our poster presents the development of our interview protocol, grounded in engineering identity and possible selves, as well as our methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data elicited through interviews. We use possible selves as an identity-based motivation framework in developing the interview protocol that focuses on students' future helping to understand how students are motivated to act in ways that are congruent to who they wish to become and wish to avoid becoming with respect to their decision to enter STEM. Development of the instrument began with a review of the literature to find key concepts that need to be covered in the interviews as well as example interview questions to be adapted for this study. In particular, the research team reviewed instruments used in prior research on possible selves to understand how existing procedures could be adapted to fit the purposes of this project.
Next, now that we have IRB approval, the interview protocol will be refined through pilot testing with people who meet the study’s criteria for inclusion. After pilot testing and revision, participants will be recruited for participation in this phase of the research. Many of these participants will be identified through the survey from the first research aim of the project which gathered contact information for participants interested in participating in follow-up research. Others will be identified through recruitment nationally with organizations such as oSTEM. We expect to have preliminary data to discuss at the ASEE 2024 poster session, but data collection is expected to last through much of the coming year. Once these data are collected and analyzed, the overall project will move into a phase focused on completing the project’s educational aims and broad dissemination of findings across all three research aims.

Authored by
Dr. Bryce E. Hughes (Montana State University), Emmanuel Tetteh Teye (Montana State University), and Nickolas Lambert (Montana State University)

In this paper, we aim to summarize our efforts to understand how the identities of civil and mechanical engineering students engaged in capstone projects relate to their engagement in design activity.
Building upon our previous introductory study, we share insights from the content analysis of interviews with civil and mechanical engineering students engaged in capstone design courses and report initial findings related to how students’ self-perception as engineers impacts their role within the capstone team.

Authored by
Elliott Clement (Oregon State University), Dr. James L. Huff (Harding University), and Dr. Shane A. Brown P.E. (Oregon State University)

The purpose of this work is to determine if global engagement interventions without extended international travel can help engineering students develop a global learner mindset and build towards the overarching goal of developing a holistic global engineering educational approach to meet the current and future needs of the engineering profession. The global learner mindset refers to how engineers perceive and interpret the global environment. This mindset is considered foundational for developing global engineering competence, influencing how engineers define problems and formulate and implement solutions. This project has focused on assessing the global learner mindset elements, which include cultural humility, global citizenship, and critical reflection within the context of four distinctly different global engagement interventions. These interventions include international engineering case studies in a quantitative analysis course, intentional formation of multi-national student teams within a capstone design course, a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) research project in a fluid flow course, and an engineering short course coupled to a community engaged project.

The PIs conducted pilot implementations of the four interventions during the spring 2023 semester and collected pre and post assessment data from the Global Engagement Survey (GES) and Global Engineering Competency Scale (GECS) instruments. The results have been used to determine a path forward to improve the next implementation of the interventions during the Spring 2024 semester. This path includes the development of a focus group with students participating in each intervention to obtain a deeper understanding through qualitative data analysis, specifically targeting global engineering mindset formation that will help better contextualize the quantitative results from the GES and GECS instruments.

This work aspires to expand the required development of global competencies in engineering beyond the current research focused on the development of intercultural competence in international or study-abroad experiences. Our focus is on the development of a holistic global engineering education process able to reach all engineering students even when institutions are not able to provide opportunities to fully immerse in other cultures, either because of global crises (such as a pandemic or violent conflicts), financial limitations, or the need for more sustainable methods of globally connecting.

Authored by
Prof. Scott Schneider (University of Dayton), Prof. Erick S. Vasquez-Guardado (University of Dayton), Dr. Corinne H Mowrey (University of Dayton), Michael Moulton (University of Dayton), Dr. Homero Murzi (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), and Dr. Matthew A Witenstein (University of Dayton)

This NSF Level II Equity for Excellence in STEM study uses an intersectional approach within a mixed-methods project to describe and analyze department climate for engineering doctoral students, centering the experiences of students from underrepresented groups to understand climate factors that may promote (or diminish) their persistence in doctoral completion. We aim to answer several research questions: 1) How do students across intersectional groups perceive department-level climate? 2) How do students across those groups identify the departmental climate issues? 3) How do climate concerns relate to degree completion? This mixed-methods project aims to examine doctoral students’ perceptions of the policies, practices, and procedures that impact their retention to degree completion and the differences in experiencing those factors based on intersecting social categories. This project adopts an explicitly intersectional approach to the meaning and relevance of students in multiple social categories, including gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation, considered within engineering doctoral education. Drawing on organizational climate science and intersectionality theory, the project’s multidisciplinary team aims to use a student-centered approach to shed light on multiple climate factors (e.g., diversity climate, psychological safety climate, mastery climate, performance climate, etc.) by engaging with students from diverse groups. To achieve a comprehensive picture of departmental climate and doctoral student commitment, which may differ by intersectional group, discipline, and institution type, iterative and complementary project implementation cycles are planned over the four-year project period. In Year 1, the researchers aim to use findings from the quantitative pilot climate survey approach to inform the qualitative design. The team aims to repeat this process in Year 2 to develop, refine, and validate the final survey instrument, including a climate scale sensitive enough to assess intersectional phenomena unique to students from diverse groups. The scale will be grounded in measurement invariance, in that factors will be measured similarly across different groups to reveal similarities and differences between engineering doctoral student populations. In Years 3 and 4, the researchers plan to administer the final survey nationally and incorporate follow-up interviews with a subsample of survey respondents, using a mixed-methods approach. In partnership with the American Society for Engineering Education, the team plans to deploy the climate survey nationally to engineering doctoral students and to share survey findings with engineering deans. Completed work includes a targeted review of climate literature produced by the engineering education research community, a systematic review of organizational climate and the retention of students from historically excluded groups in engineering doctoral education, the development and pilot testing of a climate survey, and semi-structured interviews to follow-up with a selection of survey respondents.

Authored by
Dr. Julie Aldridge (The Ohio State University), Nicole Else-Quest (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Dr. So Yoon Yoon (University of Cincinnati), and Dr. Joe Roy (American Society for Engineering Education)

Professional engineering demands more than the ability to proficiently carry out engineering calculations. Engineers need to approach problems with a holistic view, make decisions based on evidence, collaborate effectively in teams, and learn from setbacks. Laboratory work plays a crucial role in shaping the professional development of university engineering students, as it enables them to cultivate these essential practices. A successful laboratory task design should provide students opportunities to develop these practices but also needs to adhere to the constraints of the educational environment. In this project, we explore how both virtual (simulation-based) and physical (hands-on) laboratories, based on the same real-world engineering process, prepare students for their future careers. Specifically, we seek to determine whether the virtual and physical laboratory modes foster different yet complementary epistemic practices. Epistemic practices refer to the ways in which group members propose, communicate, justify, assess, and validate knowledge claims in a socially organized and interactionally accomplished manner.
To accomplish these objectives, we are conducting a microgenetic analysis of student teams engaging in both the virtual and physical versions of the same laboratory exercise, the Jar Test for Drinking Water Treatment. Jar testing is a standard laboratory procedure used by design engineers and water treatment plant operators to optimize the physical and chemical conditions for the effective removal of particulate contaminants from water through coagulation, flocculation, and settling. The central hypothesis guiding this research is that physical laboratories emphasize social and material epistemic practices, while virtual laboratories highlight social and conceptual epistemic practices. The goal is to gain transferable knowledge about how the laboratory format and instructional design influence students' engagement in epistemic practices.
To date we have developed physical and virtual versions of the Jar Test laboratory, each built around the affordances of their respective modes. We have completed two rounds of data collection resulting in data from 21 students (7 groups of 3). The primary data sources have included video recordings and researcher observations of the teams during the laboratory work, semi-structured stimulated recall interviews with students and laboratory instructors, and student work products. Using discourse analysis methods within a sociocultural framework, we are addressing the following research questions:
1. In what ways and to what extent does conducting an experiment in a physical mode to develop a process recommendation influence students’ engineering epistemic practices?
2. In what ways and to what extent does conducting an experiment in a virtual mode to develop a process recommendation influence students’ engineering epistemic practices?
3. How do students in each laboratory mode respond to being “stuck”? Do students’ views on the iterative nature of science/engineering and their tolerance for mistakes depend on the instructional design afforded by the laboratory mode?
While this study focuses on a process specific to environmental engineering, its findings have the potential to positively impact teaching and learning practices across all engineering and science disciplines that rely on laboratory investigations in their curriculum.

Authored by
Dr. Jeffrey A Nason (Oregon State University), Samuel B Gavitte (Tufts University), and Dr. Milo D. Koretsky (Tufts University)

In the pursuit of enhancing the success of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, understanding the intricate network of factors influencing their achievements is crucial. This phenomenological study investigates the multifaceted network of factors influencing the success of students in STEM, with a specific focus on a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) community college in Southern California. Through faculty interviews and student focus groups, the study uncovers the lived experiences of STEM students, providing valuable insights into the nuances of their educational journey exploring critical aspects such as STEM identity, external support, faculty influence, and internal motivation.

The research highlights the crucial role of community colleges and HSIs in supporting underrepresented groups in STEM fields and underscores the significance of creating inclusive learning environments and opportunities to foster a sense of belonging and empowerment among students. External factors, including family support and access to resources, are identified as fundamental determinants of STEM student success.

Overall, the study's findings reveal the interconnected nature of STEM student achievements, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing the interactions between STEM identity, student-faculty relationships, faculty influence, and external factors. Educators, policymakers, and institutional leaders can utilize the results to provide guidance to enhance STEM student success and promote the dismantling of barriers and the creation of equitable opportunities, particularly for underrepresented groups, to foster an inclusive and thriving STEM community.

Authored by
Dr. Lucy Arellano Jr. (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Computational Thinking has evolved to a subject of great interest in all areas of education. The last three years have witnessed an explosive growth of initiatives, studies and even literature reviews. Yet, most of computational thinking is still focused on pre-college levels and not many studies have investigated it within engineering education at the college level. In this context, our work constitutes a spearheading effort and advances the current state of knowledge.
During the fourth year of this project, the major result has been the dissemination efforts taking place. That is, our diagnostic has been okayed by the Technology Transfer offices at the institutions in the collaborative and a website has been launched. Also, during past conferences and professional meetings, a number of institutions have expressed interest in utilizing the recently validated ECTD. This also opens opportunity to engage in another validation cycle with even a more diverse pool of participants, thus getting our instrument better calibrated for extended audiences.
Another major result is the publication of the earlier work on enculturation that has produced a secondary study on factors of enculturation where computational thinking has gained highlighted attention given its difficulty among engineering students. An instrument on enculturation that considers computational thinking as one of its constructs is getting validated.
We have also engaged in conversations with our IRB to obtain access to DFQWI students. The result has not been what we have anticipated, and we are taking alternative steps to reach participants. At the time this abstract is written, a different IRB revision is getting drafted utilizing a snow-ball technique (aka referrals) of potential students who might have dropped, withdrawn or transferred. We are also preparing the longitudinal study to take place at the end of the Fall 2023 semester and beginning of Spring 2024. The expectation is that we complete the last objective in our funded grant, the development of computational thinking skills over time in engineering students. We also expect to correlate the findings of this project with the enculturation project.

Authored by
Dr. Noemi V Mendoza Diaz (Texas A&M University), Dr. Deborah Anne Trytten (The University of Oklahoma), Dr. Russell D. Meier (Milwaukee School of Engineering), Dr. Harry A. Hogan (Texas A&M University), and Dr. So Yoon Yoon (University of Cincinnati)

The benefits of Evidence-Based Instructional Practices (EBIPs) are well-supported in the existing literature and have been demonstrated to play an impactful role in meeting course learning outcomes (CLOs) and improving student retention rates. Despite these benefits, a majority of engineering faculty have remained stagnant in their transition to the adoption of innovative pedagogical devices. There are several global factors which prevent instructors from embracing non-traditional styles of teaching (i.e., time, preparation, student resistance, etc.) which have been explored at a surface level. Therefore, an ethnographic approach is taken to understand the contextual barriers which stand in the way of successful EBIP-implementation. Approximately 70 instructors have been invited to share their personal experience and perceptions around non-traditional modes of teaching over a series of semi-structured interviews. Specifically, participants were prompted to reflect on contextual barriers and affordances that impact their decision-making processes around active student engagement in the classroom. The recorded conversations are transcribed and examined through a qualitative coding analysis through utilization of the MAXQDA software to explore relations between emergent themes. The project also consists of a mentoring component in which participating faculty are continuously engaged in the innovative and development processes tied to EBIP-implementation in the classroom. This collaborative development has created a supportive space in which faculty are encouraged to test out new EBIPs in their courses and reflect on the challenges and successes they encounter. In response to participant feedback, members of the research team provide appropriate scaffolding for instructors in the form of active-learning exercises or hands-on demonstrations which circumnavigate local barriers faced by engineering faculty. Qualitative data is collected through field notes and video recordings of conversations, which are transcribed to discern emerging themes uncovered by various coding methods. The two primary outcomes of this study are to (1) develop a conceptual model that is predictive of the decision-making processes performed by engineering faculty, and (2) a collection of case study examples which highlight contextual barriers to EBIP-implementation. As a secondary byproduct of this research, an online archive of active-learning materials, and supplementary content, is to be made available to engineering instructors as a teaching resource. To this extent, the research team has explored the specifics of resource-related barriers and aspects of engineering department cultures which inhibit optimal student engagement.

Authored by
Dr. Shane A. Brown P.E. (Oregon State University), Dr. Prateek Shekhar (New Jersey Institute of Technology), Jeff Knowles (Oregon State University), and Stephanie Adams (Oregon State University)

Engineering programs have long struggled with balancing curricula that are rigorous enough to prepare graduates to be capable practitioners and educational experiences that are engaging enough to retain undergraduate students. Data show a little more than half of students who start in a program leave after the first or second year, and that many of those students came to dislike engineering or lost interest in the profession. These findings suggest a mismatch between what incoming students think engineering practice is and what message they receive during their first two years of a program. This work will aim to understand how contextualization of what it means to practice engineering can improve the intentions of students, particularly those identifying as underrepresented minorities and women, to persist in a discipline that historically struggles to retain them. With this understanding, changes can be made to undergraduate engineering education to better retain students. In addition, this work will contribute new knowledge about students’ understanding of what it means to practice engineering and how that understanding changes with exposure to different types of contextualization (e.g., historical or technical). It will also contribute new knowledge about how undergraduate students associate engineering science and judgement with engineering practice, particularly with respect to how these facets of engineering practice are directly in service to design.

Engineering science courses that occupy the middle two years of a program most often utilize traditional lecture-based pedagogy and simplified close-ended textbook problems, which do not typically allow students to engage in the kind of decision-making that is essential to developing engineering judgement. This work proposes a teaching pedagogy intended to provide students with context for how engineering science concepts are implemented in authentic engineering practice and how engineering judgement is essential in that implementation. Moreover, this work will aim to employ another teaching pedagogy to provide a more holistic contextualization of engineering practice by introducing students to the history of the profession. This pedagogy was implemented during the Fall 2023 semester in a required seminar course for mechanical engineering sophomores at [name of university]. This work will advance the field of engineering education research by studying how students’ perceptions of engineering practice develop as they progress through a program, and how these educational activities can shape that progress and/or reframe their beliefs about their education and training. Semi-structured interviews will reveal how students’ perceptions of engineering practice change longitudinally and whether the aforementioned educational activities influence that trajectory. In addition, a larger group of students will be invited to participate in surveys, which will enable drawing inferences from a broader sample about intention to persist as well as baseline levels of familiarity with engineering in general.

Authored by
Martell Cartiaire Bell (The University of Iowa), Dr. Aaron W. Johnson (University of Michigan), and Prof. Rachel Vitali (The University of Iowa)

At its core, STEM research is a collaborative endeavor. Similarly, one can expect interdisciplinary coordination in STEM teaching to be fruitful. A recent NSF S-STEM grant has enabled us to develop and implement at Penn State Abington integrated courses that span topics in math, physics, and engineering.
Even though calculus is a prerequisite for physics at the majority of US undergraduate institutions, many students do not maintain the essential math skills, which undermines their success in physics. It's interesting to note that in recent years, we have begun to hear concerns from engineering majors who dislike having to take math classes that are required by engineering curriculum. The math and engineering professors could find this unreasonable. It is logical, though, given that math is typically taught to students as an abstract discipline, and they need to comprehend how it will benefit them in their future employment as engineers. As a possible solution to the problem, we embarked on creating an Integrated Curriculum starting with two pairs of courses: Calculus I + Physics I (Mechanics) and Physics 2 (E&M) + Electrical Engineering (Circuits and Devices). We will give a general overview of this initiative in this presentation, outlining its rationale and potential difficulties with integrated curriculum.
In this presentation, we will discuss the conditions that could enable co-teaching to effectively shift teaching practices and the challenges of co-teaching from an instructor’s point of view. We will also discuss the survey data gathered from the students every two weeks on their opinions of these integrated courses. It is our hope that not only will instructors who are new to or considering co-teaching learn about the practice and ideas for getting started, but instructors who have already tried co-teaching will delve into the research supporting the practice and adjust their approaches based on our experiences.

Authored by
Dr. Burcu Ozden (Pennsylvania State University), Dr. Michael Kagan (Pennsylvania State University), Dr. Matthew A. Fury (Pennsylvania State University), Dr. Andrei Blinkouski (Pennsylvania State University), Dr. Zafer Hatahet (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott), and Dr. John Majewicz (Pennsylvania State University)

With respect to previous studies and the state of the quality of K-12 computing education research, there remains room to improve the quality and quantity of research being conducted as well as the identification of research gaps focused on ensuring all children's learning needs are considered. To mitigate this, our project was designed to answer three research questions:

RQ1: How comprehensive is K-12 CER when examined with a specific lens on how it explicitly addresses broadening participation in computing or equity goals?
RQ2: What are the barriers that prevent K-12 computing education researchers from conducting research across the four components of CAPE?
RQ3: How effective are new resources, materials and workshops specifically created to address the gaps in and barriers to producing high-quality, equity-focused K-12 CER?

Over the last two years, our project has been engaged in answering these research questions through 1) framing prior research against the CAPE framework to identify gaps in research, and identify barriers researchers face when conducting high-quality research in equitable K-12 computing education; 2) using resulting data as well as input from experts in the field and other standards bodies, develop recommendations and resources for expanding coverage of equitable K-12 computing education research using the CAPE framework; and 3) using recommendations and resources to design and pilot workshops for training researchers in equitable K-12 CER methods and practices. This poster describes some of the major activities that answer our three primary research questions and how the resultant workshops have impacted computing education researchers.

Authored by
Dr. Monica McGill (Institute for Advancing Computing Education), Isabella Gransbury (North Carolina State University), Leigh Ann DeLyser (Affiliation unknown), Jennifer Rosato (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities), and Julie M. Smith (Affiliation unknown)

The "Rich, Immediate Critique of Antipatterns in Student Code" (RICA) project aims to provide rich, relevant, and immediate feedback to students learning to program in their first year of engineering education. This feedback is indispensable in effective student learning, particularly in introductory computing courses. Students often need help understanding compilation or run-time messages, and code structures that initially seem intuitive can have unintended and poorly understood consequences. Conventional classroom feedback mechanisms fall short here, partly because large-scale courses like those in First-Year Engineering (FYE) often strain the instructional team's capacity to deliver timely feedback. Our work-in-progress project aims to address this challenge by developing real-time Code Critiquers specifically tailored for First-Year Engineering (FYE).

Our ongoing project is developing a real-time Code Critiquer system, WebTA, that identifies, categorizes, and provides feedback on code antipatterns in student-submitted MATLAB code. In programming, where the learning process is iterative and often fraught with errors, immediate feedback can serve as a critical form of scaffolding.

The RICA project aligns with broader educational theory that supports the vital role of immediate feedback. However, it takes it a step further by focusing on the "richness" and "relevance" of this feedback. The project exists in the intersection of computer science, engineering, and cognitive & learning sciences. By focusing on antipatterns, it addresses the mental models that students form while learning to code.

While autograders and other automated assessment tools have been instrumental in scaling up coding education, their primary limitation lies in evaluating syntactical and functional correctness, often overlooking the "antipatterns" in student code. Antipatterns represent code structure, which, while usually syntactically correct, could lead to unintended consequences: errors, inefficiencies, or complexities.

The context of the project is a First-Year Engineering Program. At our institution, FYE has a typical total enrollment of approximately 1,000 students matriculating each fall into the College of Engineering. FYE is a common first-year engineering experience taken by all first-year students in the College of Engineering. During an Engineering Fundamentals course, students are taught programming in MATLAB.

The poster focuses on research conducted by our graduate students over the past year. This research includes preliminary analysis of classroom data, work developing a Machine Learning algorithm to detect antipatterns, exploration of the impact of feedback on student self-efficacy, and efforts to develop a common Abstract Syntax Tree representation for multiple languages (in particular Java, MATLAB, and Python).

Authored by
Dr. Leo C. Ureel II (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Laura E Brown (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Michelle E Jarvie-Eggart P.E. (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Jon Sticklen (Michigan Technological University), Laura Albrant (Michigan Technological University), Mary Benjamin (Michigan Technological University), Daniel Masker (Michigan Technological University), Pradnya Pendse (Affiliation unknown), and Joseph Roy Teahen (Michigan Technological University)

Students in computational science graduate programs have unique challenges due to the interdisciplinary nature of this field. Students entering interdisciplinary graduate programs must quickly adapt and gain knowledge in other disciplines, learn to communicate across disciplinary boundaries, navigate ambiguity in what it means to be an interdisciplinary expert, and face challenges from the lack of clarity in any pathway to developing interdisciplinary expertise and uncertain career paths,. Helping students navigate these challenges, creating awareness of their unique opportunities and challenges in the pursuit of careers as interdisciplinary scientists, and helping them discover models for interdisciplinary identities required a concerted and tailored approach to provide academic support and professional development.

This paper presents the experiences and lessons learned in the design and development of a professional development course designed for first year graduate students in an interdisciplinary computational science program, under an NSF S-STEM grant funded project titled "Academic Support, Career Training, and Professional Development to Improve Interdisciplinary Graduate Education for the Next Generation of Computational Scientists and Engineers". Herein we discuss the development and implementation of this two-semester course sequence (1 credit each semester). The course modules included (a) Understanding the academic challenges, goals and timelines in the interdisciplinary computational science program, (b) Individual Development Planning, (c) Career Exploration, (d) Communication Skills, (e) Networking, Finding Mentors & Mentoring, (f) Understanding and Exploring Pathways to Interdisciplinary Careers, (f) Leadership and Entrepreneurship Skills for career success, (g) Professional & Responsible Conduct, (h) Mental Health & Wellbeing. These topics were tailored specifically for the needs of computational science students with a goal to increase their awareness and preparation for interdisciplinary careers. This paper discusses the modifications and adaptations made to foster the success of first year graduate students from diverse academic backgrounds through navigating interdisciplinary computational science and developing peer cohorts and pathways to careers.

Course learning outcomes and students’ development were assessed using assignments and reflective writing. Results after three successive years of offering this course show that a tailored professional development course helps students better understand their academic pathways, better understand career options, utilize opportunities for professional growth, develop effective peer cohorts, and express more satisfaction with their experiences as graduate students.

Authored by
Prof. Satchi Venkataraman (San Diego State University), Dr. Dustin B. Thoman (San Diego State University), Ms. Susan Wainscott (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and Prof. Jose E Castillo (San Diego State University)

Understanding how engineers connect technical work to broader social-ecological systems is critical because their designs transform societies and environments. As part of a national study to explore how civil and chemical engineers navigate design decisions, we are developing a survey instrument to assess mental models of social-ecological-technical systems (SETS). Mental models (Johnson-Laird, 2001; Rouse & Morris, 1986), are internal representations that individuals use to describe, explain, and predict the form, function, state, and purpose of a system. In this case, the system is the connection between technical design and broader social-ecological systems. The project is informed by three frameworks: 1) planned behavior, 2) mental models, and 3) social-ecological-technical systems (SETS). The project integrates the theory of planned behavior with mental models to build fundamental knowledge of engineers’ mental models of SETSs, changes in their mental models over time, and relationships between mental models and design decisions.

This paper presents the instrument development process centered on eliciting mental models of SETS. SETS (McPhearson et al., 2022) is a generalized framework that positions social, technical, and ecological elements of a system as vertices of a triangle, with interactions in all directions. The instrument will include both closed-ended and open-ended items, allowing us to leverage advances in natural language processing to scale qualitative data analysis and combine an inferential framework often associated with quantitative studies with the richer information flow associated with qualitative studies.

Previous work using SETS has identified individual components within each vertex salient to the specific context (Bixler et al., 2019). In this paper, we report on the phases of instrument development that support this contextualization: 1) Initial interview protocol development followed by semi-structured interviews with six engineering students outside the target majors to test how well the protocol elicits information about students mental models of SETS, 2) revisions to the interview protocol followed by semi-structured interviews with senior-level students in chemical and civil engineering students (12 per discipline), 3) deductive and inductive analysis of those interviews, using SETS as our deductive coding scheme followed by inductive coding to refine and contextualize the analysis and support survey development. We conclude with the initial survey instrument, which will undergo pilot testing in the summer of 2024. The results both support instrument development and offer an exploratory analysis of civil and chemical engineering students’ mental models of SETS.

Bixler, R. P., Lieberknecht, K., Leite, F., Felkner, J., Oden, M., Richter, S. M., ... & Thomas, R. (2019). An observatory framework for metropolitan change: Understanding urban social–ecological–technical systems in Texas and beyond. Sustainability, 11(13), 3611.

Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2001). Mental models and deduction. Trends in cognitive sciences, 5(10), 434-442.

McPhearson, T., Cook, E. M., Berbes-Blazquez, M., Cheng, C., Grimm, N. B., Andersson, E., ... & Troxler, T. G. (2022). A social-ecological-technological systems framework for urban ecosystem services. One Earth, 5(5), 505-518.

Rouse, W. B., & Morris, N. M. (1986). On looking into the black box: Prospects and limits in the search for mental models. Psychological bulletin, 100(3), 349.

Authored by
Dr. Andrew Katz (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Dr. Marie C. Paretti (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Dr. Tripp Shealy (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), and Felicity Bilow (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Background: The [Name Redacted, pseudonym: CONVERGE] project aims to increase the effectiveness of and sustain organizational change efforts aimed at diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) goals by instigating a cross-institutional, DEIJ-oriented Community of Transformation (CoT), through which we will foster commitment to and capacity for creating DEIJ-oriented systems change in STEM education. Through in-person workshops, regular virtual gatherings, and informal interactions fostered by the CoT, CoT members have opportunities to share the expertise they have developed as members of institutional change leadership teams (e.g., NSF ADVANCE, RED, INCLUDES, and IUSE leadership teams) with each other, as well as learn more about how a framework centering change theories, learning theories, and intersectional power, and storycrafting practices could guide the design, implementation, and evaluation of systems change efforts in STEM education.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper and poster is to provide an update of the development of our [Name Redacted] DEIJ-oriented CoT through a design case.

Approach: We conjecture that speculative design/narratives, which intentionally critique the present, can build commitment to making change; that remixing, which involves making changes to existing narratives, can support members to envision and analyze near-term changes and outcomes; and that futurism, which involves crafting new, visionary narratives, can support members to hold tight to DEIJ commitments even as they face barriers. These acts of speculative design, remixing, and futurism are the focus on CoT activities that began with a virtual kickoff event in October 2023 and an initial set of 55 members. In this short paper we will provide a design case that demonstrates how we developed and implemented aspects of the CoT and our reflections on these activities.
To ensure memory related to design decisions was accurate we recorded meetings and to fill in gaps design team members were interviewed as the case was constructed. To date we have held three synchronous online sessions. Early participant feedback indicates enthusiasm for the CoT. While comfort with the arts-based work varies from slightly uncomfortable to extremely enthusiastic participants expressed an openness to trusting the process and they are excited for the potential.

Conclusions: By reflecting on our design process and the implementation of activities to date, we hope that our design case will help inspire and equip others who are interested in developing their own Communities of Transformation using storycrafting and arts-based methods. Although our project is in its first year, we hope that by sharing our successes and failures so far that we will support others working to create supportive communities for transformation to advance revolutionary change efforts.

Authored by
Dr. Nadia N. Kellam (Arizona State University), Dr. Susannah C. Davis (University of New Mexico), Mrs. Kristen Ferris (University of New Mexico ), Madeleine Jennings (Arizona State University), Katharine Getz (Pennsylvania State University), Earl E. Lee (Arizona State University), and Dr. Vanessa Svihla (University of Texas at Austin)

Makerspaces are sites of creativity and engineering ingenuity. Students have the unique experience of being able to walk into a space and learn informally through experimentation in team or individual settings. Participation in these settings fosters the enhancement of engineering design skills, the development of a strong engineering identity and self-efficacy, and the cultivation of a supportive community that nurtures a sense of belonging. According to Astin's student involvement theory, the extent to which these outcomes are achieved by makerspace users varies, with higher levels of involvement correlating with greater levels of personal growth and learning. An influential factor in the level of involvement students reach is whether the makerspace environment is conducive to learning and whether the makerspace feels psychologically safe. An emerging body of literature has critiqued the “democratizing” nature of makerspaces and calls for the intentional design of a truly “boundary crossing” space characterized by the disruption of barriers to access and an increased sense of belonging of users in the space. One of the specific recommendations commonly found in the research literature is to design for those not using the space. This can be extremely difficult to do with most spaces being designed for the current population of members; this acts as a “closed loop” where the makerspace culture is reinforced, which can exclude those not currently participating in the makerspace.

To improve the design process of inclusive makerspaces, this study focuses on the characterization of non-users of the makerspace for makerspace designers and decision-makers to consider and reflect upon when improving/changing the space. Data was collected using two quantitative surveys distributed at the beginning and end of the 2021-2022 academic year for first-year engineering students. The surveys measured students' motivations to engage in makerspaces, psychosocial scores like engineering identity, and makerspace usage. Results show that makerspace usage cannot be divided or differentiated based on gender, race/ethnicity, and ability status. Differences in makerspace participation based on first-generation status and parent education were significant. It was also found that non-users have low perceived comfort levels while users have higher levels for both timestamps. The strength at which non-users and users agreed to the usefulness and enjoyment of makerspaces was also different, with non-users being less enthusiastic in these motivation scores. Over time, non-users exhibit drops in their motivation scores, opposite to what is present in the user sample. Makerspace designers and researchers should use perceived comfort as a potential marker of who is a non-user and explore ways to redesign the environment where their perceived comfort is prioritized.

To improve the design process of inclusive makerspaces, this study is focused on the creation of personas of possible makerspace members that are not being considered for the ongoing design, or evolution, of the makerspace. These personas were developed from a combination of qualitative and quantitative data sources. A quantitative survey was conducted with the aim of capturing first-year engineering student’s perceptions of their engineering identity, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging along with their familiarity with different making processes. Student’s attitudes towards engaging or participating in makerspaces was also captured. In order to capture further information on the experiences of first-year students, qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 students. The interviews were focused on understanding their engineering and making backgrounds, as well as their pathways to actively participating in the makerspace. The emerging themes from the qualitative data set were used alongside the quantitative survey data to inform the design of the personas. Results from this study provide an interesting point of reflection for makerspace staff to consider when creating a makerspace that encourages belonging to all, even those who are not current users.

Authored by
Ms. Elisa Bravo (University of Michigan) and Jesse Austin-Breneman (University of Michigan)

We developed FossilSketch software for teaching the identification of microfossils in undergraduate geoscience classes. The FossilSketch application was used for outreach and classroom activities in various courses, including geology, paleontology, and biology. We have been continuously improving the existing student dashboard to provide more autonomy and to improve motivation and knowledge retention for students. Many instructors expressed their interest in the tool and associated projects and expressed the need for enhancement for broader sustainability. Based on the identified need, we are developing the instructors' dashboard to allow instructors to create, share, and customize classroom activities.

Authored by
Dr. Anna Stepanova (Texas A&M University), Dr. Saira Anwar (Texas A&M University), Christina Belanger (Texas A&M University), and Dr. Tracy Anne Hammond (Texas A&M University)

Absent from the undergraduate aerospace curricula at many universities is any acknowledgement of macroethics, the ways in which engineering impacts society positively and negatively. Without putting aerospace engineering in its social context, students are left ill-prepared to recognize and address challenging ethical questions and issues they will encounter in their future engineering careers. Alternatively, aerospace engineering curricula should support the development of the critical consciousness required to reflect on the social impact of the field and students’ present and future roles within it. We are addressing this pressing need with integrated research and curriculum development. Our multi-institutional team is composed of aerospace and engineering education research faculty, graduate students in engineering education, undergraduate students in engineering, and practitioners in the aerospace industry. The overarching objective of our design-based research project is to investigate how a macroethical curriculum can be effectively integrated into aerospace engineering science courses. To do this, we ask two research questions to inform the curriculum: RQ1) What are undergraduate students’ current awareness and perceptions of macroethical issues in aerospace engineering?, and RQ2) In what ways do students feel their education is or is not preparing them to address macroethical issues? We also pose a question to assess our curriculum: RQ3) How does the macroethical curriculum impact students’ perceptions and awareness of macroethical issues and their desire to engage with the macroethical implications of their future work? In this poster, we will describe the development and iteration of macroethics lessons in multiple aerospace engineering courses, along with an assessment of the lessons through instructor reflections and quantitative student feedback. We will also describe the development of a survey to conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses of students’ awareness and perception of macroethical issues in aerospace engineering. We will also present preliminary results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.

Authored by
Dr. Aaron W. Johnson (University of Michigan), Dr. Corin L. Bowen (California State University, Los Angeles), Ms. Elizabeth Ann Strehl (University of Michigan), Sabrina Olson (University of Michigan), and Ricardo Elias (California State University, Los Angeles)

This project supported by NSF ATE (award #2202107) aims to serve the national interest by addressing the shortage of technicians with the skills to maintain programable logic controllers (PLCs) and robots in the service industries. The program at Vaughn College provides a PLC and Robotic Automation (PRA) Technician Certificate with 13 credits. It will educate technicians for positions in service industries such as wholesale and retail, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and airport baggage and cargo handling [1][2][3]. Moreover, all credits earned through the certificate program are transferable to the college's Mechatronic Engineering program. Vaughn College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, places a strong emphasis on recruiting students from low-income families and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. This certificate program reduces the financial burden and time commitment necessary for students to pursue education, granting them the means to pursue advanced degrees or provide support to other family members seeking greater opportunities.

The goal of the project is to create a one-year certificate program to provide PRA Technicians with the skills they need for employment in service industries. To ensure graduates of the program have the desired qualifications, the project (a) collaborates with its Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) to determine the service industry needs and develop a curriculum to meet those needs; (b) supports faculty to be trained and obtain industry certifications; (c) recruits both high-school graduates, incumbent workers and college students using newly developed informational materials. Also, by partnering with the college’s existing mechatronic program to recruit female and racial and ethnic minorities into the program, diversity in the PRA Technician workforce will be increased. Advancements in the understanding of technical education for service industries are shared through ATE (Advanced Technological Education) Central and at regional and national conferences [4].

Authored by
Dr. Shouling He (Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology) and Dr. Douglas Jahnke (Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology)

Learning to code is becoming a popular subject for students and professionals of all ages, partly for its career prospects, but also as a critical literacy for understanding how computing is shaping society. Yet, educators generally agree that computer programming is difficult to teach and assess. This research aims to address difficulties in assessing computer programming by investigating critical characteristics of programming tasks using both response process and product data. The study capitalizes on the ability of logging the coding process to obtain, sort, analyze, and summarize vast amounts of fine-grained information that can be captured by observing program edits. We aim to study the relations between process and task characteristics in programming, identifying patterns that are indicative of proficiencies, suggest fluency, or signal certain kinds of coding difficulties. Such identification will, in turn, allow for designing instructional, learning, or assessment materials that are targeted at specific needs of learners.

Authored by
Dr. Mo Zhang (Educational Testing Service), Amy Jensen Ko (University of Washington), and CHEN Li (Educational Testing Service)

Makerspaces are increasingly more important in engineering education because they enable learner-guided experiences related to the process of creating. Many previous studies have investigated the nature of the learning that happens in makerspaces when students engage in the creative process, with factors such as makerspace culture, knowledge, and skills being examined. Currently, though, there are no instruments with evidence of validity and reliability for measuring the learning that happens within makerspaces. Therefore, in this project, we are aiming to create an instrument that can be used within diverse engineering education settings to help institutions assess the impact of makerspaces on their users. In previous NSF-funded projects, part of our team has been able to develop an intimate understanding of academic makerspaces through ethnographic methodologies: who uses the spaces; how they operate; what users are learning; how users are learning. In order to move from qualitative findings into a quantitative instrument, we proposed this four-stage project along with experts in instrument development. The first stage is for developing construct definitions, where we determine what we want our instrument to measure by contrasting our team’s expertise on makerspaces with the existing literature to create theory-informed definitions. From these definitions, we move onto the second stage, where we use those definitions to generate draft items to be used in the survey instrument. Those draft items then go through a review process with experts in both makerspaces and instrument design. Additionally, we recruit students in our target population to participate in think-aloud interviews: interviews where the students go through the instrument and talk out loud about their interpretation and thought process when answering the questions. The interviews allow us to assess if our target population is interpreting the items how we intended. The third stage is to design and conduct validation studies that will allow us to test our hypothesized factor structure and check for evidence of reliability of the instrument. Finally, the fourth stage consists of finalizing the instrument and conducting additional validation studies that examine how our instrument scores are related to fairness. In the end, the goal is to have an instrument that can be used in diverse engineering makerspace settings. At the present moment, we are in the second stage of our project, and we anticipate we will be on the third stage by the time of the conference.

Authored by
Mr. Leonardo Pollettini Marcos (Purdue University), Dr. Julie S Linsey (Georgia Institute of Technology), Dr. Melissa Wood Aleman (James Madison University), Dr. Robert L. Nagel (Carthage College), Dr. Kerrie A Douglas (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Prof. Eric Holloway (Purdue University, West Lafayette)

Do DEI Efforts Count in Tenure Evaluations? An Experiment in Two STEM fields

In light of broader recognition of systemic racism in and outside academe, universities are urgently investing in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Many STEM fields have called for reform to tenure policies and practices to include DEI as part of promotion and tenure decisions (NASEM, 2020; Segarra et al., 2020). Yet faculty consistently report that when it comes to tenure and promotion, DEI does not “count,” or they are not sure how DEI efforts counted in decisions made (Griffin et al, 2013; Jimenez et al, 2019). In this study, we use behavioral design techniques (e.g., Bohnet, 2016) to understand which “nudges” (Thaler & Sunstein, 2009) are most effective in influencing tenure decisions, and whether any of these interventions shape the weight of DEI in recommendations for tenure. Our study was guided by the following research questions:

RQ1: Can certain “nudges” result in strong DEI efforts compensating for slightly-below average research accomplishments?
RQ2: Do the race and gender of the candidates influence the effect of any nudges?

Methods
To examine our research questions, we conducted a 4 (CV qualification manipulations: (1) control CV with no DEI information, (2) CV with above-average DEI scattered throughout, (3) CV with above-average DEI concentrated in specific section in the CV, and (4) CV with above-average DEI scattered evaluated with a rubric intervention) x 2 (candidate gender manipulation: female vs. male) x 2 (candidate race manipulation: Black vs. white) between-subjects experimental study. Our study uses an experimental vignette methodology (EVM) known as “paper people” study (Aguinis & Bradley, 2014) in which participants make an explicit decision about a fictional candidate. We created a base CV for two fields (mechanical engineering, and ecological and evolutionary biology [EEB]), with each CV including the candidate’s name, chosen to signal the race and gender of the applicant, as guided by past studies (Butler & Homola, 2017).

Analyses
We aim to collect 2000 participants who are currently tenure-track/tenured professors in the two fields at research universities. We currently have responses from 815 EEB participants and 468 mechanical engineering participants. We conducted preliminary analyses to approach our research questions using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with a 4 X 2 X 2 factorial design on all evaluation variables. For significant main effects, we use post-hoc Tukey tests to probe which specific conditions are significantly different from one another.

Results and Discussion
Preliminary evidence reveals that DEI efforts do count in some decisions about tenure recommendations and that interventions aimed at highlighting DEI efforts were effective for some evaluations related to the candidate’s specific institution. There were no statistically significant differences in the interventions based on the race and gender characteristics of the faculty, but we may find more evidence of these differences with a larger sample size as we continue to collect data. We also plan to expand our findings on participants’ decision-making process with qualitative data analysis of open-ended responses that is currently in progress.

Authored by
Dr. Damani White-Lewis (University of Pennsylvania), Jennifer Wessel (University of Maryland, College Park), Alexandra Kuvaeva (University of Maryland, College Park), and KerryAnn OMeara (Affiliation unknown)

Funded through the NSF ITEST program, the primary objective of this mixed-methods meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis study is to review and synthesize research and evaluation findings demonstrating the effects of integrating innovative technologies and technology-based learning experiences in STEM education on K-12 students’ STEM career-related outcomes. This study synthesizes the rigorous intervention research on Grades K-12 students’ STEM career-related outcomes from 1995 to the present and across characteristics of innovative technology-based STEM education interventions, learning contexts, student demographics, and study designs. This study advances understanding of effects of integrating innovative educational technologies and technology-based learning experiences in PreK-12 classrooms on students' STEM career outcomes, enables generalization of the magnitudes and variations of effects on students, what settings specifies what technologies and interventions have been effective for which groups of students and in, and provides insight to how and why such interventions produced positive outcomes. The method for conducting this study follows steps common to meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis studies, that is, establishing inclusion/exclusion criteria and search terms following the PICOS framework (i.e., participant, intervention, comparison condition/study design, outcome, and setting), conducting database searches, screening for study inclusion, coding, and conducting analyses.

The preliminary meta-analysis involved 94 effect sizes from 42 primary studies, most published within the past decade. These studies encompassed 13,069 student participants, primarily in middle or high school. STEM career-related outcomes were measured as dispositions, including interest, aspiration, motivation, confidence, and self-efficacy. A small number of studies also assessed knowledge in specific STEM careers. Overall, a small positive effect was observed (effect size mean = 0.189, SE=0.046, 95%CI = 0.099 – 0.280, p < .001), with significant heterogeneity (Q = 932.51, p < .001, I2 = 0.94), suggesting the need to explore potential moderator variables. Intervention characteristics revealed that 48% targeted underrepresented and/or underserved populations, 40% included explicit career development, and interdisciplinary content was common. Additionally, 60% of studies took place in informal settings. The study also considered intervention format, duration, pedagogical practices, study design, and publication type as potential moderators in the final analysis.

The preliminary qualitative synthesis revealed that 21 of 27 studies reported student outcomes along at least one of two trajectories: prior STEM career interest sustained or strengthened after participation in the intervention (“STEM-supported”) or STEM career interest piqued by participation in the intervention (“STEM-Influenced”). Because these trajectories were not clearly associated with potential moderators, more analysis is required to further explore the extent to which combinations of moderators are more or less associated with different STEM career development trajectories, including trajectories that did not result in greater interest in STEM career fields.

Authored by
Dr. Yue Li (Miami University), Ms. Maressa L. Dixon (Miami University), and Dr. Sarah Woodruff (Affiliation unknown)

Engineers are likely to face issues related to ethics, and the connections between ethics and diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in their careers. Understanding the experiences of engineers can guide the development of education, training, and other interventions to promote ethical and equitable professional cultures. The experiences of early-career engineers as they transition into professional practice can shape their future attitudes and actions related to professional ethics, social equity in the work they do, and equity in the workplace. This NSF-funded project uses a sequential mixed-methods approach to study the experiences of early-career engineers with ethics and equity. Our poster will present findings from the first round of interviews with 13 early-career engineers from various engineering disciplines in the United States of America and Canada. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteering participants allowing them to share their experiences, thoughts, perceived challenges and feelings regarding equity and ethics. Interviews were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA). RTA is a flexible and inductive approach to qualitative analysis that develops themes and patterns in a systematic and reflexive manner. Initial findings indicate that some participants were exploited as they did not fully understand what their roles entailed as early career engineers, suggesting a lack of preparedness for real-life situations in the workplace. The poster will also present preliminary results from a national survey of early career engineers informed by the themes identified from the interviews as well as findings from prior studies.

Authored by
Chika Winnifred Agha (Colorado State University), Dr. Amir Hedayati Mehdiabadi (University of New Mexico), Dr. Rebecca A Atadero (Colorado State University), Dr. Pinar Omur-Ozbek (Colorado State University), and Carlotta Duenninger (Affiliation unknown)

Recent studies show that, while 58% of White students persist in earning a STEM degree, the percentage of Latinx students who persist is only 43% [1]. This NSF-funded project takes place at New Mexico State University (NMSU), a Land-Grant and Space Grant Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) that enrolls a large Latinx and multicultural student population including 58% Latinos, 27% whites, 5% nonresident aliens, 3% African Americans, and 2% American Indians [2]. In particular, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students are a student population that needs to grow, as ECE students represent 2% of the total NMSU student population [3] despite the importance of this field in our modern society. This project is a work in progress whose research goal is to develop and evaluate iteratively an online mixed-reality (MR) wisdom community (ECE-WisCom) to support resilience in ECE students.

The Wisdom Communities (WisComs) Framework for distance learning generates growth of the learning community in online programs [4]. Each learner has unique knowledge, needs, experiences, culture, and expectations that, when shared, can broaden others’ perspectives and knowledge bases while they benefit from those others [5]. Learners with diverse levels of competence learn from one another and their instructors. In a WisCom, learners collaboratively follow an inquiry cycle of learning challenges, exploration of possibilities and resources, continuous reflection, negotiation among fellow participants, and preservation of their new-found knowledge.

To address a better integration of key elements in ECE students’ education and socialization, an online MR platform will be created, where human and virtual pedagogical companions interacting with each other can facilitate the development of the ECE-WisCom. Three hypotheses are to be probed as follows: (i) the diverse knowledge, experiences, and perspectives of a multidisciplinary group of faculty and students will enhance student’s sense of belonging in a learning community, identity development, critical thinking, and academic performance, (ii) the ECE-WisCom will encourage faculty to become naturally involved in pedagogical efforts tailored to a broad student body with particular needs, (iii) this framework will foster a variety of co-mentoring relationships and thereby increase communication and social networking within the ECE department and with the broader ECE community.

A mixed-methods approach will be used to evaluate the efficacy of the ECE-WisCom MR platform. This will result in a thorough analysis of the attributes of the ECE-WisCom platform that attract faculty participation and have the largest effects on ECE students’ community development, identity development, critical thinking, and academic performance all the while considering participants’ intersectionalities.

In the Fall 2023 semester, the ECE student recruitment process started along with conversations among the faculty and graduate research assistants from Engineering and Computer Science about the components needed to create the MR platform. Selected ECE students will be invited to participate in a couple of sessions to provide feedback on the design of the MR platform.

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation through the HSI - Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Program.

Authored by
Dr. Hilda Cecilia Contreras Aguirre (New Mexico State University), Luis Rodolfo Garcia Carrillo (New Mexico State University), William Hamilton (New Mexico State University), Marshall Allen Taylor (New Mexico State University), and Lauren Cifuentes (New Mexico State University)

This progress report presents preliminary findings from an ongoing NSF S-STEM project at Baylor University, aimed at enhancing the success of high-achieving, low-income students in STEM fields through a data-driven support strategy. Utilizing the EAB Navigate platform, the project focuses on predictive analytics to facilitate student retention, graduation, and career readiness. Despite challenges, particularly in optimizing predictive analytics, the report discusses the strengths and limitations of the Navigate platform, alongside insights gained from student and faculty perspectives. Emphasizing a work-in-progress status, the report outlines current outcomes and future directions for improving data-driven interventions and enhancing educational technology applications in STEM education.

Authored by
Dr. Michael W. Thompson (Baylor University), Dr. Anne Marie Spence (Baylor University), William A Booth (Baylor University), and Taylor Wilby (Baylor University)

When mixed with water and aggregate, cement is useful in the construction industry due to its strength, versatility, and durability, and additives are often incorporated to improve these properties. This research integrates carbon nanomaterials including graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into Type 1 cement mortar cubes to investigate their effect on the compressive strength of the resulting concrete. Researchers have previously investigated this topic and the current study seeks to find the optimum amount of carbon nanomaterials to maximize the compressive strength. A water-to-cement (w/c) ratio of 0.45 and sand-to-cement ratio of 2.75 were used to mix fresh cement mortar. The sand was oven-dried and sieved by a No. 10 standard sieve (2 mm). A non-ionic surfactant, Igepal Co-630 combined with ultrasonic dispersion was applied to disperse the carbon nanomaterials before incorporating them into the cement mortar. The tested graphene-to-cement ratios include 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2%. For CNTs, 0.5% and 0.1% of CNTs were tested. Cement mortar cube specimens with dimensions of 2 in × 2 in × 2 in were molded, and all specimens were cured in water at room temperature until compression strength testing at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days. The experimental results show that adding the tested amount of carbon nanomaterials had negative effects on the compressive strength, and the 28-day strength generally decreased as the amount of the content increased, although there were a few enhanced cases at early-stage strength. These controversial results could be derived from the high content of carbon nanomaterials or improper preparation of test samples. Further research will be conducted to conclude the effect of carbon nanomaterials.
This paper describes the experience and outcomes of a non-engineering major who participated in a 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project on civil engineering materials at Marshall University. The main objective of the project was to investigate the effects of carbon nanomaterials on the mechanical properties and durability of cement mortar. The non-engineering major was involved in manufacturing and testing cement mortar cubes with different concentrations of carbon nanotubes and graphene using an ASTM standardized procedure. The paper reflects on the benefits and challenges of conducting quantitative research in an engineering field, such as learning how to use laboratory equipment, analyze data, and write technical reports. The paper also discusses how the interdisciplinary nature of the project helped to broaden the perspective and enhance the problem-solving abilities of the non-engineering major, who applied concepts and methods from forensic anthropology to engineering materials. The paper concludes that the REU project was a valuable opportunity to learn about engineering research and education, despite the inconclusive results that are possibly due to experimental errors, and how the field of anthropology differs from civil engineering.

Authored by
Jay Bow (Fairmont State University), Dr. Sungmin Youn (Marshall University), and Dr. Sukjoon Na (Marshall University)

Mathematics is the common language across STEM fields. Thus, math proficiency can become a barrier for students entering college and those aspiring to earn STEM degrees. Given the importance of math preparation, postsecondary institutions typically vet the math skills of incoming students and assign those who score below a designated cut-point on a standardized exam to remediation. In the past decade, higher education has had to acknowledge that the current modes to deliver remediation coursework may be, at best, inconsequential and, at worst, actually detrimental to attainment. The importance of math preparation to earning a STEM degree heightens the need for effective remediation reform. In addition, placement in lower-level math can delay time to degree which creates additional financial burden and may result in departure from STEM degrees. Therefore, interventions that bridge the gap between high school preparation and STEM degrees within the first years of college are critical to retaining students in STEM specially underrepresented students who typically attend high schools where advanced math courses and more experienced teachers are sporadic.
There is a need to devise innovative math remediation methods that are more engaging, effective, and less costly to students. In this National Science Foundation funded project, engineering and math faculty from a large R1 university (XXX) and a community college in the Southwest (YYY) are collaborating to develop engaging methods to teach students the fundamentals of pre-calculus math. Because students typically mention that math is abstract and they cannot see its application, in this research, we developed two Canvas Applications focusing on electrical and computer engineering, “Thru the Wall” and “Break the Circuit” to help students learn elementary functions, such as linear and quadratic functions. The Canvas applications are animated and use placed-based and culturally-responsive pedagogy with the large metropolitan city and its surroundings as basis. This approach should let students view themselves as capable and confident members of the STEM community at XXX and YYY. The effectiveness of these Canvas applications is being evaluated as supplemental exercises in the current co-requisite model used by XXX and YYY for precalculus math.
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant # xxxxxx

Authored by
Monika Neda (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Dr. Jacimaria Ramos Batista (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Jorge Fonseca Cacho (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Vanessa W. Vongkulluksn Ph.D. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and Mei Yang (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Over 700 million people worldwide do not have access to electricity. Yet, there is very little coverage of this topic in US universities. This important topic can motivate students to pursue engineering studies and inspire engineering students to engage in a variety of activities related to electricity access, making it a pivotal area for educational focus. This topic tends to attract women and minorities underrepresented in engineering disciplines, particularly in the electrical and mechanical engineering disciplines.
An initial gathering of about 25 engineering educators, field practitioners, and non-profit organization representatives participated in an initial NSF-sponsored workshop in June 2022. A goal of this workshop was to survey the community as to what already existed in this field and to consider how to expand electricity access education in the United States.
Following the success of this initial workshop, an expanded workshop on this topic was held in October 2023. About 40 attendees, including engineering faculty members, students, and field practitioners participated. The two-day program of sessions comprised two keynote speakers, moderated panels, and themed discussions.
This paper presents details of the second workshop along with feedback from the attendees and proposed next steps to advance the development of this topic in engineering curricula.
This project was funded by a grant from the Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) of the National Science Foundation.

Authored by
Dr. Pritpal Singh (Villanova University), Prof. Henry Louie (Seattle University), Dr. Susan M Lord (University of San Diego), and Scarleth Vanessa Vasconcelos (Villanova University)

This paper provides an update on progress within our National Science Foundation project creating an engineering professional development model for teachers of multilingual students. The multi-year, design-based iteration research study aims to produce a model for teachers and schools in similar multilingual elementary schools and communities. Currently in year one, we provide an update of our activities thus far and the theoretical background of our project. We hope this model will advance linguistic equity by creating space for more multilingual and multimodal activities in elementary school classrooms.

Authored by
Dr. Jessica E S Swenson (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York) and Dr. Mary McVee (Affiliation unknown)

Context
In 2022, an S-STEM project, titled Emerge: Preparing Students for an Innovative Future (Emerge Scholars Program) was proposed to NSF to try to answer one of the highest national priorities in STEM education, to increase the population of academically talented students from low-income, diverse backgrounds who graduate with an associate of science (A.S.) in engineering technology (advanced manufacturing specialization), and contribute to the American innovation economy as scientists, technicians, and/or engineers. This program was accepted in order to help answer this as well as to address a national need to increase affordable pathways from high school to two-year, then four-year institutions of higher education (IHE) or into STEM careers, improve educational equity, expand access to higher education (particularly among underrepresented minority (URM) populations, increase the post-secondary credential-attainment levels of students and the community, and raise social mobility.

Research Question
The main contribution to the literature of the Emerge Schlars Program is the addressing of the following research question: To what extent do the collective STEM high-impact practices operating in the context of Guided Pathways framework: (a) enhance the successful implementation of Guided Pathways supports? and (b) contribute to success of low-income, rural, underrepresented minority students in two-year mechatronics programs? The study will control for mediating effects of race and first generation by comparing our cohort of STEM scholars to current non-S-STEM-eligible mechatronics students in addition to historical data across the college.

Aims
The objectives of the Emerge Scholars Program include: (1) The recruitment of 40 students from three local counties (six area high schools that have a large proportion of low-income underrepresented students) into the engineering technology AS program and award annual scholarships; (2) Retain 80% (32 of 40) of scholars from the first to second year of their major; (3) Graduate 75% (30 of 40) of Pell-eligible, degree-seeking Emerge Scholars retained from fall-to-fall within 150% time (40 total scholars will graduate); (4) 100% of Emerge Scholar graduates transfer to mechatronic-related majors in four-year institutions or enter into mechatronics-related careers; and (5) By the end of the project period, generate knowledge on the impact of a guided-pathways approach to improving student success for academically talented students from low-income, URM backgrounds in community college mechatronics programs.

Conclusions and Significance
As the first cohort of students has only just been enrolled in the Fall 2023 semester, the research is only just beginning. It is hoped that the Emerge Scholars Program will broaden participation in mechatronics by improving scholars’ retention, graduation, and transfer rates in mechatronics majors. The high-quality, evidence-based activities implemented will be uniformly assessed and evaluated, producing new, inherent scalable information that will immediately apply to community colleges nationally. Upon dissemination, results are expected to support reform and a much-needed paradigm shift in higher education for two-year IHEs seeking to better serve the needs of low-income, URM, and rural students in STEM fields.

Authored by
Mr. Garrett Powell Lee (South Florida State College)

Research is crucial to humanity’s technological and theoretical advancement. It is equally important research be conducted by a diverse, representative workforce. Sustained efforts by academic and industrial institutions to increase diversity in research identify many factors influencing recruitment and engagement of underrepresented minority (URM) students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research. One promising approach to increase diversity of undergraduates in STEM disciplines focuses on communicating culturally valued outcomes of the research being conducted.

For URM students, collectivistic values which emphasize communally beneficial actions may play a stronger role in their motivation and overall retention. Speaking to cultural experiences shaping students’ prosocial actions is a crucial step in encouraging URM motivation and persistence in STEM fields. Research also shows evidence URMs tend to engage in science for altruistic reasons in pursuit of valued social causes. In the context of these findings, the ideal workforce of diverse STEM professionals seems likely to not only have an understanding of, but a deep and motivating meaning derived from, the benefit their work provides to the world and how they are personally contributing to it. But this can only be achieved when the deeper benefit of and meaning behind research is first clearly communicated and emphasized to researchers as they conduct their work.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) for the Advancement of Technology for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio) is working to improve the communication of the broader impacts and societal benefits provided by the center’s research. ATP-Bio focuses its biopreservation mission not only on the engineering research necessary to advance the field, but on the need to educate an engineering workforce that is a demographic reflection of the current and future nation so we may maximize the impact of biopreservation technologies on society.

In this work, we study how increasing communication of the broader and societal impacts of research conducted within an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded engineering research project may improve the diversity of research through imparting the meaningfulness of research to URM students. The main significance of this work is in learning how to improve STEM researchers communication and emphasis on broader and societal impacts of their engineering research. This aim serves to support efforts to reach diverse communities of underrepresented minority students and improve representational diversity of engineering research and research in all STEM fields. The current findings show how researchers are communicating broader and societal impacts of their research over time. Promising effects of educating researchers how to communicate broader and societal impacts of their work were observed in increased numbers of references to these impacts in subsequent presentations. Diverging findings between faculty and trainees indicates a need to continue this research to better understand differences between senior and early career scholars in the way they communicate the broader and societal impacts of their research. With further research in this space, we can continue to support diversity of research through imparting the meaningfulness of research to URM students.

Authored by
Gina Ristani (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities), Keisha Varma (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities), and Seth Thompson (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)

This discussion reports on our efforts to utilize open classroom time for hands-on experimental measurements as well as other hands-on engineering (ECE) projects. These in-class interactions increase student confidence with hands-on tools, where class time becomes time for group hardware discussions, particularly when students have attempted these measurement projects before the start of class. Students are motivated by the availability of time to work through technical issues as a community with their design system physically present. These efforts improves the student’s confidence in using their system tools, whether computer controlled USB devices (e.g. Analog Discovery), linear and nonlinear hardware circuits, to IC layout tools, and MATLAB tools for signal processing.

This discussion will describe our efforts utilizing hardware-based class projects throughout the undergraduate and graduate ECE curriculum. Revolutionary integrated circuit platforms are part of these efforts, and a history of these efforts will be described in this paper.

These efforts use in-class interaction to build in joint student--faculty discussions. Having students watch a selected thread of openly available video nuggets (4-8 minutes, developed at our institution, > 250 nuggets) before each class gives space for interactive student learning in the available faculty-student classroom time. The student’s availability to experimental tools enables students to try hands-on projects before class, enabling class time to work through student’s issues and increasing their confidence in these hardware tools and experimental measurements. These hands-on efforts include efforts in second-year core ECE courses, such as linear circuits and a first signal-processing course, through senior level and graduate level design and experimental measurements. We will be discussing our methodology, experiences, and results for these interactive and hands-on sessions.

Authored by
Prof. Jennifer Hasler (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Within engineering, there is a need for more diverse faculty representation to support and serve as role models for underrepresented students. To attract, support, and retain diverse candidates, the pipeline and preparation of faculty must be better addressed. To investigate effective supports, the University of Massachusetts Lowell S-STEM program recruits and supports low-income, high-achieving students who wish to pursue a career in higher education. The UML S-STEM program supports scholars for four years, from their third year in undergraduate studies through the completion of either a master's degree or a qualifying exam within a Ph.D. program. To prepare the students in the program for future faculty positions, they are grouped in cohorts and meet monthly. In this report, we present our programming activities to develop self-awareness and social awareness. The activities of the monthly meetings center around building social consciousness through first developing students’ self-awareness in the context of their engineering journeys, and then through a more general investigation of their understanding of the importance and impact of cultural orientations within and beyond engineering. The aim of the programming was to inspire awareness of the different experiences and needs of students in engineering education. Participants were given brief surveys at the end of each activity, and they participated in end-of-year focus groups. The results indicated the approach taken helped students reflect on their own cultural orientation to teaching and learning, as well as that of their peers.

Authored by
Janna Jobel (University of Massachusetts, Lowell), Dr. Hsien-Yuan Hsu (University of Massachusetts, Lowell), and Dr. Yanfen Li (University of Massachusetts, Lowell)

The State of California, which has the largest four-year public university system in the United States, does not have an associate degree for transfer (ADT) in Engineering. Therefore, most engineering students who transfer from community colleges do not take lower-division engineering courses and, on average, transfer students must attend two to three additional years of college to obtain a degree at four-year institutions. To identify the gaps in engineering education for transfer students and to increase their success, the research team will focus on a “transfer-ready” curriculum and a faculty learning community. The BRIDGE team, including three partnering institutions, collaborates on identifying the critical success factors (CSFs) for the transfer student’s success, the development of the transfer pathway program, and the Engineering BRIDGE Program to enhance academic preparations for transfer students. This paper summarizes the findings from the Engineering BRIDGE Program during the Summer of 2023 from August 7 - 11, 2023 (five days). A total of 22 incoming transfer students (to Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering) participated in this program, assisting in the transition and ensuring academic/career success by enhancing transfer students’ sense of belonging, and addressing course content gaps between institutions. From the analysis of the pre-/post-surveys of the Engineering BRIDGE Program, the program significantly improved—in terms of transfer readiness—students’ conceptual understanding, technical communication, and higher-order cognition.

Authored by
Dr. Jeyoung Woo (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona) and Dr. Jinsung Cho (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona)

Generative design (GD) is an artificial intelligence (AI) based design method that uses generative systems and algorithms to automatically create design artifacts by considering objectives, parameter ranges, and constraints defined by human designers. The role of the human designer in the GD process is to translate the design problem so that an AI agent may understand and explore potential solutions in a design space with defined constraints and parameter interactions. The human designer will then evaluate AI-generated designs along the Pareto front and the objective space influencing design synthesis. Therefore, generative designers engage in inverse thinking from the objective space to the design space. However, in traditional design (TD) and parametric design (PD), the human designer is responsible for design space exploration, often via cognitive idea generation and also the evaluation of the human-generated designs, which is a typical forward-thinking direction from design space to objective space. Consequently, the role of designers in the GD process fundamentally differs from the TD and PD processes and thus requires the designer to engage in a different type of design thinking, i.e., the cognitive processes activated during design. Yet, little research has been conducted to outline the cognitive processes activated during GD.

Our goal is to define GDT as the most recent evolution of engineering design thinking by systematically reviewing the concepts central to the proposed Evolving Design Thinking (EDT) model. The EDT model is a meta-representation of the evolution of design thinking from traditional design thinking (TDT) to parametric design thinking (PDT) and to Generative design thinking (GDT) across three levels: design thinking, design technologies, and design cognition. The EDT model guides our review and motivates two research questions (RQs). RQ1: What cognitive processes are activated by designers using traditional/parametric design? To answer RQ1, we review the technologies and cognitive processes activated during traditional and parametric design (i.e., TDT and PDT) and highlight how technologies shape design cognition. RQ2: What cognitive processes are activated by designers using generative design? To answer RQ2, we systematically review the technologies available to generative designers and consider the influence of technology on cognition shown through RQ1. Finally, a definition of GDT will be synthesized by considering the evolution from traditional to parametric to generative design and by considering the cognitive processes of TDT and PDT.

A definition of GDT that highlights the GD-relevant cognitive processes is expected to generate significant impacts on design education and research. For example, the research outcomes can potentially improve future generative designers’ education, as current GD curricula have been developed without insights into how generative designers think. The systematic review will also allow future research to leverage our insights and apply neurocognitive methods to further explore GDT, for example, by conducting experimental research to verify that the identified cognitive processes are carried out by generative designers, by devising methods for facilitating these cognitive processes and developing psychometric tests to measure GDT efficacy.

Authored by
John Clay (University of Texas at Austin), Xingang Li (University of Texas at Austin), Dr. Molly H Goldstein (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Dr. H. Onan Demirel (Oregon State University), Darya Zabelina (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Charles Xie (Affiliation unknown), and Dr. Zhenghui Sha (University of Texas at Austin)

In this paper, we provide an overview of an NSF CAREER project where we seek to advance academic well-being by understanding how engineering faculty experience and reproduce experiences of professional shame. After conducting non-standardized interviews with engineering faculty (n = 23), we use interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine select individual cases (n = 10) that illustrate poignant individual experiences of professional shame. In this paper, we summarize three cases to demonstrate the complexity and function of professional shame in the interior world of faculty members.

Authored by
Dr. James L. Huff (Harding University), Dr. Amy L Brooks (University of Pittsburgh), Julianna R Beehn (Harding University), Olivia I Bell (Harding University), and Chelsei Lasha Arnold (Harding University)

Purpose: The purpose of the Leveraging Innovation and Optimizing Nurturing in STEM Program (NSF S-STEM #2130022, known locally as LION STEM Scholars) is to support the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income engineering scholars with demonstrated financial need at Penn State Berks, a four-year regional undergraduate campus within the larger Pennsylvania State University. Scholars are part of a multi-tiered mentoring program and cohort experience. The LION STEM curricular programs include a math-intensive summer bridge program, a first semester First-Year Seminar, and a second semester STEM-Persistence Seminar. Co-curricular activities focus on professional communication skills, financial literacy, career readiness, undergraduate research, and community engagement. The overall project uses the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI; Kaplan & Garner, 2017), to examine the integrative nature of how Low-Income/College-Student/Future-Engineer role identities contribute to STEM identity for low-income Engineering students. This paper presents data collected from semi-structured (Smith & Osborn, 2007) audio-recorded interviews from the first cohort of LION STEM Scholars (n=4) at three different time points (pre-summer bridge, post-summer bridge, end of first semester) as well as data collected from a written survey at the end of each Scholar’s second semester.

Goals: The LION STEM Scholars program at Penn State Berks seeks to accomplish four goals: (1) adapt, implement, and analyze evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities to support, retain, and graduate a diverse set of the project's engineering scholars, (2) implement, test, and study through research and project evaluation strategies for systematically supporting student academic and career pathways in STEM, including development of STEM identity, (3) contribute to the knowledge base through investigation of the project's four-year multi-modal program so that other colleges may successfully implement similar programs, and (4) disseminate outcomes and findings related to the supports and interventions that promote student success to other institutions working to support low-income STEM students.

The goal of this paper is to analyze data from a repeated-measures design to provide a holistic narrative about the effects that the academic and support activities offered to LION STEM Scholars have on the development of their Future-Engineer role identity throughout their first year as an undergraduate engineering student. The theoretical framework for this project is the DSMRI, a holistic metatheoretical framework for motivation, engagement and learning through identity development. Specifically, this paper will explore the ontological and epistemological beliefs, purpose and goals, self-perceptions and self-definitions, and perceived-action possibilities for the Future-Engineer role identities of the LION STEM Scholars throughout their first year of college.

Method: Audio-recorded interviews were conducted and transcribed from each of n=4 students from the first cohort of LION STEM Scholars at three points in time: (1) pre-summer bridge; (2) post-summer bridge; (3) end of first semester. In addition, a written
survey was also given to the scholars at the end of their second semester. Taken together, this repeated-measures design will form the basis for an interpretative phenomenological analysis, which is an in-depth exploration of how a participant perceives and makes sense of their personal and social world. Specifically, analysis will involve identifying superordinate themes across the narratives of all scholars, which will provide valuable insight on the development of Future-Engineer identity for high-achieving, low-income first year engineering students.

Results: Data analysis is being conducted currently.

Conclusions: Conclusions are pending following completion of data analysis.

Authored by
Dr. Ryan Scott Hassler (Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus), Dr. Catherine L. Cohan (Pennsylvania State University), Dawn Pfeifer Pfeifer Reitz (The Pennsylvania State University), Sonia Delaquito (Pennsylvania State University), Janelle B Larson (Pennsylvania State University), and Dr. Rungun Nathan (Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus)

To pursue transdisciplinary education, bringing together different disciplinary perspectives is necessary. As two graduate researchers, in engineering technology and anthropology, on a National Science Foundation (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education research project, we want to embody and explore our role in the journey to pursue transdisciplinary education. Our familiarity with higher education as students, our diverse disciplinary backgrounds and lived experiences, and our training as an engineering technology educator and a social scientist contribute greatly to the advancement of understanding the project. Harnessing our combined expertise enables us to see collaborative co-teaching, group learning, and student inclusion in new ways. Often transdisciplinary education research is approached from siloed disciplines or from a single perspective and not inclusive of graduate students' perspectives. We find ourselves working on a collaborative cross-college project between three different colleges, Business, Engineering Technology, and Liberal Arts, where faculty and students are co-teaching and co-learning in a series of design and innovation courses. A key element of this project is gathering and using stakeholder data from students, faculty, and administrators. Midway through our three-year project, the NSF project’s external reviewer highlighted the crucial value added of having graduate researchers looking at transforming higher education towards transdisciplinarity. With that in mind, we offer some guiding thoughts about collaborative research among graduate students and faculty from different academic disciplines. This includes tips on how we collaborated in coding, analysis, and data presentations. Using project examples, we will discuss how we used tools for collaboration such as NVivo Teams and Microsoft Teams; these platforms aided in contributing to the iterative research design of this project and research outputs. Our process was strengthened by active participation in project meetings with faculty, educational community events, and data review sessions to reach data consensus. We have noticed how transdisciplinarity can transform undergraduate learning and encourage cross-college faculty collaboration. We will reflect on the significance of collaboration at all levels of higher education. Furthermore, this experience has set us on the path to becoming transdisciplinary scholars ourselves.

Authored by
Deana Lucas (Purdue University, West Lafayette ) and Rebecca Martinez (Purdue Polytechnic Graduate Programs)

Unlike many teaching pedagogies, such as evidence-based learning, personalized adaptive learning (PAL) takes a distinct approach by monitoring the progress of each individual student and tailoring the learning path to their specific knowledge and needs. Rather than providing a one-size-fits-all approach, PAL customizes the learning experience for each student. To implement PAL effectively, one essential technique is knowledge tracing that models students’ knowledge over time, enabling predictions about their performance in future interactions. Based on these predictions, resources and learning paths can be recommended to students according to their individual requirements. Additionally, content that is anticipated to be too easy or too difficult can be either skipped or delayed. In recent years, deep learning technologies have been successfully applied to enhance knowledge tracking, known as Deep Knowledge Tracing (DKT). This paper introduces a novel approach based on Large Language Models (LLMs) to further improve DKT. LLMs are deep learning models trained on extensive datasets using self-supervised and semi-supervised learning techniques. Prominent examples of LLMs include BERT, GPT, GPT-4, LLaMA, and Claude, all of which have demonstrated remarkable performance across a wide spectrum of natural language processing (NLP) tasks. This paper is to alleviate data sparsity issues related to one-hot encoding of student learning records. This is achieved by representing these records using LLMs. The representation process involves designing various prompts to encourage LLMs to establish correlations between different elements within the learning records. To validate the proposed method, extensive experiments will be conducted using multiple datasets, including ASSISTments (2015 and 2017), KDD Cup 2010, and NIPS 2020.

Authored by
Prof. Xishuang Dong (Prairie View A&M University), Dr. Yujian Fu P.E. (Alabama A&M University), Ming-Mu Kuo (Prairie View A&M University), Shouvon Sarker (Prairie View A&M University), Lijun Qian (Affiliation unknown), and Dr. Xiangfang Li (Prairie View A&M University)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused classrooms to shift to online or virtual learning modes, which has caused dropouts of underrepresented engineering students taking gateway or introduction to engineering classes. In this in-situ interdisciplinary intervention method, so far, we have engaged one of two cohorts of university freshman engineering students (16 students/cohort): one with Active Learning (AL) (with a culture of inclusion through video-based activity/interaction) and the other with AL and creative video projects (CVP) activities in a 2-semester enrichment program. Our intervention investigated a new 100% (AL) method that combines video-based interaction among student-faculty and group CVP (for ex., self-reflective biography of scientists) to inspire, motivate, and improve the retention rate within TAMIU’s engineering program, promoting a culture of inclusion. The CVP was created using Echo360 software integrated into a secure course learning management system (Blackboard). This intervention seeks to develop engineering psychosocial outcomes through reflective thinking, internalization (about the challenges of engineering life and the journey to becoming a successful engineer), and collaborative creative work.

This research is ongoing, and the results we present are preliminary. We examined and evaluated, through pre-and post-intervention surveys for the first semester, the impact of the intervention on the engineering students’ scholastic outcomes, psychosocial outcomes (PSO) (e.g., engineering sense of belonging, engineering self-efficacy, and engineering self-identity), and engineering persistence outcomes (EPO) (i.e., retention, graduation, and academic performance (i.e., overall GPA, and engineering GPA). We hypothesize that students will build meaningful and supportive relationships and enhanced PSO and EPO/AP that will persist throughout their tenure at the university. We also hypothesize that the level of persistence of the enhanced PSO and EPO will be significantly higher for students in the intervention group (with CVP). We validated and analyzed the data (cleaning and quality control) and performed preliminary/complete inferential analyses using SPSS 29 was completed. We will discuss the implications of improving pedagogy in introductory engineering courses.

Authored by
Dr. Deepak Ganta (Texas A&M International University), Prof. Marcus Antonius Ynalvez (Texas A&M International University), Maria Lopez (Texas A&M International University), Alan Santos (Texas A&M International University), Claudia San Miguel (Texas A&M International University), and Sergio Gonzalez Torres (Texas A&M International University)

Introduction: Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) in Arizona offers two-year degrees for diverse engineering disciplines and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIM) studies. After their Associate’s degree, students transfer to Universities to complete their bachelor’s degree. Since the Fall of 2023, CGCC has nurtured students through the NSF S-STEM Grant initiative called Scholarships, Mentoring, and Professional Support to Improve Engineering & Artificial Intelligence Student Success at Community Colleges. This grant, also known as Reaching Engineering and Artificial Intelligence Career Heights (REACH), empowers students with scholarships, personalized mentoring, and industry-oriented activities. This study delves into the sense of belonging and academic integration of REACH recipients and their peers.

Methodology: A survey was administered to students across six courses: engineering (3), AIM, chemistry, and physics. The courses were chosen because one REACH student was attending the same course, with the same instructor. The survey, adapted from Gurganus et al., was comprised of demographic data and 20 questions categorized into Sciences Identity, Expectations and Goals, Academic Integration, Sense of Belonging to the program, and Sense of Belonging to the campus. Unpaired t-tests were utilized to compare the responses of 5 REACH students with 58 of their peers, with significance set at p≤0.05.

Results: Sixty-three students agreed and filled out the study, comprising 5 REACH students and 58 peers. Students are enrolled in AAS, Engineering Technology (1 REACH, 1 peers), AAS, Emphasis in Artificial Intelligence (2 REACH, 3 peers), AAS, Emphasis in Engineering (2 REACH, 30 peers), and 24 were not registered in one of those degrees. Twenty females, 41 males, and one binary student in their first to sixth semester at CGCC filled out the survey. Among those total students, 7 identified as Asian, 2 as black or African American, 11 as Hispanic or Latino, 39 as White, and 4 as Other.
In the category of Sciences Identity, REACH students demonstrated a significantly stronger sense of belonging compared to their peers. Specifically, REACH recipients scored higher on three questions: "I have a strong sense of belonging to the community of engineering or AI" (REACH 4.40 vs Peers 3.47, p=0.017), "I feel like I belong in the field of engineering or AI" (REACH 4.60 vs Peers 3.71, p=0.032), and "The daily work of an engineer or AI scientist is appealing to me" (REACH 5.00 vs Peers 3.98, p=0.011).
Furthermore, REACH students reported a significantly stronger sense of belonging to Chandler-Gilbert Community College compared to their peers (REACH 4.60 vs Peers 3.78, p=0.046).
However, concerning academic integration, REACH students identified areas that require attention. Notably, they provided a lower score for the question "Understand what your professors expect of you academically" (REACH 1.20 vs Peers 2.00, p=0.025). REACH recipients also scored lower for: “Develop effective study skills”, “Adjust to the academic demands of college”, and “Manage your time effectively”. Academic Integration is the only category where REACH students scored less than their peers.

Conclusion: The REACH initiative at CGCC has notably enhanced the sense of belonging and connection to the college among engineering and AIM students. While REACH students showed superior community affiliation, they identified areas for academic integration enhancement. A tailored workshop focusing on study skills and time management is planned for Spring 2024 to address these concerns. As the program expands in 2024, involving six more students, continued assessment and support mechanisms will foster a more inclusive and integrated academic environment.

Acknowledgment: The authors would like to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Scholarship in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) award No. 2220959.

Authored by
Mrs. Fanny Silvestri (Chandler-Gilbert Community Colleges), Mrs. Nichole Neal (), and Erika DeMartini (Chandler Gilbert Community College)

This paper reports on the culmination of an NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) awarded to a two-year college located in a metro area with high rates of concentrated poverty and low levels of educational attainment. This two-year college is a minority-serving institution with curriculum to prepare students majoring in engineering to transfer and complete a baccalaureate degree at a four-year university. The Engineering Scholars Program (ESP) was established in fall 2019 to award students majoring in engineering annual scholarships of up to $6000, depending on financial need. In addition to supporting students through scholarships, the program engages scholars in professional development activities inclusive of academic seminars, extracurricular events, and undergraduate research opportunities in collaboration with the local four-year university. The program also established a mentorship structure with faculty mentors, student peer mentors, and academic advising. In addition to supporting scholars at the two-year college, the ESP provides support for a portion of cohorts that have transferred to the local four-year university and remained connected to the program. To date, the ESP has awarded a total of 131 semester long scholarships; 16 in year one (2019-2020), 28 in year two (2020-2021), 35 in year three (2021-2022), including six transfers, 38 in year four (2022-2023), including eight transfers, and currently, for fall 2023, year five of the program, 14 students are supported, including 5 transfers. In year three, the ESP was awarded supplemental funding to support a larger portion of students and transfer cohorts; this helped reduce the financial burdens resulting from exacerbated financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic during years two and three of this project. This paper details the progress made towards the achievement of the program goals of creating a welcoming STEM climate at the two-year college, increasing the participation and persistence in engineering among economically disadvantaged students, and establishing transfer support to the local four-year university. Program evaluation findings have identified several opportunities for sustaining scholar transfer support outside of the financial support provided in the form of scholarships. These opportunities fell into two major themes: (1) peer-led transfer support inclusive of connecting transferred students and students preparing for transfer with emphasis on navigating different university structures, and (2) collaboration across engineering disciplines to develop and offer interdisciplinary undergraduate research and/or collaborative work on other projects. Furthermore, research findings from interviews with scholars provided additional context for taking action on program outcomes while also enhancing the understanding of how participation in a collaborative cohort experience can contribute to students’ membership within the STEM community and the construction of their own STEM identity. Although formal financial support sunsets during the final year of the ESP, program and research findings have identified programmatic elements that provide key support for students and can be sustained into the future. This paper reports on the program strategy for meeting the future needs of scholars at both the two-year college and the four-year transfer university.

Authored by
Dr. Claire L. A. Dancz (Clemson University), Dr. Elizabeth A Adams P.E. (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), Dr. Nihal Orfi (Fresno City College), and Emily Evans (Magnolia Consulting)

Our project, known as "University of California's Servingness," is dedicated to establishing a robust transfer pathway in Computing between California Community Colleges and the University of California system. The primary focus of our endeavor is to advance the transition from merely enrolling racially diverse students to genuinely serving them in ways that foster greater persistence, graduation rates, and career placement. We posit that universities can better exemplify the concept of "serving" Hispanic and Latinx, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students who attend predominantly white institutions by investing in effective transfer pathways. Eligibility for our program extends to students who meet two or more of the following criteria: being the first in their family to attend college, experiencing socio-economic challenges, and hailing from historically underrepresented groups in terms of both gender and race/ethnicity.

Through this NSF-funded project, we have been actively working to dismantle institutional barriers, adapt computing curricula at our partner institutions to local contexts, and, most importantly, elevate degree attainment and career placement by providing students with invaluable research experiences. A pivotal component of our project is the implementation of a summer program tailored to transfer students from our collaborating community colleges. This program aims to equip these students with crucial summer research experiences that deepen their understanding of computing research areas and smooth their transition into upper-division courses, all while stimulating their interest in pursuing advanced studies at the graduate level.

Given the growing availability of summer bridge programs for students in STEM fields at four-year institutions, it has become essential to assess the impact of such programs on a wide range of academic and non-academic indicators [1]. In this poster presentation, we will share our project's progress, experiences, and valuable lessons learned. Our objective is to illustrate the tangible impacts of our program on academic success metrics, psychosocial well-being, and department-level goals.

Moreover, we are keen on delving into the transformation in participants' perspectives concerning non-academic indicators, and we aim to determine whether this transformation varies across the two program modalities: online and in-person. To achieve this, we will employ A/B testing and a thorough evaluation of pre- and post-program score distributions [2, 3]. This research forms an essential part of our ongoing work as we strive to enhance the educational experience and future prospects of our diverse student body.

References:
[1] Ashley, M., Cooper, K. M., Cala, J. M., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). Building better bridges into STEM: A synthesis of 25 years of literature on STEM summer bridge programs. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(4), es3.
[2] Norouzi, N., Habibi, H., Robinson, C., & Sher, A. (2023, June). An Equity-minded Multi-dimensional Framework for Exploring the Dynamics of Sense of Belonging in an Introductory CS Course. In Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1 (pp. 131-137).
[3] Norouzi, N., & Robinson, C. (2022, March). Evaluation of the Impact of Modality for Equity Program. In Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2 (pp. 1335-1335).

Authored by
Dr. Narges Norouzi (University of California, Berkeley), Dr. Carmen Robinson (University of California, Santa Cruz), and Kip Tellez (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Public transportation connects individuals to places for jobs, education, health, and various social and economic opportunities they need. In recent years, smartphones have emerged as integral tools in people’s daily lives, and their applications have significantly transformed how individuals interact with public transportation services. The demand for mobility services on smartphone applications has also been increasing in urban areas, to enhance the quality of transportation services. However, many transit systems still rely on outdated technologies or third-party software, limiting their flexibility and customizability. The demographics of VIA’s bus system in San Antonio (SA), TX, indicate the importance of public transportation for communities with limited incomes and no access to personal vehicles, particularly Hispanic or Latino residents living below the poverty line. SmartSAT is piloting a customizable mobile web application to address these challenges by providing real-time bus arrivals, seat capacity information, service change or update alerts, and a mechanism for riders to provide feedback on their experiences. It is designed to enhance public transportation services and improve the commuting experience for a diverse group of riders in the city of San Antonio.

Two research studies were conducted to assess the impact of SmartSAT: a study on the analysis and evaluation of actual bus arrival times and a study on the commute experience of riders. From the data collected in field tests on piloting routes, the first study focused on the analysis of the difference between VIA’s scheduled and actual bus arrival times. The findings indicated that certain routes exhibited very low average differences between their actual and scheduled arrival times, while a couple displayed a big average difference that showed significant delays and deviations from the scheduled timetable. Furthermore, some routes experienced small average delays in the afternoon, but the delays significantly increased in the evening. The rider experience study was focused on understanding the experiences of bus riders in public transportation, from collecting data on experiences with bus use, such as transfers, wait times, and perceptions of bus arrival times. The study found that there is a differential in the feelings of access to the city’s public transit system held by poor, working-class, and Latinx communities in SA.

The intended outcome of the developed SmartSAT on the arrival time accuracy research is a more accurate prediction of bus arrival time on the routes. Findings can guide us on traffic management as predictable and reliable transit service can improve rider satisfaction and overall ridership. More accurate time scheduling on the routes will help riders handle the unreliability of transit services and reduce the time spent waiting for buses (especially delayed ones). The impact on the commune experience in social sciences is important as it allows for an understanding of how underserved and underrepresented communities in SA experience a crucial component of urban space, public transit. This will be especially beneficial for low-income individuals who heavily rely on public buses to commute to their jobs and educations in SA.

Authored by
Dr. Jeong Yang (Texas A&M University, San Antonio), Dr. Young Lee (Texas A&M University, San Antonio), Mohammad Abdel-Rahman (Texas A&M University, San Antonio), and Zechun Cao (Texas A&M University, San Antonio)

This paper introduces an innovative application of conversational Large Language Models (LLMs), such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, for the early prediction of student performance in STEM education, circumventing the need for extensive data collection or specialized model training. Utilizing the intrinsic capabilities of these pre-trained LLMs, we develop a cost-efficient, training-free strategy for forecasting end-of-semester outcomes based on initial academic indicators. Our research investigates the efficacy of these LLMs in zero-shot learning scenarios, focusing on their ability to forecast academic outcomes from minimal input. By incorporating diverse data elements, including students' background, cognitive, and non-cognitive factors, we aim to enhance the models' zero-shot forecasting accuracy. Our empirical studies on data from first-year college students in an introductory programming course reveal the potential of conversational LLMs to offer early warnings about students at risk, thereby facilitating timely interventions. The findings suggest that while fine-tuning could further improve performance, our training-free approach presents a valuable tool for educators and institutions facing resource constraints. The inclusion of broader feature dimensions and the strategic design of cognitive assessments emerge as key factors in maximizing the zero-shot efficacy of LLMs for educational forecasting. Our work underscores the significant opportunities for leveraging conversational LLMs in educational settings and sets the stage for future advancements in personalized, data-driven student support.

Authored by
Ahatsham Hayat (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Sharif Wayne Akil (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Helen Martinez (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Bilal Khan (Lehigh University), and Mohammad Rashedul Hasan (University of Nebraska, Lincoln)

Humanitarian Engineering (HE) programs, aimed at training engineers to address infrastructure and public service inequality, have gained popularity and are drawing diverse and passionate students, including those from historically underrepresented minority groups in STEM. However, there is a lack of comprehensive data on how these students' career aspirations and capabilities evolve within HE programs. Furthermore, the HE field is undergoing a transformation, grappling with its colonial legacy, which has contributed to perpetuating disparities through infrastructure and environmental racism and the need for decolonization. This research explores how these changes influence students enrolled in HE programs. Specifically, we collect and analyze data from longitudinal interviews and surveys with 47 graduate students enrolled in seven HE graduate programs in the US. Through this research, we explore and characterize HE students’ evolving (1) self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career interests in the HE sector; (2) social justice activism, including their critiquing of social oppression and motivation for social justice; and (3) self-efficacy in social justice activism, tying changes to learning experiences throughout the program. Further, we (4) examine how the cultural capital of marginalized students adds value to HE education and the support provided to and barriers encountered by these students in their programs. As a result, this study longitudinally documents how social justice calls influence pedagogy and student growth, pushing students to challenge colonial narratives and engage in equity-oriented changes. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of how HE students navigate their evolving career aspirations, activism, and the decolonization of the HE field.

Authored by
Ms. Emma Sophie Stine (University of Colorado Boulder) and Prof. Amy Javernick-Will (University of Colorado Boulder)

Over the course of a five-year study, our NSF IUSE team created and disseminated several Low-Cost Desktop Learning Modules (LCDLMs) used to teach college students difficult engineering principles. The goal of this project was not only to allow students to experience the engineering concepts they learned about in a hands-on manner, but to allow them an opportunity to work in interactive groups in a classroom setting. This approach was inspired by Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, which posits the triad of environmental factors, personal factors, and exhibited behaviors are all interlinked, with one influencing another. The LCDLMs were thus meant to help students visualize the concepts to be learned and create an environment where students could make observations and test hypotheses together. Afterwards, students were asked to participate in pre- and posttests to assess learning of the associated concepts, and a survey to gauge their motivation inspired by using the LCDLMs.

Now that the project has been running for several years, and data have been collected in several classrooms at universities across the country, it is worth examining whether instructors have embraced this approach to enhance their own learning as well as for the students within their classrooms. The LCDLMs were disseminated to instructors who agreed to participate via a “Hub and Spoke” model, where workshops were held in different regions at various “hubs” in the United States to instruct professors on appropriate uses of LCDLMs. Feedback was gained through post-implementation forms with written feedback submitted on a semesterly basis. The hope was to remove any barriers instructors may have in implementing LCDLMs effectively, such as lack of funds, poor technical support, insufficient information, as well as to include their suggestions about more effective strategies for using the LCDLMs and collecting test scores and survey information from their students.

In the past year, greater attempts have been made to increase transparency with participating instructors and incorporate their feedback collected during workshops and throughout the school year. Instructors have asked that the pre- and posttest results from the LCDLM activities be shared with them outside of workshops, not only to support the validity of use of the LCLCDLMs, but so the activities can be incorporated into their grade books. Additionally, we have compiled a list of “Best Practices” from both the researchers working on the project and the participants in the study to implement the LCDLMs more efficiently. However, steps need to be taken to evaluate professor implementation strategies and their perceptions on how interactions with student teams can maximize the effects of using LCDLMS to teach and learn fundamental engineering concepts. We also want to assess qualitatively our workshop interactions to ensure the LCDLMs are used in a way that maximizes their effectiveness based on the data we’ve collected thus far. Hence, in the present study we seek to collect feedback from instructors through personal interviews as well as post-implementation forms.

Finally, a glucose analyzer LCDLM is being produced, tested, and prepared for implementation, while a recently developed fluidized bed will be used for a second time in the classroom. Results from implementations will be analyzed based on pre- and posttests and motivational surveys.

Authored by
Riley Jackson Fosbre (Washington State University), Prof. Bernard J. Van Wie (Washington State University), Dr. Prashanta Dutta (Washington State University), Dr. Olusola Adesope (Washington State University), Jacqueline Gartner Ph.D. (Campbell University), David B. Thiessen (Washington State University), MD SHARIFUL ISLAM (Washington State University), and Talodabiolorun Anne Oni (Washington State University)

This paper discusses the design and implementation of multi-attempt digital assessments in the foundation engineering courses of Statics and Dynamics as part of an NSF-funded project entitled “Enhancing Student Success in Engineering Curriculum through Active e-Learning and High Impact Teaching Practices (ESSEnCe).” Statics and Dynamics are fundamental courses that are critical in the graduation pathway of almost all engineering majors. At the authors’ institution, the average ten-year student success rate in these courses is typically low, and the success rates of Hispanic transfer students are even lower. To address this, the authors introduced multi-attempt digital assessments to improve student success rates. Prior research has shown that frequent testing is beneficial for student learning as it allows the realization of knowledge gaps via self-regulated learning and metacognitive monitoring strategies.
In this semester-long study, the authors redesigned the major assessments for multi-attempt testing in both Statics and Dynamics by creating extensive test question banks in the learning management system of Canvas. The assessments were administered digitally to the students using a Lockdown browser in Canvas at a proctored testing facility. End-of-semester surveys were administered in both courses to gauge student satisfaction and experience with this testing method. Preliminary results indicate very promising positive effects of the multi-attempt digital assessments in Statics and Dynamics courses on student performance, satisfaction, and self-reported motivation and self-regulation for all students, including Hispanic transfer students.

Authored by
Dr. Sudeshna Pal (University of Central Florida), Dr. Ricardo Zaurin (University of Central Florida), Sierra Outerbridge (University of Central Florida), Dr. Michelle Taub (University of Central Florida), and Prof. Hyoung Jin Cho (University of Central Florida)

This work-in-progress paper explores the lived experiences of early-career engineers as they navigate work situations that require them to adapt. The paper is part of a broader National Science Foundation-funded research study focused on increasing the adaptability of engineering students and early-career professionals. While adaptability is a top engineering competency, few studies have sought to understand early-career engineers’ experiences with adaptability, with related literature suggesting that they may have suboptimal adaptability as a result. Our study analyses the adaptability-related supports and barriers that early-career engineers experience on the job. Semi-structured critical incident interviews were conducted with thirty early-career engineers and analyzed. Preliminary analysis revealed three kinds of factors that early-career engineers reported influencing their work adaptability: personal factors, such as whether the engineer felt confident in and agency over their ability to adapt; interpersonal factors, such as whether the engineer received sufficient mentorship from their managers and coworkers; and organizational factors, such as whether the engineer had access to adaptability-related training and development opportunities. Codebooks for both supports and barriers are presented in this paper, with findings to be explored in more detail (e.g., how adaptability-related experiences varied by social identity and/or work environment) in a later publication. Findings from this study are expected to address a gap in the literature regarding the role of industry and academia in shaping early-career engineers’ adaptability and provide guidance to organizations and universities about how to best facilitate engineers’ adaptability development. Future work will evaluate specific strategies and interventions to address this issue.

Authored by
Dr. Samantha Ruth Brunhaver (Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus), Cecilia La Place (Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus), Ms. Rachel Figard (Arizona State University), and Rashmi Wimansa Neelawathura (Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus)

A primary goal of our DUE-funded project is to examine the quality of questions about course content asked by students enrolled in a statics course. We have developed a classroom-based intervention that provides statics students with training in the utility of question-asking and with frequent opportunities to submit written questions about their current confusions in the course. One goal of our project is to evaluate whether and how the nature and quality of student questions changes throughout the semester. The taxonomy provides a means for evaluating these changes.

Our original taxonomy was based on one developed for use with physics students (Harper et al., 2003). The taxonomy was approximately hierarchical, in which higher-numbered categories roughly represented metacognitively more sophisticated questions. Previously, we shared our process for creating—and subsequently modifying—the taxonomy for use in categorizing the quality of questions students ask about statics (reference to author work removed for blind review). While our modified taxonomy increased interrater reliability between faculty raters classifying student questions, a challenge remained pertaining to questions which could potentially fall into more than one category. Consequently, we have considered the utility of developing a categorization system designed with the expectation that questions will fall into more than one category. This approach alleviates some challenges associated with strictly sorting questions based on the type of knowledge required to answer the question, which becomes difficult when answers require multiple or overlapping knowledge types. This new approach also allows us to consider additional question features (e.g., closed- or open-ended, correct or incorrect use of statics vocabulary) that can more richly evaluate question quality.

In this paper, we share our progress on developing a revised taxonomy that captures multiple dimensions of question quality. Specifically, we describe our process of creating the multi-dimensional taxonomy, in which some dimensions are predefined using our prior work on question categorization, while other dimensions are explored via employing an inductive coding approach to discover newly emerging themes within student questions. We show the results of using the new taxonomy to categorize a set of student questions, and we compare the results from our previous taxonomy to illustrate differences between the two approaches.

Authored by
Kaelyn Marks (Hofstra University), Dr. Saryn Goldberg (Hofstra University), Dr. Chris Venters (East Carolina University), and Dr. Amy M Masnick (Hofstra University)

Many K-12 educational programs have recognized the strengths in preparing students for college and post-secondary opportunities by developing programs that foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical reasoning skills using strategies like the engineering design process (EDP) (Moore et al., 2014; Stehle & Peters-Burton, 2019). This helps students to apply conceptual knowledge in different subjects to solve open-ended, complex, multi-dimensional, and ill-defined problems creatively (Ehsan et al., 2018; Roerhig et al., 2012). Makerspaces can be optimal for developing these skills as they are collaborative contexts where students can develop digitalized or real-world tangible objects by planning, collaborating, testing, developing, and iterating to solve design problems (Papavlasopoulou et al., 2017). Learning these skills can prepare autistic adolescents optimally to gain productive post-secondary education or employment opportunities by equipping them with the necessary skills needed to succeed in these real-world contexts (Bottema-Beutel et al., 2020; Lottero-Perdue & Parry, 2017).

We designed inclusive engineering maker clubs across three years (2019-22) with experts from engineering, maker education, autism, and occupational therapy. Our project, titled “Developing Abilities and Knowledge for Careers in Design and Engineering for Students on the Autism Spectrum by Scaling Up Making Experiences,” is in its seventh year and provided in public schools in New York City to elementary, middle and high schoolers. This program was also developed to expand our programs around co-designing, teaching technological knowledge and skills in engineering to students, and providing accessible, safe, and nurturing spaces for autistic and non-autistic students, immersing them in interest-driven making and project-based learning (Martin et al., 2020).

Research from this program has demonstrated improved student engagement and increased interest in engineering, making, and understanding the value of STEM (Martin et al., 2020; Gardner et al., 2022). Students also showcased increased knowledge of the EDP as they developed problem-solving and other cognitive skills (Chen et al., 2021). To explore first-hand student experiences of using and learning about the EDP to solve design problems more comprehensively, we developed a participatory study using a data collection approach called Photovoice. This approach is qualitative and exploratory and incorporates values from Participatory Action Research methodology (Camar, 2015; Wang & Burris, 1997) by empowering participants to showcase data in the form of self-collected photographs that are meaningful and important to them in the research process. So, participants take on the roles of co-researchers, take photos, and share them with researchers. Then, they unpack the meaning of their photos in a collaborative interview process by choosing the photos that are important to them for answering the interview questions (Do et al., 2021). We incorporated this approach into an ongoing study to learn from our middle schoolers by collaborating with them in the data collection process.

If selected, we will showcase how middle schoolers used the EDP in our clubs to solve design problems using the photographs they collected and which components of the EDP our students found essential and helpful to solve their design problems. We will also present students’ perspectives and experiences of engaging in the photovoice process as collaborators and co-researchers.

Authored by
Ms. Kavitha Murthi (New York University), Dr. Ariana Riccio Arista (Education Development Center), Wendy B Martin (Affiliation unknown), and Dr. Kristie K Patten (New York University )

This paper will use a case-study approach to explore the role of industry partnerships and their impact on the implementation of a NSF Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)-funded community-based engineering design course centered on advanced manufacturing. The three-part course for underrepresented middle school students in rural NC launched in 2020 and has served over 100 students to date. The project aims to allow students and teachers the opportunity to explore the full range of STEM advanced manufacturing career options available in their local community. Students learned STEM content as well as technical and job essential (soft) skills necessary for future employment; while, teachers boosted their knowledge of STEM, local STEM careers, and pedagogical skills. Industry partners developed a pipeline of STEM talent for future recruitment, expanded corporate outreach, and highlighted potential career opportunities within their company.

This project boasts meaningful industry partnerships with local companies including Pfizer, Cummins, Kaba Ilco Corporation, LS Cable & System, Hitachi, and Poppies International that allowed students to study three broad areas: energy systems, food process engineering, and pharmaceuticals. These partnerships were cultivated through intentional outreach with the school district and a regional STEM advocacy organization. Each participating partner was asked to actively engage in the project by acting as project advisors, collaborating on curriculum development, mentoring students, serving as invited guest speakers in the classroom, and hosting virtual and site tours of their manufacturing facilities. To ensure the industry partners remained engaged, project leaders provided clear and consistent communication through written updates and virtual meetings, offered multiple opportunities for participation, and solicited feedback designed to help improve the project.

Authored by
Dr. LaTricia Walker Townsend (North Carolina State University), Dr. Tameshia Ballard Baldwin (North Carolina State University), Micaha Dean Hughes (North Carolina State University), and Aaron Arenas (North Carolina State University)

Title: Exploring the Impact of Program Name Change on Gender Diversity in STEM

Gender disparities in STEM remain a pressing concern, especially in engineering, where women receive only 20% of undergraduate degrees. This concise research paper delves into the potential influence of altering the name of an undergraduate research program on attracting female applicants. Specifically, we examine how changing the program's name from "Program 1" to "Program 2" affects the gender balance among applicants, with the other program components remaining the same. Our research reveals a notable shift in the applicant pool following the program's name change. Initially, we had fewer female applicants in “Program 1” than male students. However, following the transition to “Program 2," the number of female applicants increased, equaling almost the number of male applicants. To assess the statistical significance of the observed difference, we conducted the two-sample proportion test, which resulted in a p-value of 0.233, yielding insufficient evidence of a significant difference in the proportions of female applicants between the two programs. However, an intriguing finding emerged when we focused exclusively on the "Program 1" applicants. We expect both male and female applicants to be 50% each. However, the proportion of female applicants in this group did not align with the expected 50/50 gender distribution and yielded a p-value of 0.042, suggesting that female applicants in the "Program 1" applicant pool were significantly lower than 50%. While the overall comparison between the two program names did not yield statistical significance, a deeper analysis within "Program 1" uncovered a significant difference. These findings underscore the importance of program nomenclature as a factor in promoting gender diversity in STEM education and creating a more inclusive environment for underrepresented groups in the field.

Authored by
Faiza Zafar (Rice University) and Carolyn Nichol (Rice University)

This study was motivated by the numerous empirical investigations documenting the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and ethics to engineering education and practice. However, the relationship between these phenomena has not been extensively studied, and research focused on ethics and DEI tends to exist within distinct scholarly spaces. Thus, engineering students, educators, and practitioners may fail to consider how ethics and DEI are related, which may limit how they understand and apply these concepts. To better understand ways that ethics and DEI connect in engineering education and practice, our study includes three phases: (1) a systematic review of how ethics and DEI are connected in peer-reviewed literature in engineering education and related fields, (2) semi-structured interviews exploring faculty members’ mental models regarding the alignment between ethics and DEI, and (3) semi-structured interviews exploring engineering practitioners’ mental models regarding the alignment between ethics and DEI. This ongoing study is in its fourth year and this short paper will provide an overview of project findings and emergent results associated with each phase.

Authored by
Ms. Isil Anakok (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Dr. Justin L Hess (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Sowmya Panuganti (Purdue Engineering Education), Prof. Brent K Jesiek (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Dr. Andrew Katz (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Mental health challenges are a growing concern in engineering education. A culture that promotes wellness in engineering could support both student and faculty psychological health. As part of a larger, ongoing project on the mental health and wellness of undergraduate engineers, our team has investigated how stress and culture interact in engineering education to produce environments that promote hardness over wellness. We posit that faculty and staff are influential stakeholders in defining the culture of academic programs, thus making them important sources of information for understanding the associated core shared beliefs and assumptions. The goal of this paper is to qualitatively analyze what faculty imagine or believe a culture of wellness would look like in engineering. To collect their perceptions of mental health and wellness in engineering culture, our team conducted interviews with faculty and staff informed by the engineering cultural framework proposed by Godfrey and Parker. Participants (N=28) worked primarily with undergraduate students and represented a range of engineering disciplines, from biomedical engineering to engineering physics, as well as a variety of institution types and sizes. Specifically, responses to the question “What do you think a culture of wellness in engineering or your department would or should look like?” were separated from the rest of the data for thematic analysis. We developed a codebook, applied it to the data, and used thematic analysis to identify topics grouped by motif, resulting in three overarching themes representing the data. With a focus on actionable patterns of meaning, the three themes are (1) Building a Supportive Community, (2) Improving Work and Academic Policy, and (3) Supporting Self-Care with Student Wellness Resources. Participants expressed their views on what a culture of wellness might look like and suggested ideas that they believe would be beneficial to implement. These suggestions included aspects of a caring community, mindful policy change, and support for students through wellness resources. Implementing participant suggestions regarding a culture of wellness could lead to changes in the existing culture, which would support engineering student mental health and wellness. To better understand how engineering culture and undergraduate wellness interact, future work will expand interviews to include engineering student views on a culture of wellness. These interviews will be analyzed and synthesized with prior work, which will facilitate the identification of strategies to promote wellness in engineering. Culture is built by the minute actions of all participants, thus identifying individual perceptions of well-being in the engineering community is critical to working towards a culture of wellness that is productive and rewarding for all involved.

Authored by
Ms. Eileen Johnson (University of Michigan), Ms. Sara Rose Vohra (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Jeanne Sanders (University of Michigan), Dr. Joseph Francis Mirabelli (University of Michigan), Andrea J Kunze (University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign), and Dr. Karin Jensen (University of Michigan)

While there is increased attention to the inclusion of engineering in informal contexts, we have not come across any research or training materials that focus on how informal educators do or should plan and handle ongoing, just-in-time support - particularly during moments of failure. Therefore, through this NSF funded project, we addressed this need by adapting, implementing, and refining a professional development program for productively attending, interpreting, and responding to youths’ experiences with failure while engaged in engineering design challenges in informal learning contexts through video-based reflections. In this presentation, we highlight the potential impact of the professional development on informal educators as we sought to answer the research question: How did a reflective, video-based professional development impact informal educators’ pedagogical practices and perspectives around youths’ experiences with failures during engineering design challenges? To answer this question, we utilized multiple data sources from 19 partnering museum sites that spanned multiple regions of the United States: post-interviews with museum sites, final reports or presentations from museum sites, and evaluation reports. Five patterns emerged that highlight museum educators’ professional growth around visitors’ experiences with failures from across the data: (a) shifts in educators’ perspectives on failure, (b) gain new instructional practices, (c) foster a collaborative community of educators, (d) investment in their own self growth, and (e) sustainability of the professional development as part of their organization. We contend that the significance of this study lies in the potential for a video-based professional development cycle to positively shift how educators support youth through failure experiences in engineering design challenges, as well as build a community of practice - with a focus on failure - among educators.

Authored by
Dr. Amber Simpson (State University of New York at Binghamton), Dr. Adam Maltese (Indiana University, Bloomington), Dr. Kelli Paul (Indiana University, Bloomington), and Lauren Penney (Indiana University, Bloomington)

In their quest to further their understanding of the power of plática (authentic dialogue) in community engagement efforts, the researchers/practitioners embedded themselves in deep, critical conversations with family leaders from a community-based organization on issues of equity and excellence in education. The Family-Centered transformational theory was developed and shaped by fully engaging in fostering trusting relationships and partnerships with students, their families, and educators over seven years. Family Organizing, Strategic Training, Education and Research is the set of processes and methods that gave form to the Family-Centered Theory of Change. This theory of change was incorporated in the professional development of thirty-two STEM faculty, revised curricula in twenty-two different STEM courses, transformed teaching practices in fifty-two STEM course sections and impacted over 2,000 students and their families. The purpose of this study is to advance the body of knowledge on the operationalization of servingness and to provide insight on the utilization of metrics to assess the impact of equitable, community engagement efforts of servingness at Hispanic-Serving Institutions.

Well researched metrics on the sense of belonging and institutional integration were used to assess the effectiveness of the interventions and helped the researchers focus their intended, holistic outcomes on student success to go beyond achievement and persistence. Two-way ANOVA on baseline data (N=779) showed that female undergraduate students have statistically significant (α=0.05) higher sense of belonging than males throughout their first three years of college. This is consistent with institutional data that show higher retention and graduation rates for female undergraduate students than males, especially in STEM. Research activities have demonstrated that the intervention/enrichment has improved students' motivation, engagement, passing rates, and performance. Theme analysis on (N=151) open-ended surveys collected during an end-of-semester symposium revealed that participants (students, families, and faculty) felt a strong “sense of belonging with ownership and pride.” This somewhat “unintended” outcome is of particular interest to the researchers in this study. It not only demonstrates the fulfillment of the intended positive impact of an improved sense of belonging among the participants, but it also suggests equitable outcomes. These results show the effective implementation of the family-centered theory of change in the transformation of teaching practices in STEM courses.

In this study, the researchers/practitioners took a critical ethnographic approach to assess the impact of their community engagement efforts in their search for equity and excellence in education. Garcia, Nuñez, and Sansone’s (2019) also recommended ethnographic research to understand structures of servingness. The researchers utilized metrics on the sense of belonging and community engagement advanced by Mitchneck (2022) in the operationalization of Garcia, Nuñez, and Sansone’s (2019) multidimensional conceptual framework of servingness. Through critical reflection and reflexivity, the researchers used these metrics to assess the impact of the internal processes and methods of the family-centered theory of change and the navigation of institutional, pragmatic mechanisms that led to equitable outcomes among participants.

Authored by
Dr. Juan Salinas (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), Griselda Salinas (Affiliation unknown), Elizabeth Salinas (The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), Yocelin Chavez (Affiliation unknown), Virginia Santana (Affiliation unknown), Sherlyn De Alva (Affiliation unknown), and Sheila Cardenas Vazquez (Affiliation unknown)

We report on an ongoing effort to contextualize and test an ecological belonging intervention in first- and second-year engineering courses. As a part of an NSF IUSE: EDU Program, Institutional, and Community Transformation track grant, this intervention targets women, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students to support self-efficacy, belongingness, growth mindset, and identity as avenues to address academic equity gaps that persist in engineering despite increasing enrollment within engineering among these groups. We frame these equity gaps because they exist not from any deficit of the students themselves but rather systemic issues of marginalization that make students feel as if they do not belong. The ecological belonging intervention focuses on common engineering course-specific student experiences of struggle and is delivered by instructors early in the term. Through shared narratives and self-reflection students learn that struggle in engineering courses is normal and surmountable. Our prior work indicates that this message may serve as a protective mechanism for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students’ belonging and, subsequently, individual grades in their courses. As we continue to develop and study the intervention, we share our processes and additional findings in the proposed paper. First, we report on our initial efforts to assess fidelity in implementation of the intervention by course instructors and the impact of the intervention on instructors. Second, we report on our continued research on the efficacy of the intervention on student outcomes.

We hypothesize that the intervention is most effective when instructors follow the intervention protocol, share their stories of struggle authentically, and effectively facilitate small group discussions. We created an observation protocol to help assess the fidelity of intervention implementation in classroom settings. Graduate student research team members observed seven classes in which the instructors conducted the intervention. The observation protocol consisted of 15 quantitative items such as "facilitator shares a personal story" that observers rated on a 3-point scale: "did not observe," "needs improvement," and "accomplished well." Qualitative questions (n = 13) assessed additional aspects such as notes on the instructor-facilitator's body language. Qualitative interviews with instructors have also provided insight into faculty perspectives on intervention fidelity. With this data, we investigate how onboarding to the intervention impacts instructor beliefs, how instructor beliefs shape implementation, and the impact of facilitating the intervention on instructors' mindsets, attitudes, and practices. Further, the research team is using this information to improve facilitator training (e.g., ensuring implementers perform essential intervention tasks) and to check the observation protocol captures all of the essential observation aspects (clarifying what "adequate engagement" means).

Our research on the efficacy of the intervention on student outcomes continues across two lines. In the first, we seek to identify short-term impacts on course grades (i.e., individual work, final grade) and continued enrollment in engineering courses. Initial analyses have found limited direct impact on course grades, with more impact on individual assignment grades and continued enrollment. The second line seeks to identify the relationships between theoretically important psychosocial constructs such as belongingness, self-efficacy, fascination, and engineering identity in preparation for future longitudinal assessments of change following the intervention.

Authored by
Dr. Linda DeAngelo (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Allison Godwin (Cornell University), Charlie Díaz (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Eric Trevor McChesney (University of Pittsburgh), Erica McGreevy (University of Pittsburgh), Nelson O. O. Zounlomè (University of Pittsburgh), Kevin Jay Kaufman-Ortiz (Purdue University), Anne-Ketura Elie (University of Pittsburgh), Gerard Dorvè-Lewis (University of Pittsburgh), Maricela Bañuelos (University of California, Irvine), Dr. Matthew Bahnson (Purdue University), Kevin R. Binning (Affiliation unknown), Prof. Natascha Trellinger Buswell (University of California, Irvine), Dr. Christian D Schunn (University of Pittsburgh), Beverly Conrique (University of Pittsburgh), Liwei Chen (University of Pittsburgh), Carlie Laton Cooper (University of Georgia), Rachel Kelly Forster (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Danielle V. Lewis (SUNY Fredonia), and Dr. Jacqueline Rohde (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Makerspaces, intended for open and collaborative learning, often struggle to attract a diverse group of users, particularly concerning gender diversity. These issues include makerspaces becoming associated primarily with white male students, gendered connotations of machines and materials, and women’s perceived lack of self-efficacy in using makerspace tools. As a result, women may view makerspaces as unwelcoming, and societal stereotypes can affect their engagement in these spaces. Efforts to create more inclusive makerspaces are essential to fully realize the potential of makerspaces, encourage and boost confidence in marginalized groups to pursue careers in different engineering areas, and promote a diverse and collaborative maker culture. Moreover, defining makerspaces is challenging due to conflicting perceptions, the uniqueness of spaces, and the abstract elements in these environments, revealing a gap between academic definitions and the diverse voices of people interested in utilizing makerspaces. Our goal is to see if there are differences in the fundamental academic makerspace definition and makerspace definition by different genders, providing insights into how inclusive our makerspace is. We focus on gender because our interviewees focused more on gender than other identity markers in our conversations, but we also report additional demographic data that likely impacted participants’ experiences, namely, their racial and ethnic identities.

Our corpus is drawn from semi-structured interviews with students enrolled in an introductory first-year engineering course. Out of 28 students interviewed, 10 identified as women, 16 as men, one as both women and questioning or unsure, and one as women and nonbinary and transgender. In terms of racial/ethnic identifications, nine participants identified as White or Caucasian; six identified as Latinx or Hispanic; five identified as Latinx or Hispanic, White or Caucasian; three identified as Black or African American; two identified as Asian, Desi, or Asian American; one identified as Latinx or Hispanic, Native American or Alaska Native; one identified as Southwest Asian, Middle Eastern, or North African, White or Caucasian; and one identified as Native African. In this ongoing study, from interview transcripts, we extracted participant responses to questions regarding their definitions of and impressions of makerspaces to identify commonalities and differences. Specifically, we use natural language processing techniques to extract word frequency and centrality and synthesize commonalities into a shared definition of a makerspace. We also separated responses from participants by gender identities to evaluate how definitions varied with gender. These emergent definitions are compared with commonly accepted definitions derived from research papers. Additionally, we conduct a complementary discourse analysis of students’ definitions and impressions of makerspaces, qualitatively examining how diverse students characterize ways of being and doing in the makerspace.

Authored by
Dr. Hannah Budinoff (The University of Arizona), Ann Shivers-McNair (University of Arizona), Jannatul Bushra (The University of Arizona), and Dr. Edward J. Berger (Purdue University, West Lafayette)

The recruitment of women and underrepresented racial-ethnic minority groups into the STEM field became a national priority with the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act. Transfer students, who are disproportionately underrepresented and first-generation, are a target population for boosting engineering representation. Transfer students at [the university] take thermodynamics, a required gateway course, in their first or second term. The course has a high failure rate hypothesized to contribute to “transfer shock,” resulting in low engineering self-efficacy and decreased persistence. Institutional data confirm that 39% of transfer students (TRN) who fail this course leave engineering within one year, compared to 18% of first-time, full-time students (FTFT). The project team initiated a PEER-led, Student Instructed, STudy group (PEERSIST) model in thermodynamics to promote student achievement, self-efficacy, and identity formation—variables linked to engineering persistence.

This poster will outline the research questions, project objectives, framework and results from the Spring 2022, Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters of the project. The PEERSIST model promotes academic competence through peer dialogue, in which disciplinary knowledge is socially co-constructed and refined over successive sessions. Although PLSGs have been found effective in prior studies, this research is unique in that it expands the research in an engineering course and focuses on the effects of PLSGs on transfer students. We are specifically investigating 1) to what extent peer and near-peer support in a gateway course promotes engineering students’ self-efficacy, identity formation, course achievement and engineering persistence and 2) whether these effects, if any, accrue differently between TRN and FTFT students. We ground our study in social cognitive career theory (SCCT), which researchers have used extensively to understand student persistence in the pursuit of engineering degrees. This quasi-experimental study uses a sequential explanatory (QUAN to qual) mixed-methods design in year 1 of the project followed by a convergent (QUAN + QUAL) mixed-methods design in year 2. One half of students recruited for the study will meet in 4-5 person Peer-led Study Groups (PLSGs) with students of comparable achievement as assessed by scores on an initial background knowledge survey. The other half of the study participants will be randomly selected as a comparison group that will experience conventional TA-led recitations involving little or no student dialogue. Course progress, outcome measures, and interviews will be collected on students in each group. Dependent variables are cognitive (test grades) and social (engineering identity and self-efficacy). In the second year (when students will be seniors), follow-up interview and institutional data will be collected from the same students to assess persistence in engineering and the institution. An observational protocol of interactions between peers and with TAs is being piloted. Results for the first part of the project will be presented in the poster.

Authored by
Cody D Jenkins (Arizona State University), Ms. Thien Ngoc Y Ta (Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus), Sarah Johnston (Arizona State University), Dr. Ryan James Milcarek (Arizona State University), Dr. Gary Lichtenstein (Arizona State University), Dr. Samantha Ruth Brunhaver (Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus), and Dr. Karl A Smith (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities)

In 2023, University of Houston (UH) at Houston, Texas was awarded an NSF Research Experience for Preservice Teachers (RE-PST) site grant titled “Industries of the Future Research Experience for Preservice Teachers in STEM Settings.” The goal of the project is to host 10 high school preservice teachers each summer to participate in Industries of the Future (IotF) research fields and then convert their experience into high school curriculum. In the 2020 report of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to the President of the USA, PCAST has recommended a set of bold actions to help ensure continued leadership in IotF, comprising artificial intelligence (AI), quantum information science (QIS), advanced manufacturing, advanced communications, and biotechnology. In summer 2023, the first cohort of 8 preservice teachers (PST) from the UH teachHOUSTON (tH) PST program participated in the RE-PST program at UH Cullen College of Engineering (CCOE). This six-week program, open to high school STEM PSTs in the tH program, sought to advance future educators’ knowledge of concepts in IotF as a means of enriching high school curriculums defined in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standard. Six UH CCOE professors each led workshops in a week. Five research mentors, assisted by student research assistants, mentored PSTs on various projects. The group also participated in field trips to local companies including Samson Controls, TechnipFMC, Beckhoff Automation, and SLB (Schlumberger). They worked with the professors in the teachHOUSTON on applying their knowledge learned to lesson plan design. Participants met weekly for Brown Bag teacher seminars to share their experiences and discuss curricula. On the final day of the program, the PSTs presented their curriculum prototype for their future field teaching to the group and received completion certificates. This summer is special in that this cohort of 8 PSTs participated in some activities together with 15 high school in-service teachers in the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at UH. The common activities include one day workshop in SolidWorks design, field trips, and some curriculum development sessions. Two research mentors mentored both PST and in-service teachers. PST participants found the research experience with their mentors beneficial not only to them, but also to their future students according to our findings from interviews. Selected course modules will be submitted teachengineering.org for other K-12 educators to access.

Authored by
Prof. Weihang Zhu (University of Houston), Dr. Tomika W. Greer (University of Houston), Dr. Paige Evans (University of Houston), LEI Fan (University of Houston), and Dr. Driss Benhaddou (University of Houston)

Concern for teaching ethics in engineering has existed for some time, with research supporting that active learning strategies are useful instruction methods for teaching ethical reasoning in STEM fields. Active learning approaches, such as case studies or problem-based learning (PBL), are shown to increase student exam scores and decrease student failure rates when compared to instruction using lecture methods alone. However, there is not sufficient information to show that active PBL is effective for teaching ethical reasoning and decision-making in college-level engineering courses.

To evaluate PBL as an effective approach for teaching ethical reasoning, our team is evaluating differences in first-year electrical and computer engineering undergraduates after participating in an introductory course delivered in traditional lecture format or PBL style. As part of both courses, students complete three modules which requires them to identify one or more ethical dilemma of a developed fictional scenario. In these scenarios they students are asked to put themselves in the position of the engineer in the scenario. During evaluation of student work products for these modules in Year 1 the study team noted a larger than expected proportion of students had challenges correctly identifying the most appropriate IEEE code of conduct related to the ethical dilemma.

In Year 2 of the study, additional exercises were added to both PBL and lecture courses to provide students additional opportunities to practice identifying ethical dilemmas in case studies to increase their mastery related to this aspect of ethical reasoning. A total of 6 cases were added to 6 of the assignments in the course, with 2 cases completed before each of the three course modules to provide consistent practice over the course. The specific case studies were selected from a set of ethics cases developed and made available by the 2021 IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee. These case studies are fictitious examples to illustrate typical ethics issues that can arise. In each assignment, students were asked to identify which IEEE code of ethics was most appropriate for the presented case study.

This work will provide an overview of the case studies added to the course, present student performance from 3 course sections at identifying the IEEE code of ethics most appropriate for each case. The insights regarding which ethical dilemmas first-year students are most successful at identifying and where they may have misconceptions is expected to inform areas of ethical reasoning that students may have little prior experience. This will help inform which topics will require further focused course content to improve student mastery both in this course and for other engineering educators integrating ethical reasoning content into their freshman engineering courses.

Authored by
Dr. Todd Freeborn (The University of Alabama), Claire Major (The University of Alabama), and Dr. Miriam E. Sweeney (The University of Alabama)

Formative assessment of equity and inclusion in student teams

Teamwork is both widely employed as a pedagogical tool and expected as an important learning outcome in engineering education. However, it cannot be assumed that students’ interactions within teams will always be constructive and positive experiences. Inequitable patterns of interaction can exclude individuals from participation, and reproduce existing structures and systems of race-based and gender-based marginalization that exist in wider society. Educational institutions should provide appropriate support to foster equitable and inclusive teamwork environments in order to maximize learning and affective outcomes for all students.

The authors present on a team support software tool designed to detect and respond to team behaviors and surface patterns of inequities, with interfaces for both students and faculty. The tool centers questions of equity and inclusion, and provides formative feedback to students in the form of tailored messages and instructional content, including graphs of data situating team ratings. The tool asks students to reflect on the messages and patterns that they see in their team, as well as to describe behaviors they might try next using strategies from motivational interviewing.

The National Science Foundation program for Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) awarded the authors a grant to support evaluating the effectiveness of this tool, both in terms of its ability to detect inequity and exclusion, and in terms of its interventions. In this short paper and associated poster we summarize some of this work. Specifically, we will present how we have operationalized “diverse” and “effective” teams, as well as how statistical measures of these variables are related to student outcomes, student identities, and team behaviors. We will highlight patterns in student responses showing, for example, relationships between lesson interventions and student ratings and how patterns in team ratings change over time. We will also present results of a scoping review synthesizing academic discourse around the notion of team equity. Forthcoming research projects will be described, including an initiative to explore instructors’ experiences with the software tool and the ways in which it assists their work to foster equitable teamwork.

Authored by
Andrew Moffat (University of Michigan), Dr. Robin Fowler (University of Michigan), Rebecca L Matz (University of Michigan), Miss Xiaping Li (University of Michigan), Spencer JaQuay (University of California, Irvine), Madison Jeffrey (University of Michigan), and Mark Mills (University of Michigan)

The NSF S-STEM-funded program titled Fostering Leaders in Technology Entrepreneurship (FLiTE) hosted by Western Carolina University has now completed it’s second year of operation. The program aims to create graduates who bring impactful contributions to industry employers or who create new businesses with their own original technology innovations. FLiTE has continued its mission to cultivate entrepreneurial and growth-oriented thinking among financially needed engineering and technology students. Program activities for the 2023 calendar year included induction of a new recruiting class, connection with campus resources and veteran entrepreneurs, and scholar participation in a formal pitch creation course. Pre- and post-year surveys were completed by the scholars to characterize personal perceptions of their initial and developing aptitudes toward the entrepreneurial mindset. This paper describes the cohort teaming sessions, invited speakers, informal and formal pitch presentations, and survey results from the spring and fall semesters of 2023. Summary results show an improvement in scholar perceptions of their entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial thinking. Findings from these activities may inform the curriculum at the host university and the content of similar entrepreneurship programs.

Authored by
Dr. Paul M Yanik (Western Carolina University), Dr. Scott Rowe (Western Carolina University), Wendy Cagle (Western Carolina University), Dr. Andrew Ritenour (Western Carolina University), Dr. Chip W Ferguson (Western Carolina University), and Dr. Wesley L. Stone (Western Carolina University)

Approximately 7.6 billion tons of industrial waste are generated in the United States each year, among which only 30% of the waste stream is currently recycled. Whereas the remainder accumulates in landfills, posing a significant environmental challenge. To better promote sustainability, it is essential to equip the next generation of researchers with the knowledge and skills required for effective waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.
Through this ongoing NSF NSF-funded project, we have developed an innovative teaching and training methodology to address this critical gap and engage undergraduate students in STEM fields. We actively involve eight STEM undergraduate students in interdisciplinary and laboratory-based research activities focused on waste-to-value concepts. Through ten weeks of training, all participants were immersed in the practical applications of sustainable waste management strategies through self and peer learning. The project outcomes were evaluated by assessing the knowledge acquisition and skill development resulting from the 10-week training period of our eight student participants with diverse STEM backgrounds.
Our initiative extends beyond individual student growth; the insights gained from this NSF-funded project have broader implications for curriculum enhancement on a national scale. As we continue to refine and expand our teaching methodology, we anticipate that our efforts will contribute to developing a more environmentally conscious and skilled workforce to address the challenges of waste management and sustainability.

Authored by
Dr. Noppadon Sathitsuksanoh (University of Louisville), Dr. Zhihui Sun (University of Louisville), and Dr. Jason Cullen Immekus (University of Louisville)

Hands-on exercises provide students with practical skills and abilities. However, for exercises to be effective, students may need timely feedback while they are engaged to prevent them from getting stuck or frustrated. The goal of this project is to use machine learning to help identify such students such that timely and contextually appropriate hints can be given.

We are building a system that identifies students who are potentially in the most need of help, and suggests hints that the instructor could provide. The instructor can reject hints that they do not find appropriate. The hint system will be integrated into the EDURange cybersecurity education platform and will also be compatible with other platforms.

We are collecting data that will be analyzed to determine the efficacy of the tool, and to develop new hints and strategies for helping students. This project plans to use our machine learning system to create, test, and deploy semi-automated hints in a timely manner.

Authored by
Aubrey Nicholas Birdwell (Georgia Institute of Technology), Jack Cook (The Evergreen State College), Dr. Richard S Weiss (The Evergreen State College), and Dr. Jens Mache (Lewis & Clark College)

Norwich University, the First Senior Military College in the nation and the first private U.S. institution to teach engineering, has a residential program for approximately 2,100 primarily undergraduate students in both the Corps of Cadets and civilian lifestyles. Norwich secured a National Science Foundation S-STEM award in the beginning of 2020 to develop a program to attract and retain highly talented, low-income students in STEM. One of the aims of the project was to support students who enter college with less experience in mathematics as these students were significantly less likely to graduate with a STEM degree.

In the fall of 2020, as a result of the S-STEM award, the mathematics department offered a pilot corequisite calculus course to STEM majors requiring calculus their first semester but placed into precalculus by the mathematics departmental placement test. The corequisite calculus course includes content from precalculus into a one semester calculus course that meets daily for 6 contact hours rather than a standard 4 credit hour calculus course. The Norwich University Civil, Electrical and Computer, and Mechanical Engineering programs are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, placing restrictions on the 8-semester engineering degree pathway. The added credits to the first semester corequisite calculus course fit the constraints of the first semester engineering course load and this course has enabled engineering students that place into precalculus to complete an on-time degree plan without taking summer courses. The corequisite course has been approved by the university curriculum committee and is a regular offering at the institution.

The initial offering of the corequisite course occurred during the COVID pandemic necessitating the use of additional instructional technology. There was also an increase in low stakes assessments to encourage students to engage in the material. The added credits also increased the regularity of student interacting with calculus. Since the implementation of this pilot course, there have been several similar changes in other courses required by engineering majors. The pilot corequisite course has become institutionalized and even is now scaling, with the engineering department requesting the course to be offered each semester to benefit students who are out of sync with the intended curriculum pathway.
This project examines how the corequisite calculus course may have influenced changes in the general education courses and engineering first year sequence. Outcome harvesting as well as process tracing are used to determine the strength of evidence linking the corequisite course to institutional change. Qualitative and quantitative data will be examined as well to understand how the S-STEM award contributed to breakdown of the resistance to curriculum change and the readiness to implement and scale corequisite course in other areas. It is important to understand the mechanisms used for building capacity at the institution to transform STEM education in higher education.

Authored by
Dr. Darlene M. Olsen (Norwich University), Dr. Karen Supan (Norwich University), and Dr. Liz Johnson (Liz Johnson Education Consulting)

Future STEM Leaders: An Innovative Career Readiness Program for Female Graduate Students prepares future leaders of the STEM workforce through a cross-departmental initiative to develop student transferable skills, activate mentor networks, and instill confidence in their ability to attain their career goals. The program draws from a unique and broad set of partners at the university, including faculty in the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences, the central Career Center’s career development and employer engagement teams, as well as the Office of Alumni Relations, each with distinct contributions to the student experience. This two-semester experience employs a design thinking framework, adapted from Burnett and Evans, to prompt deep career exploration beyond the boundaries of traditional academe. Graduate students design three different futures, called Odyssey Plans, and prototype these potential careers by connecting with industry professionals who can introduce them to new ways of applying their graduate level knowledge and skills. In addition to the exploration of career alternatives, students receive additional resources from the Career Center’s educational programs including salary negotiation and interview skills. The team used materials specifically designed to close gender-related differences in salary knowledge and negotiation practices. Students learned to benchmark salaries based on job location, industry, and required skills. Narrative feedback from participants revealed a level of uneasiness about verbally expressing the utility of their skills, academic knowledge, and even project work. Formative assessment results are driving changes to the program to incorporate more practice in articulating self value to different audiences, and an infusion of low-stakes industry project simulations to develop transferable skills and confidence.

Authored by
Dr. Alfreda Samira James (Stony Brook University), Dr. Marianna Savoca (Stony Brook University), Dr. Monica Bugallo (Stony Brook University), and Catherine A Scott (Affiliation unknown)

As the scope of higher education expands to include a wider range of students, there is an increasing focus on computer software, applications, and systems that can help improve students' educational experiences. This work comprises a yearly update from an ongoing project with the goal of developing a general-purpose educational system. For our proposed system, student data are translated into appropriate student assistance through reinforcement learning agents. With reinforcement learning, the computer-controlled agents can select what assistance to give students based on their performance. The agents can also adjust future behavior depending on the student's response to the provided assistance. The proposed system is also designed to work with any educational game or system, provided that the system records student data and provides a selection of possible student assistance options.

To demonstrate our proposed system, we show results from in-classroom testing with undergraduate students using the proposed system within an educational serious game. We conducted personal interviews with participating students to get detailed feedback on the implementation, which we discuss within this paper. We also show student performance metrics when interacting with the proposed system, demonstrating the system's ability to provide appropriate and useful assistance to students as they interact with the educational serious game.

Authored by
Mr. Ryan Hare (Rowan University)

With the passage of the Chips and Science Act, semiconductor workforce development has become front and center for US universities. Among the many skills needed for undergraduates to enter the semiconductor industry, debugging is an important skill that is rarely taught. As the transistor count and complexity of today’s chips grow, thanks to Moore’s Law, fewer new chips can work perfectly for the first time. Hence, much engineering effort is put into debugging, a process that identifies and fixes any discrepancies between the expected and measured chip behavior.

This paper first investigates the need and the economic incentives of debugging in the semiconductor industry. It was estimated that a typical semiconductor project spent 35 to 50 percent of its time in debugging. The need for silicon debugging has led to a new profession called validation engineers. Debugging has also gained the nickname of the Schedule Killer, highlighting its impact on the project schedule and the company’s bottom line.

Next, the paper summarizes existing cognitive models of troubleshooting. Early models often failed to capture the role of experience, which was essential for circuit and hardware debugging. Jonassen et al. proposed a troubleshooting learning architecture that includes the contribution of past experiences. This cognitive framework has been successfully applied in computer science and physics education, leading to some of the latest pedagogy innovations, such as collaborative pair debugging.

This paper also investigates multiple emotions associated with debugging, such as frustration, fear, and anxiety. These emotions may lead to disengagement and avoidance of the subjects. Debugging may also be related to other non-cognitive factors, such as mindsets. The positive effect of teaching self-theory and a growth mindset has been observed in different age groups. However, studies also found that domain-specific aptitudes were more helpful in changing student’s performance in the subject matter.

The takeaway message from this paper is that a genuinely effective debugging education intervention must be holistic and domain-specific. Holistic means that the intervention should address both cognitive and affective components. Domain specificity means that any growth mindset message should be contextually situated within the subject matter materials.

How to design such an intervention will be the next million-dollar question, as it not only fills the gap of collegiate debug education in microelectronics but also serves as a critical missing piece toward developing a globally competent semiconductor workforce for generations to come.

Authored by
Haniye Mehraban (Oklahoma State University) and Dr. John Hu (Oklahoma State University)

The Freshman Year Innovator Experience (FYIE) program at The University of X, a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), aims to enhance the freshman experience for incoming students by developing key academic success skills. The program is developing self-transformation skills in freshman mechanical engineering students to help them overcome academic and professional challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. FYIE participants are taking two courses simultaneously: Introduction to Engineering (Course A) and Learning Frameworks (Course B). In Course A, students will complete a 6-week engineering design project, and in Course B, they are completing a 6-week academic career path project. During these parallel projects, timed interventions demonstrate the analogies between the engineering design process and the academic career pathways project. The objective is for students to realize that they can apply the design thinking skills they learn in the engineering design process to solve their academic career challenges. A pilot of the FYIE program began in the 2023 Spring semester, with instructors from Course A and B introducing the parallel projects. The pilot continues in the 2023 Fall semester, with refinements to the parallel projects and the definition of analogy intervention points for self-transformation. The authors of the paper will present the results from the pilot implementations, as well as discuss the challenges and future work. This proposed initiative is designed with the intention of adhering to the ongoing mission of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) at the University of X to 1) increase the number of STEM degrees awarded to Hispanics, 2) broadening participation of females in STEM related fields, and 3) increase the persistence and self-efficacy in STEM fields amid COVID-19. This project is funded by NSF award 2225247.

Authored by
Dr. Noe Vargas Hernandez (The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley), Dr. Javier Ortega (The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley), Dr. Arturo A Fuentes (The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley), and Dr. Eleazar Marquez (The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley)

The focus of the NSF IUSE HSI STEM project was to identify motivations for pursuing STEM at distinct stages of the academic career and the perception of families/caregivers, secondary school teachers, and community members toward STEM education and careers among Latinx and historically underrepresented groups. The data presented in this abstract will highlight the preliminary results from the college sample who were surveyed to better understand how these students interact with and utilize resources from their faculty and university. Participants completed the Laanan-Student Transfer Questionnaire (LSTQ), a 50-item scale developed to assess students' experiences with faculty, course learnings, experiences with academic counseling, satisfaction about university, perceptions of faculty, competition and survival culture, psychological adjustment, academic adjustment, and social adjustment (Moser, 2012).

There were no significant correlations between variables of interest (White, STEM major, and Female) and mean LTSQ score with faculty relationships (r’s range –0.007-0.091); however, evaluating correlations with the individual items for this subscale revealed females were less likely to seek advice on assignments from faculty as compared to males (r=-0.19, p=0.02) and STEM majors were more likely to ask their faculty for feedback on their work than non-stem majors (r=0.19, p=0.015). Similarly, no significant correlations between variables of interest and mean LTSQ scores with course engagement (r’s range -0.10-0.09); however, evaluation of the individual items for this subscale indicated several interesting correlations regarding sex and minority status. Females reported taking more detailed notes in class than males (r=0.25, p=0.002), were less likely than males to try to see how different facts and ideas fit together (r=-0.22, p=0.01), were less likely to report thinking about practical applications of course materials than were males (r=-0.18, p=0.03), and females were more likely to report that they made outlines from their notes than were males (r=0.28, p=0.00). Additionally, White individuals were more likely to report thinking about practical applications of course materials than non-White minority students (r=0.16, p=0.05), and White individuals were more likely to report that the participate in class discussion than were non-White minorities (r=0.16, p=0.05). When evaluating the LTSQ mean score for feelings of competition within STEM courses, a significant positive correlation found that females were more likely to believe their classes were competitive as compared to male peers (r=0.20, p=0.02). Lastly, when evaluating correlations between mean scores for each of the LTSQ adjustment scales and variables of interest, there were no significant findings between variables of interest and mean psychological adjustment, mean social adjustment, or mean overall adjustment (r’s range from –0.15-0.11). Results did indicate that there was a significant negative correlation between mean academic adjustment and White where Whites reported lower academic adjustment scores than non-White minorities (r=-0.22, p=0.01) indicating that White individuals were having an easier time adjusting to college than non-white minorities. These findings suggest that women and ethnic minorities are utilizing academic resources differently than men and non-ethnic minorities. Further exploration of these findings is warranted to better understand the specific barriers that women and underrepresented minorities are facing within the STEM fields.

Authored by
Dr. Brittany Paige Trubenstein (Angelo State University)

This study provided insight into the use of virtual reality (VR) to enhance engineering curriculums and develop engineering students’ computational thinking (CT) levels at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs). The sample population for this research included students enrolled in a first-year engineering course at an HBCU. To support the students’ education in cybersecurity-additive manufacturing, virtual reality was used to simulate classroom teaching and assignments. Participants in this study were first taught using the traditional method that allowed them passive viewing of images and videos of objects and spaces. The participants were later taught the same lessons in a Computer Automated Virtual Environment (CAVE) where they could further explore the images and space they were taught in the traditional class setting. Within the immersive virtual environment, students were observed as they virtually manipulated objects and learned in the CAVE .
Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this study. Factor Analysis (FA) was used to assess the validity of using CT scales in an HBCU environment, and to help investigate the impact of immersive technology on participants CT skill levels. The results of the FA aligned with previous research findings and provided the research team with a more refined set of CT scales for use in an HBCU environment. Semi-structured student interviews were used to gain insight into students’ perceptions and attitudes toward the incorporation of VR into an engineering curriculum, and to further explore the relationship between VR fidelity and scalability of a model that could be used across engineering curriculums. The results of the interviews provided an additional significant degree of validation that the CT scales are suitable to assess engineering students CT skill levels at HBCUs, and that immersive technology such as the CAVE could improve engineering students’ ability to train and compete. Furthermore, students exhibited excitement and an eagerness to do more in the CAVE environment.

Authored by
Dr. Opeyemi Peter Ojajuni (Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College), brian Warren (Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College), Fareed Dawan (Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College), Dr. Yasser Ismail (Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College), and Dr. Albertha Hilton Lawson (Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College)

This paper reports on the fourth year of a five-year NSF RFE program focused on supporting rural and reservation teachers to implement classroom engineering activities that are aligned to their local community contexts. The research team has spent the last four years working with a small group of 3rd through 5th grade teachers (n=5) to (1) help them learn about local opportunities around which to develop grade appropriate engineering tasks, and (2) develop and implement those task to the students in their classroom. This paper focuses on how the implementation of community-based engineering lessons impacted students' perceptions and attitudes toward engineering , as well as elementary teachers’ perspectives about their teaching and their students’ learning of community-based engineering in their classrooms.

Authored by
Dr. Rebekah J Hammack (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. Tugba Boz (Indiana-Purdue University), Dr. Nicholas Lux Lux (Montana State University), and Paul Gannon (Montana State University)

Despite the intent to advance engineering education with the NGSS, teachers across all grade levels lack confidence in their engineering content knowledge and pedagogy (Hammack & Ivey, 2019). This dilemma is exacerbated by a lack of quality NGSS-aligned curricular materials that integrate science and engineering at the elementary grades— currently, only one elementary unit reviewed by Achieve has received an NGSS Design Badge that includes engineering (NextGenScience, 2020), and these materials are especially unavailable in schools serving high-needs students (Banilower, 2019). Implementation research now acknowledges that contexts and conditions can, and often do, affect the enactment of innovations and that “improving education requires processes for changing individuals, organizations, and systems” (Century & Cassata, 2016, p. 172). Due to geographic location and, often, smaller collegial networks of teachers who teach science, and engineering, rural schools encounter acute challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers (Arnold et al., 2005) and providing content-specific Professional Learning (PL) (Harmon & Smith, 2007). The goal of this NSF DRK12 multi-institution project is to longitudinally investigate the impacts, sustainability, and costs of NGSS implementation, especially in rural contexts. Our approach differs from most interventions in that it is tailored to rural educators in grades 3–5 and offers curriculum-agnostic, fully online PL that supports teachers in utilizing resources and phenomena found in their local contexts to develop and implement engaging, NGSS-aligned engineering instruction.
Our intervention began with a five-day (i.e., weeklong) online PL experience in the summer of 2023 for grades 3–5 teachers in each of four western states. Examples of PL sessions provided include: (1) an overview of three-dimensional learning and phenomena-based instruction; (2) a deep dive into the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs); (3) instructional practices that encourage equitable student participation and epistemic agency; and (4) building understanding and comfort with NGSS-aligned engineering and design-based instruction for the elementary grades. The initial intensive PL experience had immediate positive impacts on grades 3–5 teachers’ attitudes and efficacy for teaching engineering. We are now exploring how modest supports influence the sustainability of these changes. Over the 2023-2024 academic year, we are providing teachers with a menu of modest supports including: three 90-minute-long online PL meetings each semester, materials for teaching a locally focused engineering design task, and access to a variety of electronic supports (e.g., Google Classroom Site, shared resources). The fall semester online meetings have focused on supporting teachers to identify connections to science and engineering in their school’s community and how to develop NGSS-aligned engineering design tasks that connect to their local communities. Teachers will be implementing their engineering lessons during December 2023 and January 2024.

Authored by
Dr. Rebekah J Hammack (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. Julie Robinson (University of North Dakota), Dr. Tugba Boz (Indiana-Purdue University), Min Jung Lee (University of North Dakota), Prof. Ryan G. Summers (Affiliation unknown), Ashley Iveland (Affiliation unknown), Martha Inouye (University of Wyoming), Meghan Macias (Affiliation unknown), Maria Zaman (University of North Dakota), John Galisky (University of California, Santa Barbara), and Natalie Johansen (University of Wyoming)

According to congressional reports in 2005 and 2010 (Rising Above the Gathering Storm Committee, 2010) and the National Science Foundation’s State of US Science and Engineering (NSB, NSF, 2022), the number of graduates of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs at all levels does not meet the need of the industry. This need is more urgent at the graduate, specifically, the master’s level (NSF, NSB, 2022).
Our goal has been to create and institutionalize best practices for the recruitment, retention, and timely graduation of master’s students to create a sustainable pipeline to address this need at the graduate level. Hence, we attempted to expand this pipeline by creating an environment that attracts, supports, and retains historically or traditionally marginalized or minoritized and diverse populations. According to the literature, there are a series of activities that are proven for the recruitment and retention of low-income and academically talented, and/or first-generation and historically or traditionally marginalized or minoritized populations (LIATFGURM) students at the undergraduate level (Hernandez et al., 2018; Kendricks et al., 2019; Lisberg & Woods, 2018). However, this has not been validated at the graduate level. Therefore, the Scholarships for Engineering Graduate Students Program (SEGSP; pseudonym) was crafted to support these populations in pursuing a master’s degree in engineering.
This study seeks to explore ways in which SEGSP can impact recruitment and retention in engineering master’s programs by attending to components of socialization (Weidman et al., 2001). The scholars in this program are Master’s students in the College of Engineering, and the institution is an R2 (doctoral university with high research activity) university. Thus, the utilization of the graduate- and professional-student socialization framework—for this Master’s level program—was in response to the fact that LIATFGUR students often report inequitable socialization opportunities (Roksa et al., 2018). The results of this study can potentially inform stakeholders who seek strategies to recruit and support LIATFGURM students in graduate programs.

Authored by
Dr. Arvin Farid (Boise State University)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition often associated with delayed motor skills. The Motor Assessment Battery for Children – Second Edition (MABC-2) is a standardized motor assessment for identifying motor delays pertaining to ASD. It evaluates fine and gross motor tasks across three domains: manual dexterity, ball skills, and balance. These tasks are categorized into three age bands: 3-6, 7-10, and 11-16. Recently, Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising intervention in the ASD realm. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of VR to assist children with ASD in performing the gross motor skills (i.e., ball skills and balance) in the MABC-2. The children who participated in the study were attendees of a local Autism Summer Camp. Our research focused on adapting motor tasks for ages 7-10 (i.e., Age Band 2) to VR, as the majority of campers fell in this age range. Within the VR environment, children could observe avatar demonstrations and practice motor skills in a highly immersive setting.

The VR environment featured avatars demonstrating ball skills and balancing tasks. Developed with the Unity game engine, 3D software Blender, C# scripting, and mixed reality toolkits, this environment was tested on the Meta Quest 2 Oculus. The children's gross motor skill performance was scored before and after VR interactions. The test percentile scores were described as a traffic-light scoring system, including a red zone, amber zone, and green zone. A percentile score ≤5th is classified in the red zone, indicating a significant movement difficulty; a percentile score between the 5th and 15th is classified in the amber zone, indicating at risk for movement difficulty; and a percentile score >15th is classified in the green zone, indicating no movement difficulty detected. Following the VR intervention, we observed a notable improvement in the balance score (p < 0.05). Using the Random Forest ML model, we analyzed data from a total of 250 children aged 5 to 16. The analysis revealed that balance skill was crucial in classifying children with ASD with motor delays, contributing to nearly 19.5% of the model's accuracy. When the model was exclusively applied to the balance component score, it achieved an impressive accuracy rate of 85.1% in identifying children with ASD.

In summary, our findings underscore the promise of VR in enhancing balance among children with ASD. The Random Forest analysis reaffirmed the significant role of balance in identifying children with ASD. Given its precision in detecting children with ASD based on their balance performance, we anticipate the potential of future ML advancements in this field. Our research not only validates the effectiveness of a VR-based approach but also emphasizes the significance of collaborative research in providing valuable support to the underserved ASD population.

Authored by
Ngoc Chung Tran (Orange Coast College), Irene X Liang (Cornell University), Ting A&M University-San Antonio Liu (Affiliation unknown), and Dr. Damian Valles (Texas State University)

Building on work presented at ASEE 2023, this NSF Grantees Poster Session paper reports on the impacts of the [NSF Project]—a $1M NSF award via the NSF ECR-EHR Core Research program in 2019—as it nears the end of its final year. The [NSF Project] aims to build national capacity for STEM education research by engaging technical STEM from across the U.S. in cohorts that participate in a semester-long course on qualitative and mixed methods educational research techniques. Faculty from underrepresented backgrounds and Minority-Serving Institutions were given priority consideration in terms of recruitment and admission to participate in the project. This project was funded based on impact rather than knowledge generation; thus, this paper will report on the [NSF Projects]’s summative outcomes and impact revealed through external evaluation.

Using the Qualifying Qualitative Research Quality (Q3) framework pioneered by Dr. Joachim Walther and colleagues as a foundation, the project team guided three cohorts of faculty (48 faculty total) in designing qualitative or mixed methods studies to address research questions they wanted to answer about their educational contexts. The project team has also hosted four follow-up research incubators (each one semester long) as spaces to allow graduates of the [program] to continue working together as a community to continue developing educational research projects to completion or apply for extramural funding opportunities (serving 27 faculty total.) Furthermore, the team has funded graduates of the [program] to lead communities of practice focused on areas of shared research interest among graduates. Finally, in the past year, the team has funded professional grant proposal coaching for interested graduates and has worked with graduates to design and execute workshops on the [program’s] approach to qualitative research design.

The evaluation results presented in this paper derive from a primarily quantitative, mixed methods survey conducted by the project’s external evaluators. The survey aimed to gauge participants' engagement with [program] activities; their knowledge, perceptions of, and comfort with qualitative and mixed methods; assessment of training outcomes and curriculum; the influence of [program] training on research dissemination; and self-reported behavioral changes before and after training. Results indicate substantial self-reported improvement in knowledge of qualitative research methods, as well as application of those methods and confidence to do so. Many participants have gone on to pursue funded research projects using qualitative and mixed methods research approaches, and many have reported increased capacity to collaborate on and disseminate research projects successfully. Constructively, the results point to a need to support nascent qualitative researchers in attending educational research conferences and integrating into these conferences’ communities. Participants also indicated a desire for more practical experience with real-world qualitative research scenarios, pointing to a need for further hands-on professional development opportunities. Overall, the survey paints a picture of a successful program that nearly all respondents reported as being worthwhile and a desire from participants to continue seeking opportunities to grow as qualitative and mixed methods researchers.

Authored by
Dr. John Ray Morelock (University of Georgia), Dr. Aileen Reid (University of North Carolina, Greensboro), Dr. Ayesha Sherita Sherita Boyce (Affiliation unknown), Chaturved Janaki (University of Georgia), Dr. Nicola W. Sochacka (University of Georgia), and Dr. Joachim Walther (University of Georgia)

An interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff and students at (university name) is collaborating with teachers at four high schools in a large urban school district in the U.S. and four non-profit Community-Based Organizations (CBO’s) in the surrounding communities to create an after-school STEM program known as (program name). The objective of the after-school program is to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who choose to pursue STEM fields at the postsecondary level. The program is guided by the framework of the National Research Council’s STEM Learning Ecosystem Model, with the goal of creating a network of connected groups that support and encourage the students’ interest in STEM topics.
The informal curriculum for the first year of the program was developed by a team of five undergraduate students and refined by an interdisciplinary team of four faculty from (university name) during the 2022-2023 academic year. Periodically throughout the year, curriculum modules were sent to participating high school teachers for their feedback. Revisions to the curriculum were made in an iterative development process. During the summer of 2023, the (project name) team held two one-day professional development workshops. Each workshop was held in-person in the building of one of the partnering organizations. Professional development credits (CPDU’s) were provided. Both teachers and representatives from the partnering Community-Based Organizations attended the workshops. The purpose of the workshops was to familiarize the teachers and CBO representatives with the activities that their students would perform during the after-school program during the following year, and also to develop a community of mentors that will collaboratively support the development of the students’ STEM interests, as described by the STEM Learning Ecosystem Model.
Team members worked together to recruit students to the after-school program during the first three weeks of the 2023-2024 school year. The groups of high school students at each high school then began meeting once per week for approximately 90 minutes per session. They are mentored by a team of two teachers at each school. In mid-October, program participants were taken on a full-day campus visit to (university name). The purpose of the campus visit was to promote the development of the students’ STEM identities by encouraging them to participate in activities typical of a college student studying in a STEM field.
Project assessment is performed in several ways. Rudimentary assessment of individual activities is accomplished by encouraging the students to manipulate a simple emoji at the end of each activity. Broad-based program assessment is performed using interviews of the undergraduate students and the high school teachers, and through the use of the PEAR Common Instrument Suite (PEAR-CIS) survey taken by both high school teachers and high school students.
This paper and poster will serve as an update to the progress that has been achieved on the project thus far. Updates and lessons-learned will be provided on the summer professional development session, campus visit, and informal curriculum implementation up to this point in the first year of project implementation.

Authored by
Dr. Matthew Aldeman (Illinois State University), Jeritt Williams (Illinois State University), Dr. Jin Ho Jo (Illinois State University), and Allison Antink-Meyer (Illinois State University)

In this paper, we present the outcomes of a three-year NSF IUSE project focused on the integration of oral examinations in engineering classes.
Our exploration begins with an examination of the manifold advantages of oral exams, benefiting both students and instructors. We delve into oral exams as an assessment tool, elucidating their learning benefits and emotional advantages. While some of these aspects align with existing literature, we also unveil novel findings. Additionally, we address the benefits for instructors and Teaching Assistants (TAs), encompassing informative insights that can catalyze instructional improvements.
Next, we share our strategies for mitigating the scalability challenges inherent in high-enrollment classes. We elucidate our approach of effectively involving TAs through a comprehensive TA training program comprising two crucial components: video-based asynchronous behavioral training and course-specific instructor-led technical training.
In the third segment, we explore the holistic preparation of students for oral exams. Beyond mere notification of the oral examination format, we delve into the critical aspects of psychological and technical readiness. We unveil a diverse array of key considerations for ensuring students are adequately mentally prepared, especially how to reduce their stress towards oral exams. Furthermore, we present the derived assignments designed to augment students' think-aloud skills, reasoning capabilities, and metacognitive prowess.
Finally, we provide insights into the practical implementation of oral exams in engineering classes. This section outlines the essential design dimensions of oral exams, considerations for effective grading, and the judicious utilization of technology to enhance the assessment process, among other valuable tips and recommendations.

Authored by
Dr. Huihui Qi (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Carolyn L Sandoval (University of California, San Diego), Prof. Curt Schurgers (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Marko Lubarda (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Alex M. Phan (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Saharnaz Baghdadchi (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Maziar Ghazinejad (University of California, San Diego), Minju Kim (University of California, San Diego), Zongnan Wang (University of California, San Diego), and Dr. Nathan Delson (eGrove Education)

Sophomore level engineering mechanics classes typically have high rates of failure or withdrawal. Some explanations posited for this phenomenon include lack of student preparation, the difficulty of the material, ineffective instructional methods, and lack of context. Instructors and textbook authors attempt to overcome these issues with a range of pedagogical approaches such as math reviews, worked examples focused on problem solving processes, “real-world” problems, and active learning focused on physical understanding. However, the first step in the problem-solving process, abstracting the problem, is very often missing. At a fundamental level, engineers follow a four-step design process: (1) Describing or abstracting the physical world with diagrams, words, numbers, and equations (2) Analyzing their model (3) Designing something based on that analysis, and (4) Constructing the designed system. Sophomore mechanics classes traditionally focus on step (2) largely bypassing step (1), instead presenting students with drawings, numbers, and text and teaching them to apply appropriate equations.

The goals of this research are (1) to develop a sophomore-level mechanics class that flips the traditional approach by starting with the physical world application and focusing on developing students’ ability to abstract as a pre-cursor to analysis; and (2) to assess if this new approach improves student self-efficacy in basic mechanics. The hypothesis of the proposed research is that, by starting with abstraction, students will build a stronger connection between the physical world and the mechanics modeling. In turn, this will improve student’s perceptions about their ability to solve engineering mechanics problems and their motivation to pursue careers as engineers in the future. The specific research questions we seek to answer are: (1) In what ways does teaching students how to abstract the physical world affect their self-efficacy to solve problems in a basic mechanics class? and (2) In what ways does showing students how to abstract the physical world into tractable engineering science problems affect their future-oriented motivation?

We are employing a mixed methods approach that combines quantitative survey data with observations, interviews, and course artifacts to address our research questions. The first phase of our research will establish baseline survey data from statics classes taught in a traditional lecture style that will be compared in future iterations of the course in which students engage in problem abstraction as the first step in the problem-solving process. Results will be presented on the baseline survey data assessing students’ problem-solving self-efficacy and future oriented motivation. In addition to the baseline survey results, we will present example lesson plans, worksheets, class assessments, and an example physical model to illustrate how abstraction will be used in the classroom. Future directions for this project will also be discussed.

Authored by
Dr. Nigel Berkeley Kaye (Clemson University), Dr. Lisa Benson (Clemson University), Makayla Headley (Clemson University), and Komal Rohidas Sonavane (Affiliation unknown)

Recent studies have shown that the average retention rate at US engineering schools is 56%, and as much as 20% lower for underrepresented minorities. More notably, about 40% of STEM students end-up switching their majors to non-science and non-technical majors, 50% drop out of physical and biological sciences, and 60% drop out of mathematics programs. During the 2020-2021 academic year within a Southwest School District, the district from which a large R1 institution and a community college draw most of their undergraduate students, only 21% of high school students were proficient in math. These numbers were exacerbated for Latinx students who are overrepresented at Title I schools with less access to experienced math teachers and advanced math course offerings. Among barriers to STEM degrees, deficiencies in mathematical skills have been considered the major contributing factor to STEM attrition. A major step to address these challenges will be to bridge the gap between high school preparation and expected standards of engineering and science majors.
The work reported here focuses on a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project aimed at improving fundamental math skills of pre-engineering students, at a large R1 institution (XXX) and at a community college in the Southwest (YYY). For XXX and YYY STEM majors, addressing math proficiency gaps for high school graduates is critical. Therefore, there is a need to devise innovative math remediation methods that are more engaging, effective, and less costly to students. XXX and YYY faculty of mathematics, engineering, education, and computer sciences have joined forces to make a difference on this front. They have developed conceptually-rich Canvas applications and associated exercises to demonstrate the application of fundamental math concepts in engineering. The Canvas applications use placed-based pedagogy and focus on a large metropolitan city in the Southwest as the place where engineering is in action with its magnificent buildings and attractions and its beautiful surrounding arid environment. Two Canvas applications, “Dig-it up” and “Ready-Set-Jump” were developed to demonstrate the application of arithmetic operations in Civil and Mechanical engineering. In addition, a set of practicing exercises were developed, using scaffolding pedagogy, to accompany the applications. The applications are being tested in the current co-requisite model used by XXX and YYY for precalculus math to determine if these applications can assist students aspiring STEM majors with mastering fundamental math principles.
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant # xxxxxxx

Authored by
Monika Neda (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Dr. Melissa Lynn Morris (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Mr. Matthew Paul Pusko (Affiliation unknown), Vanessa W. Vongkulluksn Ph.D. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Dr. JeeHee Lee (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and Dr. Jacimaria Ramos Batista (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

The purpose of this presentation is to share our ongoing efforts in support for S-STEM scholars and to highlight the lessons learned. The NSF S-STEM program is designed to empower academically gifted, low-income students to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. In August 2022, the Computer Science (CS) department at Tuskegee University (TU) was awarded a S-STEM grant, and we successfully recruited and retained the first cohort of six talented, low-income, first-year African American students in 2023. Over the past year, we have provided a series of mentoring and professional development opportunities to the S-STEM scholars to support their personal and professional growth and foster their leadership skills. Several of these opportunities were extended to the entire TU community to maximize the program’s impact.
Our efforts include the following. First, we established a mentoring program in which successful senior students, who recently secured positions in major technology companies and government agencies, or entered graduate schools, met with the S-STEM scholars. They shared their life stories and provided tips on college life and career development. Second, to help first-year CS students overcome coding barriers, we offered an introductory coding seminar series called “Begin to Code” (B2C). B2C aimed to boost confidence and persistence among scholars and other CS students by incorporating Apple’s Sphero Bolt and iPad. Three first-year S-STEM scholars were actively involved in designing and teaching the seminars, which provides them with professional and leadership development opportunities. Additionally, the B2C seminar contributed to the recruitment of the second cohort of S-STEM scholars. First-year students who attended the seminar had the opportunity to interact with previous S-STEM scholars and the project leader, gaining a better understanding of the program’s benefits and requirements. Third, to bridge the gap between the computer science curriculum of TU and the skills needed for learning AI and data science, we conducted a series of Python coding seminars open to the entire TU community. These seminars were taught by two CS juniors with internship experience at big tech companies, fostering strong connections between S-STEM scholars and junior CS students while also exposing other students to Python coding. Fourth, to nurture the leadership skills of our scholars, we provided them with opportunities, such as mentoring high school students attending a summer academy supported by another NSF project. Additionally, these scholars hosted booth activities on TU STEM day to introduce local high school students to CS in a fun and engaging manner.
The program evaluation of these initiatives demonstrated valuable impact. For example, a total of 13 first-year students participated in the first B2C seminar and continued to engage in activities every two weeks. Eleven students, including five S-STEM scholars, attended the first Python seminar. Some students whose majors were not CS also benefited from these efforts. However, we also encountered several challenges. The number of participants in each seminar decreased over time due to competing school events and other course commitments. We continue to explore ways to adjust the program to better support each of the S-STEM scholars.

Authored by
Dr. Jung Won Hur (Auburn University), Dr. Cassandra Thomas (Tuskegee University), Dr. Li Huang (Tuskegee University), and Dr. Xiao Chang (Tuskegee University)

This research focuses on intervention for mathematics remediation for all engineering and computer sciences majors at XXX and YYY STEM students (pre-engineering and pre-science) at YYY. During the 2020-2021 academic year within a Southwest School District, source of the vast majority of undergraduate students entering XXX and YYY, only 21% of high school students were proficient in math. These numbers were exacerbated for Latinx students who are overrepresented at Title I schools with less access to experienced math teachers and advanced math course offerings. To mitigate the math under-preparation issue, XXX and YYY created math deficiency mitigation approaches as early as 1996. All engineering degrees at XXX require three calculus courses, differential equations, and statistics. Most incoming freshmen entering sciences or engineering at both institutions are placed in algebra, geometry, or pre-calculus. Engineering and computer science majors require calculus I (Math 181) as the first math course in the curriculum. Unfortunately, very few incoming freshmen meet this requirement and students aspiring engineering and sciences have to spend, on average, 1.5-2.0 years on math deficiency prior to enrolling in Calculus I.
Since fall 2021, a co-requisite model has been adopted at YYY and XXX to attempt to mitigate the math deficiency of incoming students. In the co-requisite model, students aspiring engineering and science, who are not math ready, are placed in Math 126E precalculus with the co-requisite 26B. Current literature review of innovations and interventions that intend to improve the outcomes in mathematics points to active learning, hands-on projects, comic book-like interventions, mentoring programs, use of technology, one-to-one help, and peer study groups, as potential remediation tools. The literature also reveals that the most successful methods directly address real math skill deficits. The research reported here focuses on developing Math Masters (M&M) games, in collaboration with the XXX Center of Game Innovation. The game design process follows an iterative approach, with scholars in mathematics, STEM education, and educational psychology collaborating with gaming innovation designers to identify opportunities to combine critical math concepts with a complimentary game structure and design. The games supplement the current co-requisite model used by XXX and YYY for precalculus math focusing on basic arithmetic operations, functions (such as linear, quadratic, square root, and inverse), log and exponential modeling and system of equations. The game developed to teach arithmetic operations will be presented in this paper. It was developed to decompose math concepts into individual knowledge components that can be intervened upon; it promotes student motivation and reduce psychosocial barriers through personally- and culturally-relevant pedagogy, leading to increased engagement and math achievement. The research includes formative evaluation for the improvement of the games. We integrate a range of measurement strategies in our project to assess how M&M is able to reach satisfactory outcomes on students’ math knowledge, math-related motivation, academic achievement, and engineering major persistence. These strategies include quantitative and qualitative approaches to inform the refinement of M&M and triangulate its efficacy.
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Grant # xxxxxxx

Authored by
Monika Neda (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Dr. Blanca Rincon (Affiliation unknown), Alok Pandey (College of Southern Nevada), Claudia Mora Bornholdt (College of Southern Nevada), Vanessa W. Vongkulluksn Ph.D. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Rachidi Salako (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), John William Howard (College of Southern Nevada), and Daniel Sahl (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

The Improving Students’ Sociotechnical Literacy in Engineering project aims to integrate social justice topics with technical knowledge in a first-year engineering course. The approach involves redesigning an existing intro to computing course with justice-based activities, supported by an Equity Learning Assistant (ELA) program. This program trains upperclass students to facilitate in-class discussions on equity and social justice. The project targets improvements in students' critical sociotechnical literacy and engineering identity. Activities include analyzing ethically complex data sets and developing equity-focused projects, while encouraging students to integrate social, economic, and political dimensions into their engineering work. This initiative spans four years (one pilot year plus three NSF-funded iterations) and involves a multidisciplinary research team of engineers and education researchers.

Authored by
Dr. Ethan E Danahy (Tufts University), Dr. Chelsea Joy Andrews (Tufts University), Kaylla Cantilina (University of Michigan), and Dr. Jennifer Cross (Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach)

Children can feel disengaged from STEM subjects taught in schools, which are often presented in ways that are not connected to their interests and everyday experiences. The subject of waves is fundamental for understanding a variety of scientific and engineering processes, from gravitation to telecommunications. Furthermore, the subject of waves presents an excellent opportunity to bring to the school activities connected to one of children’s deepest interests: music. For this, we created Listening to Waves, a program that has been developing web applications and curricular activities that allow users to connect with the science of waves by playfully exploring and creating sound and music. Previous work by our team has shown that these types of activities can be powerful for engaging children in science, especially those typically underrepresented in STEM domains. However, a fundamental step for their spreading is that they are also engaging for teachers. To disseminate the program and evaluate its potential to engage teachers, we created a three-day professional development workshop for teachers serving underserved communities. We administered quantitative and qualitative surveys before the workshop, immediately after the workshop, and after the teachers implemented the materials in their classrooms. The surveys indicate that the experience improved teachers’ attitudes toward the subject, including their comfort in teaching the subject, their enjoyment, and their perception of the children’s enjoyment. This effect was particularly relevant for teachers who were not initially engaged, either because of a lack of experience or lack of knowledge. Taken together, these results indicate that activities connecting music and STEM have the potential to spread throughout the formal educational system by engaging teachers, and that they can be instrumental in engaging children in STEM. This research is funded by NSF’s ITEST award “Increasing Students' Interest in STEM through the Science of Music.”

Authored by
Eunice Chow (WestEd), Linlin Li (WestEd), Nagarajan Akshay (University of California San Diego), Dr. Alec Barron (University of California, San Diego), Susan Yonezawa (University of California, San Diego), and Dr. Victor Hugo Minces (University of California, San Diego)

National data show that engineering students experiencing mental health distress are significantly less likely than their peers to seek professional psychological help. While treatment gaps exist for cisgender men, persons of color, and first-generation students, disparities are further pronounced in engineering. Interventions targeted at reshaping engineering culture to support professional mental health help seeking could increase academic success and retention, while improving mental health of the workforce. Utilizing results from an NSF Research Initiation in Engineering Formation grant, this Research in the Formation of Engineers proposal applies a mixed-methods approach to improve and refine an Engineering Mental Health Help-seeking Instrument (EMHHI) based on the Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM) to characterize key mental health help-seeking beliefs in diverse undergraduate students. Through this project, we will identify key help-seeking beliefs that could be targets for mental health help-seeking interventions in varied institutional contexts nationally.
The EMHHI was designed to measure beliefs relevant to engineering students with diverse identities at the University of Kentucky, a research-focused predominantly White institution. Therefore, we first aimed to ensure that the instrument was inclusive of help-seeking beliefs of students at other institutions. Through collaborations with a Historically Black College or University a Hispanic-serving Institution, we conducted focus groups to identify novel beliefs that were not represented within the first version of the EMHHI. Through this process, beliefs were identified such as, “My seeking help from a mental health professional in the next 3 months…”: 1) would require me to work with someone who doesn’t understand my cultural background, 2) would reinforce negative stereotypes about people from my cultural background and 3) would make me feel like an imposter in engineering. These novel beliefs were incorporated into an improved version of the instrument and cognitive interviews were conducted to increase the clarity of the instrument. Importantly, cognitive interviews resulted in the improvement of the survey instrument for neurodiverse individuals. Through this study, we were able to improve the validity of an instrument to measure mental health beliefs across diverse institutional contexts. Moving forward, the instrument will be used in large-scale studies to determine mental health help-seeking beliefs that predict intention to seek help for a mental health concern. These beliefs will be integrated into mental health interventions with a goal of improving help seeking within the undergraduate engineering student population.

Authored by
Dr. Sarah A Wilson (University of Kentucky), Dr. Joseph H Hammer (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Jerrod A Henderson (University of Houston), and Dr. Sherri S Frizell (Prairie View A&M University)

The recruitment and retention of diverse students in engineering professions remains a significant challenge in the United States. With support from an Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) NSF grant, Marymount University (MU) is currently addressing this challenge through Project DREAM (Diversity Recruited into Engineering through Advanced Making). We report here on the first results from Project DREAM. MU has developed and piloted 1) a two-week, immersive summer program on "Maker-Neering" targeting teaching 3D printing, design, arduino programming and VR design to recruit students into a new engineering program and 2) piloted the first year of an innovative year-long introductory engineering course using low-cost makerspace technologies (including 3D printers, arduino, python programming) using evidence-based pedagogical methods to improve foundational engineering skills and develop solutions to problems impacting community members. We have successfully implemented both the two-week summer program and the year-long introductory engineering course, and we have seen students complete projects directly impacting community needs (i.e. developing a submersible for ecological research), faculty developing courses with best practice for diverse students and student projects presented at scientific conferences. Through successful completion of this project, MU aims to provide our curriculum materials as an effective, accessible and practical solution for increasing student success rates and improving representation of historically under-represented in STEM students in the engineering workforce. In addition, we believe this project will provide provide a low-cost, practical and accessible model for any educational institution to provide in-demand engineering skills, improve engagement, provide foundational engineering skills to underprepared students, increase STEM opportunities for UR in STEM students, increase collaborations between students, universities and their communities, and improve engagement and retention in STEM for students upon graduation.

Authored by
Shama Rajan Iyer (Marymount University) and Eric J Bubar (Marymount University)

The need to increase the number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates by tapping into the underrepresented and rural populations is well documented. However, very little work has been done in learning how to best retain rural STEM students who face challenges different from their urban peers. Rural students face significant struggles with academic persistence in college due to insufficient funds, poor academic preparation from small financially struggling schools, and little social support given the lack of college-going culture in their communities.

This program, funded by an NSF S-STEM grant, aims to better understand this often-overlooked population of rural and underrepresented students. The program provides students with scholarships and a retention program involving multiple forms of advising and mentoring. Retention program components include a residential bridge program for first-year students, a first-year living-learning community, student success advising, monthly cohort meetings with professional advisors and student success experts, peer mentoring, and social opportunities.

The program’s 38 STEM students are primarily rural, from historically underrepresented groups (HUG), and all are Pell Grant recipients. HUG and rural students in the program were much more heavily represented than the general university’s STEM population (HUG is 68% in program vs. 19% in university STEM, rural is 58% in program vs. 15% in university STEM).

In this paper, program components and lessons learned will be presented, addressing this population’s special needs that are transferable to any institution. Data from four years of program evaluation, including an annual survey and a graduates’ survey, will be provided.

Retention was not as high as hoped in the first and third cohorts, however, a tremendous amount was learned about this population of rural and HUG STEM students. The team adapted strategies which ultimately has paid off. Changes were needed to the lineup of first-year academic courses. Targeted in-depth conversations became very important on the topics of time management, student responsibilities with classes, and coursework. Possibly the most important were reassurance and conversation centered around their worthiness to be at the university and to instill a greater sense of belonging. The paper will detail the important changes and conversations.

Graduates were highly satisfied with the program. Eleven of the twelve graduates to date responded to a survey.
• 100% were very satisfied (10) or satisfied (1) with the program overall.
• 100% strongly agreed (11) that the program provided a positive impact on their academic performance and on completing their degree.
• 100% strongly agreed the program promoted their sense of belonging at the university.
• 82% strongly agreed (7) or agreed (2) that the program was important to completing their degree programs. One somewhat disagreed and one non-response.
• 100% were very satisfied (10) or satisfied (1) with the professional mentoring.
• 100% were very satisfied (7) or satisfied (4) with the monthly meetings.
• 100% were very satisfied (10) or satisfied (1) with the bridge program.

Authored by
Dr. Paul D Adams (University of Arkansas), Dr. Carol S Gattis (University of Arkansas), Xochitl Delgado Solorzano (University of Arkansas), Jennie S Popp Ph.D. (Affiliation unknown), and Dr. Wenjuo Lo (University of Arkansas)

Industry 4.0 based systems and subsystems are replacing current process and process control equipment in Florida’s manufacturing environment. The Florida State College System Engineering Technology (ET) degree pathway for developing engineering technology professionals is responding to this reality at the ET two-year associate degree, the 4-year ET B.S. degree, and post graduate degrees as well as a statewide recognized path to the Professional Engineers license in Engineering Technology.

The National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education program (NSF-ATE) supports this effort. NSF-ATE assets provided to FLATE, and five partner colleges are directed to the formation of a statewide advisory board for the 20 colleges that offer ET degrees as well supporting six overarching Florida ET education system target goals:

(1) Adjust Florida Department of Education Standards and Benchmarks to include criteria that address Florida manufacturer identified Industry 4.0 skills gap in its technical workforce.
(2) Create a statewide streamlined seamless articulation environment from the Engineering Technology A.S. to B.S. degree programs.
(3) Provide Professional Development that up-skill Engineering Technology Degree faculty as related to identified Industry 4.0 technician skill needs.
(4) Create a short-term ET College Credit Certificate to prepare current and future technicians to apply these new skills in the manufacturing workspace.
(5) Amplify manufacturers' involvement with college engineering technology certificate and A.S.ET degree programs.
(6) Create a Post-A.S. Curriculum Advanced Technology Certificate (ATC) to facilitate skilled technician professional advancement.

Statewide implementation of the curriculum changes is key to more robust programs and more work-ready technician graduates. This paper and presentation poster will share the strategies the project team is using to achieve its goals and objectives. It will also share the feedback received from industry relative to industry 4.0 skills needed in their facilities.

Authored by
Dr. Marilyn Barger P.E. (FLATE (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence)), Dr. Ron Eaglin (Daytona State College), Prof. Sam Ajlani (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Mori Toosi (), Mr. Sidney E Martin III (Saint Petersburg Junior College), Dr. Richard Gilbert (University of South Florida), and Susan Frandsen (Affiliation unknown)

Engineering education strives to transform the field of engineering by integrating research and practice. These efforts often involve groups of individuals from fields such as engineering, sociology, and psychology and from different roles within a university (e.g., faculty, administration, student support staff). Each of these team members bring their own approaches to the generation, expression, and application of knowledge. These differences in thinking are key to the success of engineering education; however, they create tensions that prevent many groups from achieving their core goals. These tensions are often associated with ineffective communication or project management, which overlooks the more fundamental differences around what counts as knowledge and how knowledge is generated. Accordingly, the purpose of this project is to improve the effectiveness of engineering education research groups striving to make transformative change in engineering.

To meet this goal, we are using an integrated research and education plan to investigate the culture within which engineering education groups generate and apply knowledge to develop a deep understanding of how researchers negotiate differences in how group members think. We are exploring how both individuals and groups approach the generation, application, and expression of knowledge through a multimethod research approach that integrates an ethnographic case study (Phase A) with approaches from grounded theory (Phase B). The core outcome of these two phases will be a conceptual model that incorporates epistemic culture and individual’s negotiation of epistemic identities within engineering education research teams. Throughout the project, the research is being integrated with the education plan through a translation plan (Phase C) that includes a series of workshops.

The poster presented will provide an overview of our current work during Phases A and C of this four phase project. We are currently conducting the first phase of the research, which is an ethnographic study of a research group. We have also conducted one exploratory workshop that was designed to get feedback on our early findings and inform our development of interview and ethnographic questions.

Thus far, the ethnographic study has involved observations of group meetings that occurred across two different engineering education research teams. Our preliminary analysis revealed multiple instances of epistemic and nearly epistemic negotiations. The epistemic negotiations involved conversations about specific project decisions during which different views about research goals and approaches were discussed and interacted with by members of the team in a productive manner. The nearly epistemic negotiations included conversations that stemmed from a question rooted in research goals or approaches but did not involve individuals interacting with one another’s ideas. Both types of negotiations are being analyzed using Longino’s Critical Contextual Empiricism framework that defines the norms for an idealized knowledge generating community. Through this analysis, we are identifying the role that venues, uptake of critiques, standards, and intellectual “status” have in epistemic negotiations. For example, we have observed how the venue teams construct for their meetings influence the type of conversations that the team has and how much interaction with one another’s ideas occurs.

Our first exploratory workshop, conducted at a meeting for interdisciplinary engineering education projects, revealed the ways that faculty on these teams think about knowledge. For many participants, the idea of knowledge was deeply connected to institutional definitions (e.g., publications). Additionally, we have tentatively added to Longino’s framework to capture ideas that were brought up during the workshop that are specifically relevant for engineering education teams, such as the power that comes with specific disciplines and institutions. As we continue this work, we will further explore these initial ideas through our ethnographic and grounded theory studies.

Authored by
Dr. Courtney June Faber (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York), Lorna Treffert (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York), Ms. Isabel Anne Boyd (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), and Alexis Gillmore (University of Tennessee at Knoxville)

The purpose of this NSF grantees poster is to disseminate initial findings on faculty perception of mastery-based assessment in a project-based engineering program as part of an NSF Broadening Participation award.

It is understood that pedagogical approaches influence more than what students learn but also impact their mindsets, motivation, and how they see themselves as engineers. Mastery-based teaching has seen growing popularity in engineering education as faculty strive to support students in achieving learning outcomes linked with continuous improvement to promote performance and persistence. However, this teaching approach has specific challenges as it requires significant restructuring of assessment practices including assignments, exams, evaluation processes, and grading. This work seeks to better understand faculty perspectives of assessment within mastery-based teaching to support a user-oriented perspective that can help other engineering faculty navigate the challenges of using evidence-based teaching practices in their own classrooms.

This paper focuses on qualitative findings from an initial pilot study from a larger, NSF-funded Broadening Participation project at a small, Eastern private college. This exploratory pilot study includes the perceptions of two engineering faculty members using mastery teaching and assessment in a project-based engineering program. A semi-structured interview with multiple open-ended questions was used to prompt participants to share their experiences with assessment in relation to their self-efficacy around teaching and their perceptions of assessment in relation to their students’ learning, confidence, and agency. Directed content and thematic analysis were used to identify codes and develop themes in relation to how participants described certain features of assessment in their engineering program.

Preliminary results will illustrate features of mastery assessment that faculty highlighted as particularly challenging or successful and related lessons learned. The initial themes and patterns identified in this preliminary pilot study will be used to set up a more focused secondary full data collection phase in the larger study. Additionally, this poster serves as an opportunity to initiate important dialogue around the implementation of mastery-based assessment and project-based learning in engineering programs and to better support engineering faculty in incorporating elements of mastery-based teaching and assessment.

Authored by
Dr. Sara A. Atwood (Elizabethtown College), Miss Kelsey Scalaro (University of Nevada, Reno), and Rebecca Holcombe (Affiliation unknown)

This project evaluates if and how an intervention to design a K-12 STEM activity related to water chemistry impacts the innovation self-efficacy (ISE) of junior students enrolled in a required environmental engineering course. ISE is defined as having five behavioral components: questioning, observing, experimenting, idea networking, and associational thinking. In this course, the K-12 STEM activity is designed with a team of 3 to 5 students. The activity requires that the students develop an innovative activity that demonstrates environmental engineering concepts such as acid mine drainage, ocean acidification, and contaminant removal. The student projects are scaffolded throughout the 10 weeks via intermediate submissions and meetings with a K-12 STEM teacher and design mentors. In fall 2022 a pilot of the study was conducted and relied on a quantitative survey instrument that measured ISE, innovation interest (INT), and future innovative work interest (IW). Based on the preliminary findings of factor structure, item reliability, and face validity evaluated by two faculty and two undergraduate students, small changes were made to the quantitative assessment instrument. The revised survey was deployed in the fall of 2023 in a required junior-level test course and a senior-level control course. The senior-level control course consisted of students who took the junior-level course with the K-12 STEM activity in the previous year. In 2023 the K-12 STEM activity intervention also included additional scaffolding through the addition of 3 team-based and 2 individual reflections to understand the process of ISE formation. Pre-post comparisons of the quantitative survey items will be conducted for individual students in the test and control courses. Team and individual reflections from the test course will be analyzed after the course. Potential demographic differences in ISE will be explored. Potential team-level influences will also be evaluated to understand the impact of a team’s ISE score on enhancing an individual team member’s ISE gain. Focus groups and individual interviews with students who participated in the test course will take place in spring 2024. The ISE, INT, and IW of environmental engineering students will be further assessed in spring 2024 through the ISE survey in the environmental engineering capstone design course and a junior-level creativity and entrepreneurship design course. This assessment will compare two different learning experiences on ISE, INT, and IW, the K-12 STEM education activity design with a semester-long, group-based technical design experience. Preliminary results will be presented in the NSF Grantees Poster Session.

Authored by
Dr. Azadeh Bolhari (University of Colorado Boulder) and Dr. Angela R Bielefeldt P.E. (University of Colorado Boulder)

The S-STEM supported program “Achieving Change in our Communities for Equity and Student Success” (ACCESS) in STEM started at the University of Washington Tacoma in 2018 and has supported 108 students over 6 cohorts. University of Washington Tacoma has been designated an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution (AANAPISI) due to our high proportion of racial minority and first generation college students. The program is multidisciplinary across STEM majors including Mathematics, Environmental Science, Biomedical Sciences, Information Technology, Computer Science and Systems, Computer Engineering and Systems, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering, with Computer Science, IT and Engineering representing 65% of ACCESS scholars to date. Program scholars receive full scholarships for their first two years, and partial scholarships for their third and fourth years. We provide a summer bridge precalculus or research experience course, and project-based Introduction to Engineering or Introduction to Research courses in students’ first year. Individual faculty mentoring, an on-campus STEM living learning community,and quarterly Success in STEM seminar courses help scholars form a cohesive community through group mentoring, to promote a sense of belonging, identity, and empowerment in the STEM community. Our S-STEM program is distinctive in focusing on pre-STEM majors in their first and second years on campus to facilitate the entry into STEM majors, and we provide mentor training for ~30-40 faculty in teaching and mentoring diverse student populations, thus impacting all students in our majors.

Our goal was to evaluate how retention and academic success of our program scholars was impacted by the program, and whether this program helps to close equity gaps for students who identify as low socioeconomic status, underrepresented minorities, women or non-binary, or first generation in college . We also evaluated the impact of the program for students before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic. We compared our program scholars to a comparison group of students who met eligibility requirements but did not participate in the program. Overall, program scholars had higher first and second year retention, and significantly higher GPAs, particularly for individuals belonging to groups that are historically underrepresented in STEM. Retention was markedly higher for program scholars during the pandemic, suggesting that the program may have been particularly impactful for students as they endured the emotional and financial stresses of the pandemic.

Authored by
EC Cline (University of Washington, Tacoma), Dr. Heather Dillon (University of Washington), Amanda K Sesko (University of Washington, Tacoma), Marc Nahmani (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Zaher Kmail (University of Washington, Tacoma), Joyce Dinglasan-Panlilio (Affiliation unknown), Seung-Jin Lee (University of Washington, Tacoma), Emily Cilli-Turner (University of San Diego), and Elin A. Björling (University of Washington)

While socially engaged skills and knowledge are increasingly viewed as central in contemporary engineering practice, they remain underemphasized in undergraduate engineering training. Reducing barriers and providing support for instructors interested in integrating these skills into their engineering courses is key to better preparing students to account for social and contextual factors, alongside technical factors, in their future engineering work. This paper provides an overview of the approaches leveraged by the Center for Socially Engaged Engineering and Design (C-SED) at the University of Michigan to support instructors in their efforts to integrate socially engaged content into their courses. As the C-SED continues to broaden its reach in new course contexts, we sought to understand instructor’s motivations for and experiences working with C-SED, as well as their perspectives on additional opportunities to facilitate both deeper and wider-reaching integration of socially engaged content into their engineering courses. We share findings from a feedback questionnaire from instructors currently partnering with C-SED in their courses and discuss implications for our own and others’ efforts to integrate more socially engaged content in engineering education.

Authored by
Claudia G Cameratti-Baeza (University of Michigan), Dr. Erika A Mosyjowski (University of Michigan), and Dr. Shanna R. Daly (University of Michigan)

There is an ongoing need to integrate computing-related education within existing K-12 curriculum to maintain global competitiveness and security. Our research addresses the challenge of equitable access to concepts from across the computing spectrum - from computing systems to computer science and computational thinking. The research focuses on overcoming the digital divide by enabling K-12 educators to become conduits for computing education, thereby equipping students with essential computational skills and knowledge.

Through two National Science Foundation awards, the team used a mixed-methods approach to develop and assess several traditional and non-traditional teacher engagements. These engagements included a week-long professional development program for K-8 educators and librarians, aimed at designing computing lessons for integration into non-CS disciplines, and a six-week research experience for educators, focused on infusing CS and research concepts into classroom environments. Each of these two engagements was repeated for three consecutive years for a total of six engagements. The assessment of these methods involved qualitative analyses of educator feedback, lesson plan evaluations, and quantitative measures of student engagement and learning outcomes.

Our collected artifacts includes over 300 teacher-created and led, innovative lessons spanning a broad spectrum of subjects and educational levels. These lessons have directly engaged several thousand students, demonstrating a marked improvement in computational thinking skills across diverse student populations. Moreover, the engagements have resulted in a significant shift towards viewing computational thinking as an integral element of K-12 education, rather than a standalone discipline.

This work highlights the process through which educators can become empowered to integrate computing principles across various subjects and also showcases the tangible benefits of such integration. By facilitating the authentic, teacher-led development of computing lessons and their integration into existing curricula, our research underscores the critical role of educators in bridging the digital divide and fostering a comprehensive educational experience that includes topics from across the computing spectrum.

Authored by
Dr. Mike Borowczak (University of Central Florida) and Dr. Andrea Carneal Burrows Borowczak (University of Central Florida)

Over the course of a three-year period, supported by NSF EHR-ITEST funding, this project aims to create a pioneering mixed-reality setting to facilitate the early cultivation of computational thinking. Rooted in the principles of embodied cognition and social robotics, the project team is in the process of crafting and examining an environment that seamlessly integrates augmented reality (AR) technology with a physically embodied social robot.
Within this setting, kindergarten through second-grade students navigates a floor mat designed as a 5x5 chessboard-like grid while assisting a robot named Linibot in charting a path toward a predetermined destination. To aid them in this endeavor, the children hold a tablet through which the robot provides guidance in the form of instructions, cues, and constructive as well as motivational feedback. Concurrently, the tablet screen displays a corresponding map and various augmented reality obstacles for the children to navigate around. The primary educational goals of this experience encompass building foundational STEM problem-solving skills, fostering an understanding of symbols and sequences that transcend various STEM domains, and instilling confidence in young learners' proficiency in advanced technology utilization.
To assess the effectiveness of the envisaged mixed-reality learning setting, individual children underwent pre-and post-tests. Throughout these assessments, children addressed analogous path-finding challenges on a tablet by manipulating and placing different arrows. Additionally, two distinct groups were designated: a control group, devoid of mixed-reality environments, and an intervention group, exposed to mixed-reality environments. The aim is to compare the computational thinking skills of each group and gauge the impact of the mixed-reality learning environment on skill development.
Iteratively developed over a span of two and a half years, the mixed-reality environment underwent continuous refinement, with ongoing designs subjected to testing involving thirty-five children in diverse informal settings, including our lab, a community center, and STEM showcase events. The focus of each test varied, aligning with the developmental progress of the environment at that particular stage.
During this poster session, we will showcase the outcomes of our latest implementation involving twenty boys and girls participating in a local one-day STEM showcase event. The participants, aged seven to eleven, represented diverse ethnicities, including Caucasian, Asian, and African American. Parents and children voluntarily visited our booth, leading to varied observations and conversations that highlighted a broad spectrum of children's abilities and computing experiences. Presently, we are in the process of analyzing data from interaction logs to evaluate each child's walking distance and time taken to reach the goal while simultaneously refining the design of AR-enabled obstacles and the robot's verbal cues. This poster session aims to present the findings of our analyses and discuss the implications of this technologically advanced environment in supporting developmentally appropriate learning and ecologically valid assessment.

Authored by
Dr. Jaejin Hwang (Northern Illinois University) and Mohammad Faizan Sohail (Northern Illinois University)

This NSF-funded Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) project aims to integrate sociotechnical issues in electrical engineering (EE) curricula beginning with the Introduction to Circuits class. To prepare graduates for the workforce, instructors must help students address the sociotechnical nature of engineering. Most engineering instructors have been educated with a deep technical focus, have little experience outside of engineering, and feel ill-equipped to integrate sociotechnical issues. In this project, we aim to make it easier for engineering instructors to include sociotechnical issues in their courses by developing modules (with detailed teaching guides and instructional resources) for the introduction to circuits course.
In year 1, we developed and refined modules on (1) conflict minerals and (2) the circular economy and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. We piloted both modules in one of the principal investigator’s (PI’s) classes at the University of San Diego (USD) a small private institution with about 20 students and one module at the other PI’s large public institution (University of Michigan) with over 150 students. We developed a survey which we administer at the beginning and end of the semester to assess students’ attitudes toward social responsibility and engineering. We will use student feedback to refine the modules and explore the experiences of the engineering instructors and students who engage with them. Further, we will assess the effectiveness of the modules at reinforcing technical content, promoting students’ sense of social responsibility, and disrupting students’ adherence to normative cultural beliefs.
We are recruiting a cohort of EE graduate students to assist in developing additional modules. After pre-piloting each new module at a small private institution and piloting it at a large public research institution, we will scale it to other large circuits courses across the country.
This project will provide a model for developing sociotechnical modules to be used in traditional engineering classes that can be adapted by other instructors. Including such content in a fundamental course like circuits sends a powerful message about what is valued by the field, and that message can have a significant impact on students.

Authored by
Dr. Susan M Lord (University of San Diego) and Dr. Cynthia J. Finelli (University of Michigan)

Man-caused erosion and generation of dust are phenomena usually related to civil construction and mining activities of significant economic, societal, environmental, and health-related consequences. Even though fugitive dust is not a traditional civil engineering problem, it has become, in recent years, a societal-civic problem that has got the attention of civil and geotechnical engineering alike, as it can deplete and contaminate already scarce natural resources, such as surface water and groundwater basins. Strategies for dust control and mine tailing stabilization based on naturally occurring or induced chemical or biological processes present a more sustainable alternative to traditional dust control methods, especially those that rely on large volumes of water. Enzymes play a major role in mediating a variety of biochemical processes that are essential to all living organisms and can also be used in engineering for beneficial purposes; for example, control of fugitive dust emissions by enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP). This project attempts to analyze the efficacy of Enzyme Induced Carbonate Precipitation (EICP), a bio-enzyme (urease) mediated dust control method, on selected soil samples under experimental conditions applying techniques routinely used in geotechnical engineering research.
Phoenix College students in BIO 181 (Introductory Biology for Majors I) are introduced to the role the enzyme urease can play in making carbonate precipitation more effective by increasing the rate of precipitation by a factor of 109. Students are then introduced to the problems associated with erosion and dust generation and to how EICP can be harnessed to provide a more sustainable method for controlling dust than conventional methods, highlighting the importance of urease in this process. Students are then asked to list environmental factors that can impact the efficacy of urease in catalyzing EICP, and what experimental design needs to be in place to test that. The project is designed and implemented as a CURE (Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences) in BIO 181 labs, a transfer course for science and engineering majors. All students enrolled in these lab courses execute the project from start to finish with the assistance at all times of the instructor and student mentors. If possible, experts in the topic are invited to the lab to give a brief introduction to the topic and to stress its relevance to the community and to society at large. The experiment expands for 6-8 weeks out of a 16- week semester. Through this project, students gain a better understanding of enzyme activity, bio mediation, applications of bio mediation to environmental problems and geotechnical engineering, interdisciplinary collaboration, engineering design, and the process of science. The project is in collaboration with NSF funded Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG) at Arizona State University and supported by NSF award 1832543.

Authored by
Dr. Anna Marti-Subirana (Phoenix College), Frank S Marfai (Phoenix College), Elena Ortiz Zuazaga (Affiliation unknown), and Robin Cotter (Phoenix College)

Transfer of learning theory explains how learners can apply their previously acquired knowledge and skills in a new situation or context. In the context of writing transfer and lab report writing, first-year writing courses can act as one kind of previous learning experience or as a transfer source, and lower-division engineering labs can be the new situation or the transfer target. This preliminary study investigates how engineering students’ prior writing experience affects their lab report writing in lower-division introductory engineering labs. This study uses two distinct sites of first-year writing-intensive courses: one rhetorically-focused and one literature/philosophy-focused. We collected student samples (n = 9) from three universities offering these two distinct sites and approaches. We compared the content, outcomes, and writing expectations of the first-year writing-intensive courses offered by the three schools. Next, we conducted a rhetorical analysis of research papers collected from the writing-intensive course samples to identify each site's writing knowledge and skills. The same analysis was applied to the student’s first lab reports collected from the introductory engineering lab courses. We then compared the writing knowledge and skills between the first-year writing-intensive course samples and the engineering lab report samples to investigate how learning transfer occurred in the student writing at these three different sites. The criteria used to conduct the rhetorical analysis of writing samples focuses on writing outcomes most relevant to engineering lab report writing (relating to audience awareness, organizational structures, presentation/analysis/interpretation of lab data, use of primary and secondary sources, and document style design). We identify the prior writing knowledge and skills of the two distinct first-year writing-intensive course sites by investigating obvious points of productive transfer. This study provides a better understanding of how undergraduates use writing knowledge and skills earned from varying first-year writing-intensive contexts when writing their engineering labs.

Authored by
Dr. Franny Howes (Oregon Institute of Technology), Wendy Michelle Olson (Washington State University, Vancouver), and Dr. Dave Kim (Washington State University, Vancouver)

Adaptive learning supports online learning by providing individualized learning paths, assessing students in real time, and providing instant feedback or suggestions using AI algorithms. As part of a three-year NSF-funded study, the project team implemented adaptive learning in a flipped numerical methods course for pre-class preparation, using multiple previous semesters of flipped classroom data as the benchmark. Assessment data from 330 students was collected at three diverse engineering schools using a final exam (i.e., for direct knowledge assessment) and the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) for student perspectives. Although some differences in the direct assessment measures with the use of the adaptive lessons were seen based on the particular school, the overall effects with the adaptive lessons were small, negative, and non-significant. The classroom environment results were more favorable for adaptive learning, with four of the seven environmental dimensions having notable positive effect sizes. In this article, we present information on the development and implementation of adaptive lessons in the RealizeIT adaptive platform as well as assessment outcomes by school and for the schools combined.

Authored by
Dr. Renee M Clark (University of Pittsburgh), Prof. Autar Kaw (University of South Florida), Dr. Andrew Scott (Alabama A&M University), Dr. Saurav Kumar (Arizona State University), and Dr. Ali Yalcin (Montana State University, Bozeman)

This paper introduces our NSF RED project Breaking the Binary (IUSE/PFE:RED 2234256). Our project is designed to engage computer engineering faculty members, students, and other stakeholders in a substantial process of collaborative transformation that involves rejecting binaries or dualisms commonly used to create hierarchies in engineering thought and practice (rational-emotional, male-female, social-technical, mental-manual, hard-soft, concrete-abstract, etc.) and embracing a complex coexistence; developing new skills in co-creation of holistic learning experiences and inclusive cultures; and evolving personal and professional identities that are constantly challenged and often in flux. While individual and group differences in beliefs, values, and identities are always present during change processes, these differences are often implicit and unexamined. Our project will make these differences a visible component of critical reflection and generative dialogue, in service to both educational research and practice, and aligned with capacity building for critical awareness and action. We have developed a model for change we call Critical Collaborative Educational Change, an iterative reinforcing loop showing reinforcing relationships among critical consciousness, values and beliefs, actions, and collective well-being. Individuals will cycle through this loop, as will the entire group, as they are influenced by and situated within the broad contexts of the CPE department, STEM education, engineering practice, and society as a whole.

Authored by
Dr. Lynne A Slivovsky (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), Dr. Lizabeth L Thompson P.E. (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), Dr. Jane L. Lehr (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), Dr. Bridget Benson (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), Dr. Andrew Danowitz (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo), and Dr. John Y Oliver (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo)

K-12 Teachers and Data Science: Learning Interdiscplinary Science through Research Experiences
Authors: Katherine G. Herbert-Berger, Vaibhav K. Anu, Sumi Hagiwara, Rebecca A. Goldstein, Minsun Shin, Stefan Robila, Jason T.L. Wang, Thomas J. Marlowe

Data science is now pervasive across STEM, and early exposure and education in its basics will be important for the future workforce, academic programs, and scholarly research in engineering, technology, and the formal and natural sciences, and in fact, across the full spectrum of disciplines. When combined with an emphasis on soft skills and an interdisciplinary focus, such educational experiences have deeper and more meaningful effects. Our Montclair State University NSF Research Experience for Teachers (RET) grant (NSF Award Number: #2206885, IRB Number: 22-23-3003) exposed teachers to a program integrating solar weather, data science, computer science and artificial intelligence, and STEM pedagogy. The cohort comprised nine middle- and high-school teachers with diverse academic backgrounds and demographics from northern and central New Jersey. The teachers interacted with and were advised by faculty from Montclair and two other institutions, and with outside experts, to learn the basics, develop lesson plans and present these to and interact with a learning-intensive summer camp. As a capstone, the teachers have synthesized research projects from this interdisciplinary content together with their own interests and background. As a result, the teachers have submitted a number of posters with abstracts to the 2024 ACM SIGCSE and IEEE ISEC conferences, and will be presenting grant-related lessons in their classes during the current academic year.

Authored by
Dr. Katherine G. Herbert-Berger (Montclair State University), Dr. Thomas J Marlowe (Seton Hall University), Dr. Vaibhav Anu (Montclair State University), and Stefan A Robila (Montclair State University)

This project supports the success of undergraduate engineering students through coordinated design of curricula across STEM course sequences. The Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation (ADDIE) framework and backward design are being used to develop guides for instructors to align learning outcomes, assessments, and instructional materials in a physics – engineering mechanics course sequence. The approach relies on the analysis of student learning outcomes in each course, identification of interdependent learning outcomes across courses, and development of skills hierarchies in the form of visual learning maps. The learning maps are used to illustrate the knowledge required and built upon throughout the course sequence. This study will assess the effectiveness of a course design intervention, which uses visual learning maps and backward design concepts, to guide instructors within a common course sequence to align learning outcomes and assessments. If successful, the intervention is expected to streamline curricular planning by faculty and improve primary learning and knowledge retention by students in the sequence.
The study will compare academic performance among Mechanical Engineering B.S., Environmental Engineering B.S., and Civil Engineering B.S. students who begin a Physics for Engineers – Statics – Dynamics course prior to the intervention (control) and after the intervention (treatment). During control and treatment terms, students’ primary learning in individual courses will be assessed using established concept inventories. Retention of knowledge from pre-requisite courses will be tracked using pre-identified problem sets (quizzes, exams) specifically associated with interdependent learning outcomes in the Statics and Dynamics courses. Students’ primary learning and knowledge retention in the sequence will be tracked longitudinally in order to assess student success outcomes, including retention and graduation. The poster will show the results of the research team’s first year of work, including an analysis of current course materials, learning maps for each course, identification of interdependent learning outcomes, example guiding materials and templates for instructors, and preliminary student performance data from the control cohort.

Authored by
Dr. Courtney D Giles (University of Vermont), Dr. Larry R Medsker (University of Vermont), VARUNI ANURUDDHIKA SENEVIRATNE (University of Vermont), and Dr. Priyantha Wijesinghe (University of Vermont)

The Angelo State Engineering Scholars (ASES) program is a track 2 S-STEM project that aims to increase the enrollment, graduation, and workforce participation of low-income engineering students. This presentation highlights the lessons learned from recruiting, mentoring, personal development, and career seminars in the program's first year.
This presentation discusses issues encountered in the start-up year of this S-STEM program including, a late start date, problems with the use of Pell grant eligibility as a measure of low-income status, and the use of student essays in selection of scholarship recipients. Challenges in each of these areas are discussed and mitigations or changes made are presented. The presentation will be beneficial to similar programs in planning their recruitment efforts with a focus on retention and addressing the challenges associated with implementing an S-STEM program in the first year.

Authored by
Dr. Dick Apronti (Angelo State University), Dr. William A Kitch P.E. (Angelo State University), Elaine Stribling (Angelo State University), and Stephanie Solis (Angelo State University)

The NSF REU Site program context was entrepreneurial development and applied energy research where participants were introduced to a graduate school like experience by simultaneously gaining entrepreneurial training via customer discovery interviews, market analysis, and patent research, and at the same time conducting lab research within the energy field.

Data collection methods included weekly photovoice reflections, retrospective surveys, and focus groups. The focus of data collection was to assess student learning and engagement concerning three key areas: (1) Career Goals, (2) Entrepreneurial Competencies, and (3)Research Skill Development.

The purpose of this poster is to provide lessons learned over the past three years of program delivery including:
1. Year 1 (2021-2022 academic year): virtual and part-time
2. Year 2 (2022 Summer): traditional in-person and full-time
3. Year 3 (2023 Summer): traditional in-person and full-time

The guiding research question is as follows: How do perceived learning gains compare across a traditional REU (in-person, 10 weeks over summer, full-time) versus an REU delivered virtually, part-time, and over 10 months?

Authored by
Dr. Lisa Bosman (Purdue University), Dr. Jason Ostanek (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. Walter D. Leon-Salas (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. Jose M Garcia (Purdue University), and Aishani Sakalabhaktula (Purdue University, West Lafayette)

Since the fall of 2008, XXXXX University has hosted an NSF-funded S-STEM grant and has awarded scholarships that have helped fund XX students to graduation. The S-STEM program we have enacted has been structured based upon a seminar in which all scholarship recipients are required to participate. The seminar was and is a key feature of the grant and was, at the time of the initial grant application, unique. Seminar activities include community-service-based design, and aspects of professional and personal development. Personal and professional development activities have been selected to introduce skills that might help students succeed in finding and maintaining employment in their chosen STEM field and help them to advance in their employment thereafter. These activities are not typically offered to students outside the scholarship program. In this paper, we will report on past graduates’ perceptions of those “personal and professional development” activities, gathered via survey of alumni. We seek to understand which activities the past students feel have been advantageous to them, and which might be less so. The goal of the paper is to provide thinking points for other scholarship administrators who might wish to consider inclusion of similar activities.

Authored by
Dr. Varun K Kasaraneni (Gannon University), Dr. Scott Steinbrink (Gannon University), Dr. Lin Zhao (Gannon University), Dr. Saeed Tiari (Gannon University), and Dr. Karinna M Vernaza (Gannon University)

In recent years, there have been many efforts to increase student sense of belonging in engineering as it has been shown to positively impacting student retention, persistence, and success. One promising venue for building belonging is the academic makerspace. Makerspaces provide a setting for informal learning and student connection inspired by creativity, discovery, and collaboration. Due to the flexible and informal nature of the makerspace environment, it is an ideal place to create social connections between students. Supporting students’ social and emotional development is an essential component to creating culturally competent, well-rounded engineers who exhibit a strong sense of belonging in engineering. Funded through the NSF Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (RIEF) program, this project researched the impact of integrating social engagement activities into an academic makerspace on the development of student sense of belonging. The primary research question explored the extent to which participation in the engagement activities leads to an increased sense of belonging for engineering students. Spanning a two-year period, a series 32 of social engagement events were hosted in the engineering department makerspace. The authors collected data about students perceived social belonging in both the makerspace and the department. Students completed two surveys: a pre-survey administered at the beginning of the social engagement activity and a post-survey administered at the end of each academic year. Findings indicate the social engagement events had a positive impact on the development of student sense of belonging to both the makerspace and the engineering department. These results are encouraging as they suggest that events designed to support the social and emotional development of students can positively impact student sense of belonging to a makerspace environment and, more broadly, to engineering. By creating supportive communities of students built on shared experience and trust, we begin to develop the inclusive communities of learners that is a key component to diversifying pathways to engineering.

Authored by
Prof. Jill Davishahl (Western Washington University) and Audrey Boklage (University of Texas at Austin)

Participation in extracurricular educational robotics, tinkering, and building are common precursors to enrollment in engineering majors. Perceptions of pre-college robotics focused on competitions can prevent some students from participating. By broadening the applications of robotics to human-centered designs and bringing soft material robotics into classroom curricula, the field of soft robotics may be a platform to engage a diversity of students in K12 robotics and later, engineering majors. Until recently, most soft robotics work resided in university research labs or as K12 activities presented through practitioner-delivered outreach events. Until soft robot activities are put in the hands of teachers, their reach remains limited. We leveraged teacher input to develop and deliver an introduction to soft robotics curriculum suitable for high school physics classrooms. This paper details teacher-informed development and analysis of a four-day soft robotics curriculum that introduces the field, technical concepts, and allows for student experimentation and design. We used a mixed methods approach to understand how the curriculum broadened students’ understanding of engineering. Data collected during the implementation show that students learned and could recall new information about the field of soft robotics, understood more about career paths in robotics, and gained confidence in teaching others about this new field. Reflections from the classroom teacher and feedback from students in a secondary school physics course show that soft robotics can expand perceptions of who can participate in engineering. Results demonstrate that integrating a soft robotics curriculum in high schools may provide a pathway to recruit students to robotics and engineering careers.

Authored by
Dr. Holly M Golecki (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Karin Jensen (University of Michigan), Karen T. Klebbe (Centennial High School, Champaign IL), Thomas Tran (University of Chicago), and Elizabeth Ann McNeela (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

To be successful in engineering, students must develop strong problem solving skills. Problem solving skills are normally promoted using cognitive strategies that help students focus on relevant information associated with the problem, identify the structure of the problem, and to solve the problem. However, cognitive strategies are not sufficient to ensure that students become good at solving problems. Cognitive strategies must be paired with metacognitive strategies to promote strong problem solving skills.

Metacognition refers to the processes used to plan, monitor, and assess understanding and performance. Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning (SRL) model is used as a framework in this study to understand self-regulation and metacognitive monitoring. Metacognitive monitoring is a metacognitive strategy that helps students plan, monitor, and modify their problem solving approach.

This work-in-progress paper summarizes a current project in which students enrolled in a first-year engineering program at a mid-Atlantic land grant institution completed an intervention to improve their metacognitive monitoring during problem solving. Seventy engineering students (experimental group) enrolled in college algebra during their first semester at the institution were co-enrolled in an Introduction to Engineering Reasoning course. The intervention was designed to promote students’ metacognitive monitoring and reflection during problem solving and provided repeated applied practice using and improving their metacognitive strategies. To understand the effects of the intervention, we assessed students’ pre-course and post-course metacognitive awareness and monitoring accuracy. We also examined students’ current and subsequent course grades in the mathematics and engineering course sequence. We compared these outcomes with both a comparison group consisting of students enrolled in the Introduction to Engineering Reasoning course but not completing the intervention (n=35) and a matched control group of students not completing the introductory course.

This paper will summarize the implementation of the metacognitive intervention and the results of the implementation of this work in terms of 1) changes in students’ metacognitive monitoring and their problem solving skills across the course and 2) differences in post-course metacognitive and problem-solving skills based on condition. We will use this to support implications for the design and implementation of targeted self-regulated learning interventions for first-year and underrepresented students in engineering.

Authored by
Dr. Lizzie Santiago (West Virginia University), Daniel Augusto Kestering (West Virginia University), Mrs. Anika Coolbaugh Pirkey (West Virginia University), and Dr. D. Jake Follmer (West Virginia University)

Introduction
Motivation tends to decline over time in STEM disciplines, leading to decrements in achievement and persistence (Robinson et al., 2019). For Black, Latine, Native-American, and first-generation students, this motivation loss may be more substantial because they experience additional contextual barriers that are unique to their identities (e.g., discriminatory treatment). We used the expectancy-value-cost motivational framework (Barron & Hulleman, 2015) to investigate factors that contribute to the differential rate of motivation loss in students from marginalized versus non-marginalized groups.

Methods
We collected data as part of a larger study (NSF HRD#2000507) aimed at examining the effects of a motivation-supporting intervention on students’ math outcomes. To eliminate the confounding effects of the intervention on students’ motivational change, we limited our sample to students in the control condition (N = 1,231). Students were recruited from 13 community colleges in the Southeast U.S. and were 64.1% female, 40.3% first-generation, and 32.3% Black, Latine, or Native-American (racial minority). Students’ motivational beliefs (expectancies, values, costs) were assessed at weeks 1, 3, 5, and 14 , allowing us to examine changes in these beliefs over time. Students’ perceptions of how they were treated by their instructors were assessed at week 1. At week 15, institutions provided students’ math grades. Our analyses controlled for clustering effects of students in the same course. Latent curve growth modeling was employed to address our research questions.

Results and Discussion
Results indicated that racial minority students had similarly high initial levels of expectancies for success (b = .09, p = .112) and values (b = .14, p = .126), though higher levels of cost (b = .16, p = .010), compared to racial majority students (White & Asian). First-generation and continuing-generation students also had similar initial levels of motivational beliefs (expectancies, b = -.04, p = .400; values, b = .09, p = .231; costs, b = -.08, p = .127). Although expectancies declined significantly over time (Mslope = .26, p < .001) and costs increased significantly (Mslope = -.24, p < .001) for all students, expectancies declined more for racial minority compared to majority students (b = -.19, p = .028). For first-generation students, values decreased (b = -.20, p = .017) and costs increased more steeply (b = .16, p = .033) compared to continuing-generation students. Because the change in expectancies (b = 1.13, p < .001), values (b = 1.00, p = .038), and costs (b = -.80, p < .001) significantly predicted math achievement, we explored the contextual indicators that could explain the differential rate of motivational loss among marginalized students. Results suggested that perceptions of fair and respectful treatment by instructors attenuated the decrease in expectancies for racially marginalized students (b = -.35, p = .015). This variable did not predict the rate of motivational change for racial majority students (b = -.12, p = .132). Our findings suggest that improving the context through the provision of fair and respectful treatment to students could support racial minority students’ motivation and achievement and reduce equity gaps.

Authored by
Dr. Chris S. Hulleman (University of Virginia), Emma Huelskoetter (Affiliation unknown), and Michelle Francis (University of Virginia)

Culturally relevant experiences have been an important factor for Indigenous populations and integrations in the curriculum. Even though research surrounding Indigenous integrations in the STEM curriculum exists, little work has been done to compare teachers’ experiences of professional development initiatives to infuse Indigenous factors in the curriculum, specifically when the curriculum is developed through a research practitioner partnership (RPP) approach. This paper describes the details of the activities within the code.org platform undertaken by a diverse set of high school teachers with no prior computer science (CS) experience. The results of surveys conducted to obtain feedback regarding their professional learning experiences, specifically comparing pre-post professional learning that aims to improve their CS skills. Multiple modalities were utilized for the teacher's professional learning activity (online/in-person / cohort). Findings (survey and code.org statistics) reveal that professional development has improved the teachers’ confidence in teaching and willingness to teach and integrate CS within their current courses. The contribution of this work is in sharing the findings as they relate to the multiple modalities and identifying areas of challenges and improvement for future work.

Authored by
Dr. Bahar Memarian (University of Toronto), Prof. Ashish Amresh (Northern Arizona University), and Jeffrey Hovermill (Northern Arizona University)

NSF CAREER: Engineering Pathways for Appalachian Youth: Design Principles and Long-term Impacts of School-Industry Partnerships

Broadening participation in the skilled technical workforce is a national priority due to increasing demand for engineers and the need for representation of the nation’s rich diversity. In particular, scholars and activists call for improved education access, quality, and workforce development in rural Appalachian communities. Students from these communities face distinct challenges in accessing higher education and pursuing engineering careers. The Appalachian Regional Commission has deemed it essential to invest in preK-12 education, engage youth in community activities, and cultivate workforce opportunities in fields like advanced manufacturing. These activities are vital for strengthening economic resilience and broadening students’ conceptions of what engineering is and who can do it.

Although necessary, creating engineering and technical career pathways for Appalachian youth on a large scale is difficult in the context of broader systemic issues. Previous research shows that sparking interest in engineering is not enough to inspire individuals to explore engineering as a career option. Recent past work on this grant has focused on (1) school-industry partnerships during the COVID-19 pandemic in the region; (2) developing a conceptual framework for engineering education research and engagement in rural places; (3) a systematic literature review on assessment of systems thinking in K-12 education.

In this phase of the grant, new activities include: (1) establishing relationships with individual teachers through outreach and collaboration; (2) conducting a needs assessment regarding professional development for teachers interested in incorporating engineering in their classrooms; (3) designing and implementing a teacher professional development program in an institute-style format. Recent efforts have focused on rebuilding partnerships between schools and industry, as well as schools and universities, which were initiated before the pandemic but have since dissolved. The sustainability of collaborations relies on strong partnerships and resilient stakeholders. Through newly-formed teacher networks, the research team is developing a comprehensive teacher professional development program that will provide educators with resources and expertise to implement engineering activities in their classrooms. While the program is being developed, the research team has assembled STEM kits with Arduino microcontrollers for distribution to teachers who seek immediate and easily implementable engineering interventions.

Authored by
Dr. Hannah E. Glisson (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) and Dr. Jacob R Grohs (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

One of the future challenges facing academic disciplines—traditional STEM as well as the social sciences and humanities—is how to prepare students to address complex socio-technical problems that require a range of disciplinary perspectives to address. The National Science Foundation RED project at Bucknell University is focused on enabling students to gain a more intersectional engineering education by expanding individual pathways for students through an electrical and computer engineering degree program. Towards this end the department undertook significant curricular reform prior from 2014 to 2017 to seeking support from the RED program in 2019.

While there has been much discussion of student pathways, the concept is likely under-theorized; that is scholars have difficulty coherently and concisely defining it, and it lacks a commonly agreed upon framework. To better align the difficult work needed to expand student pathways through a curriculum in the highly constrained structure of most engineering degree programs, the Bucknell RED project utilizes the capabilities approach as a theoretical framework. In the capability approach the freedom for individuals to develop capabilities they value is viewed as both the means and end of development. Individuals convert their capabilities—which are real and accessible opportunities—into functionings they have reason to value. Functionings are societally recognized achievements that have real value. The capability approach is used across many disciplines in areas of human development. In the space of engineering education, the capabilities approach shifts the discussion from educational outcomes as the sole goal to additionally include opportunities (capabilities) and achievements (functionings).

This poster presents the results and process by which the capabilities approach framework was specifically adapted for an engineering degree program to create a list of student capabilities. Capabilities are identified at multiple levels, from general human capabilities to those specific to engineering students. The ways the capabilities intersect with the rest of the curriculum is highlighted as are how the capabilities approach can be used to highlight barriers to pursuing a wider array of curricular pathways.

Authored by
Dr. Alan Cheville (Bucknell University), Dr. Stewart Thomas (Bucknell University), Dr. Rebecca Thomas (Bucknell University), and Dr. Michael S Thompson (Bucknell University)

The University [name of] Program is an NSF Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) Track 3 (multi-institution) funded program built on the theoretical framework of legitimate peripheral participation with an emphasis on inclusivity, community, and belonging. The Program has increased Scholar retention, academic performance, and engagement with student support services relative to peers. The Program received renewed NSF funding in 2022 to expand the Program to include a collaboration between a local Two-Year Community College (TYCC) and the University (U) to create a seamless pathway for students from local high schools, through five TYCC STEM majors (Biology, Computer Science, Engineering Science, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Math) to the University, culminating in a STEM BA/BS degree and entry into a STEM profession. It will accomplish these goals by augmenting the original Program with components to address challenges specific to the Community College: a summer research experience, ALEKS for math placement support, joint Community College/University advising, and an annual Community College/University STEM faculty conference to strengthen curricular ties across institutions. The original Program developed and utilized five components at the 4-year institution: integrated support services, a STEM writing and metacognition seminar, dynamic hierarchical mentoring, financial support for Pell-eligible students, and a responsive program structure.

Both the University and Community College are located in a community in which >= 93% of high school students are minoritized in the sciences and >= 65% are low income. Our objectives are to: (1) shorten the length of time to earn STEM AS and BA/BS degrees, (2) increase feelings of belonging and identity with Community College and University, (3) increase identity and confidence as STEM students and professionals, (4) consistent engagement with student support services (e.g., academic success, career counseling and placement), (5) catalyze interdisciplinary and inter-institutional pedagogical collaborations, (6) identify curricular and co-curricular factors contributing to student success and career entry, (7) institutionalize sustainable, high impact practices, and (8) adapt and develop processes for other institutions to follow. The expanded Program will support 90 unique Scholars. The University Entryway will recruit STEM majors who were academically strong in high school and who initially underperform at the University. The Community College/University Entryway will recruit local, academically successful high school students. Our goal is to increase University and CC/U Scholar retention, transfer, and graduation rates by 25% relative to peers.
This work-in-progress paper will focus on the TYCC and importance of recruitment, perseverance, and retention/transfer rate to the University. It will detail the Program’s model and discuss the challenges and achievements of the first year of implementation of the community college cohort, summer research program, and the faculty collaborations between the institutions including the jointly hosted day-long faculty workshop.

Authored by
Dr. Lynn A. Albers (Hofstra University), Dr. Jessica Santangelo (Hofstra University), Prof. Margaret A Hunter (Hofstra University), Dr. John Carmine Vaccaro (Hofstra University), Scott T Lefurgy (Hofstra University), Jacqueline Lee (Nassau Community College), and Rakhi Agarwal (Nassau Community College)

The Tech Intrapreneurs Program (TIP) program focuses on developing intrapreneurship skills and competencies in undergraduate Engineering students. Intrapreneurship is the practice of developing a new venture, product, or service within an existing organization. Engineering-focused companies require a diverse workforce that is capable of innovation and many students will not join these types of firms in as their first employer post-college. Intrapreneurial skills have been shown to facilitate career progression and improve managerial skills and opportunities, even in established companies. In order to address the need for more STEM workers to have intrapreneurial skills, TIP recruited and enrolled academically talented and diverse electrical and computer engineering undergraduate students. TIP provides a multi-faceted approach to improve entrepreneurship skills. Specifically, the program combines faculty and industry mentorship, workforce development seminars, an international experience, an industrial internship, entrepreneurship programs, and scholarships (provided by NSF and an industry partner) to produce graduates with intrapreneurship competencies. A total of 68 scholars in four cohorts were admitted to TIP. Scholars, hiring managers, and mentors were surveyed on topics to reveal the efficacy of the program. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. This paper presents data on the growth in intrapreneurship competencies for each of the cohorts of students, data on mentoring practices that were integral to the TIP experience, as well as student and mentor perception data on the benefits of the program.

Authored by
Dr. Tim Dallas (Texas Tech University), Dr. Heather Greenhalgh-Spencer (Nanyang Technological University), and Dr. Kelli M. Frias ()

As the Catalyzing Inclusive STEM Experiences All Year Round (CISTEME365) concludes its fifth year of implementation, this multifaceted initiative aimed at increasing access to informal, project-based engineering experiences in safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments provides us with a wealth of new lessons and questions that will provide a foundation for future endeavors. This initiative has supported 22 school-based teams of teachers, counselors, and administrators in establishing out-of-school STEM Clubs while employing strategies to create more equitable and inclusive environments for students from groups frequently underrepresented or excluded from STEM-centered activities. This paper focuses on impacts and lessons learned from a mixed-methods research study using multivariate analysis and qualitative analysis of participant interviews and focus groups, observations, and analysis of participant artifacts such as STEM Club activities and action research projects. A few key findings include instructor and student self-efficacy and knowledge of STEM college and career pathways increased, school contexts and shifts in staffing patterns impacted the sustainability of STEM Club implementation, and evidence of broader impacts was observed as teams or individuals shared CISTEME365 lessons and content with colleagues at their schools. Findings shared in the paper and poster presentation will be used to discuss how these lessons learned will be applied to future projects aimed at pre-college engineering education initiatives to broaden participation in engineering majors and careers.

Authored by
Hameed Shaheed Abdul-Rashid (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Lara Hebert (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Luisa-Maria Rosu (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), and Dr. Lynford Goddard (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Since the inception of the NSF Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (RED) Program in 2015, RED teams have worked to implement significant changes in engineering education at their institutions. Along the way, they have encountered numerous obstacles, ranging from changes in leadership and support for the RED team, to lack of policies and procedures to support the proposed changes, to lack of buy-in from colleagues and students. This poster explores the types of obstacles faced by RED teams in their efforts to implement significant engineering education changes at their institutions.

This poster reviews results of a group working session involving members of 16 current and past RED teams, focused on identifying obstacles that the teams have experienced in the past, or are currently experiencing, that are preventing them from implementing or institutionalizing some important elements of their RED projects. The obstacles were identified and analyzed from four perspectives, informed by Bolman and Deal’s (2008) four frame model for reframing organizations. The four frame model provides a structure for considering organizations through different cognitive frames: (1) the structure frame is focused on rules, goals, policies, and technologies of an organization; (2) the human resources frame is focused on the needs and skills of the people in the organization, as well as the relationships between them; (3) the political frame is focused on the sources of power, conflict, and competition, as well as on allocation of scarce resources; and (4) the symbolic frame is focused on the cultural aspects of an organization, encompassing both visible and invisible cultural elements like rituals, stories, and shared values.

This poster will present and analyze the identified obstacles and discuss the significance of considering obstacles from multiple perspectives or “frames” when identifying potential solutions. Systemic problems in engineering education, like the ones that RED teams are trying to solve in their engineering disciplines, are a function of multiple variables, including people, cultures & values, policies, processes, institutional & disciplinary politics, and inequitable allocation of resources, to name a few. Hence, any barriers to implementing changes to the status quo must be considered from multiple perspectives in order to develop sustainable solutions that will be acceptable to multiple stakeholder groups. Overall, our multi-perspective examination of the obstacles that RED teams commonly face can inform others interested in institutionalizing changes in engineering education or the common challenges that academic change champions commonly encounter and enable them to better manage their response to those challenges.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Authored by
Dr. Eva Andrijcic (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology), Dr. Sriram Mohan (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology), Dr. Elizabeth Litzler (University of Washington), Rae Jing Han (University of Washington), and Selen Güler (University of Washington)

Spatial visualization, known as spatial-visual ability, is an ability that integrates both visual perception and visual-mental imagery. It permits depicting the mental manipulation of two and three-dimensional objects without employing visual stimulus and thus is crucial in the conceptualization process among STEM students. Research studies show that students with poor spatial-visual skills feel discouraged because they cannot complete tasks that seem easy to their colleagues. This leads students to consider switching to other majors that do not require high spatial-visual abilities, and thus negatively affects the students' educational performance and psychological health. Given this issue, this work aims to examine the development of the students' spatial visualization skills using state-of-the-art Mixed Reality (MR) technology. The goal is to utilize the features and functionalities of MR to design and implement an interactive MR module that allows for developing engineering students’ spatial visualization skills, integrate the module into Fluid Power laboratories, and conduct a research study to test and examine the development of the students’ reasoning skills. For conducting the study, an interactive fluid power module on hydraulic gripper designs and operations is developed and deployed in an immersive MR setting using the Microsoft-driven platform Mixed Reality Tool Kit (MRTK) for Unity on the HoloLens 2 hardware. The developed module comprises a 10-minute tutorial session and a 25-minute interactive simulation lab on the gripper. The tutorial session introduces students to the manipulation of virtual objects and spatial interactions within an immersive MR environment, preparing them for conducting the sought-after simulation lab. Throughout the simulation lab, students gain the ability to study the design of two hydraulic grippers by visualizing their internal structure, interacting with their subsystems and components through assembly/disassembly processes, and conducting virtual simulations, all of which facilitate the development of students' reasoning skills. Besides evaluating the effectiveness of MR technology in enhancing students’ spatial visualization abilities, the study also aims to investigate the impact of MR modules on students’ motivation levels toward learning fluid power concepts. Additionally, it explores how students' prior knowledge of the subject affects their learning experiences. Consequently, the significance of this research lies in its investigation of MR as an educational tool to develop students' cognitive spatial thinking and enhance their technical engineering skills, including diagnostic abilities, simulation, problem-solving, and comprehensive perception.

Authored by
Ms. Israa Azzam (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. Farid Breidi (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. Faisal Aqlan (University of Louisville), Dr. Jose M Garcia (Purdue University), and Paul Asunda (Purdue University, West Lafayette)

This article reports on a three-year, NSF-supported study on the use of direct, embedded instruction in planning, monitoring, and evaluating one’s problem-solving in an undergraduate fluid mechanics course in conjunction with weekly reflection on this activity. The self-regulatory skills of planning, monitoring, and evaluation of one’s work can be promoted through systematic reflection to support metacognition and self-directed, lifelong learning. Students were prompted weekly to reflect on their in-class problem-solving, classroom and exam preparation, performance, learning, and other aspects of their coursework in a flipped engineering course at a large university in the southeastern U.S. To enable a comparative assessment, a flipped classroom without the metacognitive-skills instruction and repeated reflection was also implemented as a non-experimental cohort.
The comparison of these cohorts was accomplished using a two-part final exam with multiple choice and free response portions. In addition, the weekly reflections were coded by two analysts using an emergent content analysis to assess the presence of self-regulatory, metacognitive behaviors in support of problem solving. Results from the project with respect to direct knowledge outcomes, self-regulatory behaviors evident in the weekly reflections, and student perspectives on the weekly reflection will be discussed. Our results provide some evidence for the potential betterment of course performance with intentional metacognition support.

Authored by
Dr. Renee M Clark (University of Pittsburgh), Prof. Autar Kaw (University of South Florida), and Dr. Rasim Guldiken (University of South Florida)

Research frameworks are often utilized to provide structure to educational projects. Beyond articulating clear expectations, they provide organization for projects frequently characterized by multilayered data streams and high contextual influence. Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) is a relatively new research framework that combines existing paradigms to tackle complex, dynamic social issues. Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt (2011) created PALAR for use with community engagement projects, aiming to establish a structure that is both comprehensive and dynamic. It is not usually attributed to engineering research but provides an interesting and unique approach that acknowledges contributions from research participants and impacted community members. The project analyzed in this paper involves multiple institutions, disciplines, communities, and research taking place on multiple levels by undergraduate, graduate, and faculty participants. Communication on so many surfaces creates complications and delays that can be difficult to address.

The ‘P’ in PALAR stands for participatory, indicating the researcher’s role. Participatory research deliberately requires research subjects to be involved in the project. This process encourages increased levels of understanding and personal investment in project outcomes. This project also demonstrated that participants felt increased personal agency, communication, and problem-solving skills. Participation has also emphasized contributions to the next piece of PALAR, Action Learning (AL). AL refers to a problem-solving approach centered around “learning by doing,” in which investigators take action and then reflect on results afterward. This action-based analysis allowed student participants to feel their contributions were meaningful while simultaneously focusing on collaboration and critical reflection. Once again, the participatory nature encouraged researchers on all levels to challenge existing understanding and maintain dynamic assessment. Finally, Action Research (AR) provides a more systematic aspect to PALAR, intentionally cycling through a series of techniques seeking to achieve transformative social change. This cycle involves the following steps: taking action, observing, reflecting on those results, and then retaking action with reflection-based reevaluations. Repeating reflective cycles provide organization to the approach as a whole, articulating steps to take while maintaining adaptability and cumulative knowledge building.

PALAR combines techniques to create a research method that is highly flexible, collaborative, and involved while providing the structure and organization that is important to the success of large projects. This paper analyzes the success of each technique and how they worked together to blend and encourage participation on multiple levels. Testing and analyzing this framework in an engineering context is vital because it is rarely extended beyond social community engagement issues. PALAR is explicitly designed to provide structure and flexibility, and will encourage the contextual adaptability many engineering education projects struggle to achieve.

Authored by
Dr. Jessica Rush Leeker (University of Colorado Boulder), Miss Lyndsay Rose Ruane (University of Colorado Boulder), Marlene Sulema Palomar (University of Colorado Boulder), and Hannah Sanders (University of Colorado Boulder)

Concepts of sustainability, climate change, and resilience have become increasingly important in undergraduate education across all engineering disciplines. Solutions to climate change require interdisciplinary efforts and it is important to engage undergraduate students in these topics to develop a workforce that is capable of tackling these challenges. Many studies report on the positive learning outcomes that result from engaging in undergraduate research experiences. In 2021, an REU Site in Sustainable Resilient Transportation Systems was established at (institution redacted) with support from the NSF Division of Engineering Education and Centers. This program aims to provide participants with interdisciplinary research experiences in electric and autonomous vehicles; green construction materials and structures; and resilient infrastructure.

Over the past two years, this site has hosted a diverse cohort of undergraduate researchers who worked on interdisciplinary research projects in electric and autonomous vehicles; green construction materials and structures; and resilient infrastructure. In addition to the individual research experiences, all REU participants engaged in cohort experiences including workshops and seminars that addressed sustainability topics and supported the development of students’ research, communication, and collaboration skills. In the summer of 2023, ten students from various states in the USA participated in the program. All participants completed a pre- and post-program survey that included sustainability-related questions. The survey included open-ended and Likert-scale questions that measured the knowledge of sustainability among the REU participants. This paper summarizes these findings, which can be used to inform similar future programs that aim to engage undergraduate students in sustainability topics.

Authored by
Dr. Haritha Malladi (University of Delaware), Shameeka M Jelenewicz (University of Delaware), and Jovan Tatar (University of Delaware)

The Sonoran Desert Photovoltaics Laboratory (SPV Lab) is an NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program that aims to organize a regional approach to pursuing an interconnected set of site-specific photovoltaic (PV) engineering research projects for K-12 STEM teachers along the corridor between two metropolitan cities co-located in a Desert region of the US. Specifically, SPV Lab faculty and graduate students across two university campuses partner with teachers and students to spread PV research experiences to schools serving students from populations historically minoritized in engineering. Using shared data platforms and teacher-developed curriculum modules, the SPV Lab network forms an inclusive and diverse community of school-based citizen scientist who are committed to learning and contributing to agrivoltaics, a novel approach to coupling solar energy production with agriculture to power panels, plants, and people.

During a six-week RET summer program, teachers are co-located in a university research lab where they (a) learn PV content knowledge, including understanding what is currently known about agrivoltaics systems around the globe, (b) engage in engineering research practices as they conduct their own agrivoltaics research, (c) and co-develop curriculum and resources to support school-based agrivoltaics citizen science. Returning to their campuses in the fall, teachers lead their students in agrivoltaics research across the school year. Students build two mirror garden beds on their campus, one with solar panels over the crops (experimental) and one without solar panels (control). Using digital sensors, they collect, analyze, and interpret data to address three core research questions: (a) how do solar panels impact garden microclimates, (b) how does placing solar panels over growing crops influence efficiency, and (c) how can agrivoltaics benefit people in our desert communities? Students then submit lab reports to share their results across the SPV Lab network (i.e., other schools, university researchers, and community partners) using a shared virtual platform in order to collectively create new regional scientific knowledge to benefit their communities.

Now heading into its third year, SPV Lab has developed a strong learning and sharing community that continues to support teacher participants and students across multiple years. The SPV Lab poster for this session will share research and evaluation results based on data collected over the first two years of the program.

Authored by
Dr. Michelle Jordan (Arizona State University), Dr. Kelly Simmons-Potter (The University of Arizona), Steven J. Zuiker (Arizona State University), and Greg Barron-Gafford (The University of Arizona)

Recent literature points toward the benefits of cognitive diversity in building a more creative engineering workforce. Still, despite the potential of neurodiverse individuals, such as autistic students, students with ADHD and/or dyslexia to leverage their unique assets to contribute to innovative solutions to engineering problems, they remain highly underrepresented in engineering majors. Thus, a department-level initiative was established as part of a National Science Foundation Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (NSF:RED) grant at a large, research intensive (R1) institution to foster a radically inclusive culture that enhances the participation and sense of belonging of neurodiverse students in engineering. The purpose of this study was to identify the predictors of neurodiverse students' sense of belonging in engineering, assessing both classroom and out-of-classroom experiences in department courses. A survey related to student experiences in engineering courses was administered and data from 144 respondents were included for analysis. Factor analysis identified five classroom-specific factors (engagement, instructional quality, inclusion, learning development, and disengagement) and two out-of-classroom influencing factors (belonging and community access). Multiple regression models and independent sample t-tests were employed to determine the significant predictors of sense of belonging in engineering. The study found that classroom inclusion was the only significant predictor of belonging and could predict it positively to a moderate degree. Further, it was found that students in revised inclusive courses reported significantly stronger feelings of inclusion and belonging than their peers in traditional courses. These findings suggest that systematic efforts to implement inclusive learning practices in engineering education may contribute to a sense of belonging for neurodiverse students.

Authored by
Dr. Maria Chrysochoou (University of Connecticut), Rachael Gabriel (University of Connecticut), Ms. Connie Syharat (University of Connecticut), and Dr. Christa L. Taylor (University of Connecticut)

In this poster, we discuss the unification of regular expressions to find antipatterns in WebTA. WebTA is a multi-language code critic designed to detect, report, and explain novice antipatterns to beginner programmers across many engineering and computing disciplines. Novice antipatterns are mistakes made in code that seem correct, but contain logical and structural fallacies. WebTA finds these antipatterns, displays them to the student, and offers immediate and meaningful, novice-targeted feedback to fix the problem. WebTA currently supports Java, MATLAB, and Python, with more languages in development.
Many of the antipatterns in WebTA are specified using regular expressions. Similar antipatterns appear across the different languages, with subtle differences based on the language’s representation of logical structures such as if, while, or operator statements. While these differences are syntactically different, they are semantically identical. For each language we add to WebTA, many antipatterns need to be rewritten due to these syntactical differences. This increases development time and lessens the effectiveness of new languages due to a lesser corpus of antipattern definitions.
Unified Regular Expression Antipattern Language (UREAL) seeks to unify regular expression antipatterns where the only difference is syntax. UREAL captures syntactic differences by language through regex expression tokenization. Instead of specifying the specific regular expression for each code structure, we specify a UREAL token which is usable across languages. We then use these UREAL tokens to create the regular expression antipatterns. We are able to automatically substitute language-specific regular expressions into UREAL expressions when using them to parse a given language to find antipatterns. In effect, if the "shape" of a piece of source code in two different languages is similar, we are able to write one UREAL expression to match it. This design-based research is evaluated on the reduction of regular expressions that need to be produced when specifying similar antipatterns across separate languages.
By unifying the regular expressions in this way, we are able to reduce development time for new languages, increasing the time that can be spent encoding new antipatterns and providing quality feedback. Increasing the effectiveness and language diversity of WebTA will help students improve their programming skills regardless of chosen language and will help instructors draw upon a deeper antipattern library.

Authored by
Joseph Roy Teahen (Michigan Technological University), Daniel Masker (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Leo C. Ureel II (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Laura E Brown (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Michelle E Jarvie-Eggart P.E. (Michigan Technological University), and Dr. Jon Sticklen (Michigan Technological University)

With perennial interest in broadening participation in engineering, much focus has been given to predicting persistence. Persistence intentions related to degree completion and career are commonly connected to developing a strong sense of identity in the discipline and feelings of confidence (or self-efficacy) about disciplinary practices. While psychosocial factors like identity and self-efficacy are often studied in engineering, they are less often linked to specific learning experiences, such as design education. Specifically, we extend typical models of persistence intentions to examine the effects of engagement in a core engineering practice—design problem framing. We conjectured that framing agency, the capacity to make decisions consequential to design problem framing [1], relates to engineering identity and engineering design self-efficacy.
We sought to answer a research question: To what extent do framing agency constructs predict first-year and senior students’ design self-efficacy, engineering identity, and persistence intentions?
The current study uses structural equation modeling of survey responses to investigate the relationships between students’ perceptions of their agency, identity, self-efficacy, and persistence (N = 991). We used the framing agency survey [2,3] and collected a national sample: 59% (583) were first-years and 31% (305) seniors; a majority (69%, 685) were men and from racial and ethnic groups that are privileged in engineering (82%, 809). Overwhelmingly, students reported working in teams (96%).
We found that students expressed a strong intention to persist to degree (Figure 1, M = 6.46; SD = 1.67, all constructs on scale 1-7), not surprising given the percent of seniors in the sample. They also expressed generally positive intentions to persist in engineering careers following graduation (M = 5.80; SD = 1.23). Students reported high design self-efficacy, (M = 5.64; SD = 1.00) and engineering identity (M = 5.55; SD = 1.17). In terms of the framing agency constructs, students reported very high shared consequentiality (M = 6.22; SD = 0.96); high individual consequentiality (M = 5.98; SD = 0.72); high learning consequentiality (M = 5.67; SD = 0.98); and moderately high constrainedness (M = 5.02; SD = 1.23); the scale on tentativeness, which probes students’ certainty that their role is to solve the problem as if it were well-structured rather than an ill-structured design problem, is reversed (such that a high score is aligned with design practice), and students expressed neither certainty nor uncertainty about this (M = 4.09; SD = 1.29).
Several framing agency subconstructs explained variance in engineering identity and engineering design self-efficacy, which in turn predicted persistence intentions to degree and beyond. In particular, individual consequentiality—the sense that one is responsible for making decisions about the design problem—predicted engineering identity and design self-efficacy. For first-year students, shared consequentiality also predicted engineering identity. For seniors, shared consequentiality and learning as consequentiality predicted self-efficacy and also post-graduation persistence. Our results underscore the importance of design education experiences that provide students opportunities to direct problem framing.

Authored by
Dr. Vanessa Svihla (University of New Mexico), Madalyn Wilson-Fetrow (University of New Mexico), Mr. Ruben D. Lopez-Parra (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Yuyu Hsiao (University of New Mexico)

C3STEM: Community Colleges Collaborating in STEM is an S-STEM Track 2 National Science Foundation grant, started in fall of 2020, that has established pre- and post-transfer support, co-curricular, and career development activities for supporting recruitment, retention, and student success in STEM. Specifically, C3STEM uses institutional partnerships between community colleges and small private universities to promote transfer capital and student engagement in STEM transfer students. There are four objectives of the project. The first objective is to increase the number of academically talented and low-income students that transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions. The second objective is to improve the retention and graduation rates of CC transfer students in STEM fields by providing them with evidence-based curricular activities, co-curricular activities, and support services. The third objective is to increase the number of students placed into STEM graduate programs or professional positions by providing intensive faculty mentoring and research opportunities. The final objective is to generate new knowledge about how partnerships between CCs and small private universities can promote broader participation of academically talented, low-income CC transfer students in STEM. While the grant is ongoing, this poster will provide preliminary quantitative survey results of community college students about transfer capital, qualitative results from interviews of community college partners, and quantitative and qualitative survey results of curricular and co-curricular support services of scholars enrolled in the program. Preliminary results indicate that the primary obstacles to students transferring to small private universities are financial and logistical with community colleges and large state schools offering support services and pathways for students that small, private colleges either do not offer or do not advertise sufficiently. These support services can include food banks, childcare, low-cost housing, part-time degree paths, and evening and online classes.

Authored by
Dr. Melanie B Butler (Mount St. Mary's University), Rosina Bolen (Affiliation unknown), DINA YAGODICH (Frederick Community College), Aubrey Allen Smith (Montgomery College), Christine McCauslin (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Isaac N Mills (Mount Saint Mary College), Jeffrey Simmons (Affiliation unknown), and Kraig E Sheetz (Affiliation unknown)

This NSF-IUSE project began in fall 2022 and features cross-disciplinary collaboration between faculty in engineering, math, history, English, and physics to design, pilot, and assess a new learning community approach to welcome precalculus level students into an engineering transfer degree program. The learning community spans two academic quarters and includes six different courses. The place-based curriculum includes contextualized precalculus and English composition, Pacific Northwest history, orientation to the engineering profession, and introductory skills such as problem-solving, computer programming, and team-based design. The program also features community-engaged project-based learning in the first quarter and a course-based undergraduate research experience in the second quarter, both with an overarching theme of energy and water resources. The approach leverages multiple high-impact educational practices to promote deep conceptual learning, motivate foundational skill development, explore social relevance and connection, and ultimately seeks to strengthen our students’ engineering identity, sense of belonging, and general academic preparation for success in an engineering major.
Fall 2023 marked the first quarter of piloting the new learning community with a cohort of 19 students out of a capacity limit of 24. This paper reports on the demographics of the first cohort and compares them to enrollment in a parallel section of our Introduction to Engineering course that is not linked. We also share some of the students’ reasons for enrolling and their feedback on the experience. We found that students in populations with intensive entry advising such as International Programs and Running Start (a high school dual-enrollment program) appear to be overrepresented in the first cohort. This finding correlates with a theme in nearly all student responses that they learned about the program through advising. Finally, we describe some example activities and student projects that illustrate how the curriculum design integrates content across the academic disciplines involved.

Authored by
Prof. Eric Davishahl (Whatcom Community College), Anna Fay Booker (Affiliation unknown), Ms. Petra Shea McDonnell-Ingoglia (Whatcom Community College), and Mr. Pat Burnett (Whatcom Community College)

Smart products can sense their environment, analyze lots of data (big data), and connect to the Internet to allow exchanging data. These capabilities are known as the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. As they become ubiquitous, smart products provide enormous opportunities for scientists and engineers to invent new products and influence interconnected systems of vast scale. Mechanical engineers will play a significant role in innovating and designing smart products and manufacturing systems of the Industry 4.0 revolution. However, the current mechanical engineering curriculum has not kept pace. In this paper, we present details of a new IoT course for mechanical engineering students. The course contains active learning and project-based learning components. Specifically, a smart flower pot device was integrated into the lectures of the course as an active learning platform. In addition, the course incorporates team projects involving design of smart products. The agile method, often used in software development companies, is introduced to the mechanical engineering students to manage their project development process. The paper concludes with assessment details from the first offering of the new course.

Authored by
Prof. Hakan Gurocak (Washington State University, Vancouver), Dr. Xinghui Zhao (Washington State University), and Dr. Kristin Lesseig (Affiliation unknown)

The University College of Engineering has implemented an NSF S-STEM program focusing on the retention and success of underprepared students in engineering and Computer science at XXX. The project creates a scholarship to meet the financial needs of underprepared, low SES students for success in an engineering program (e.g., not calculus-ready and low AP coursework). This project works to fill the gap between a student’s high school academic preparation and those skills needed to be a successful engineering student. Currently, many XX state high school students are not receiving sufficient academic preparation in mathematics and study skills to be successful in engineering, particularly in “high need” / low SES regions of the state. This paper provides an overview of the program and results through the first two years.
Program goals include: (1) Use the scholarships and programs to improve scholars’ academic performance in engineering foundational courses; (2) Develop a resiliency program to increase College of Engineering (CoE) student retention by building upon a sense of community created through existing peer-based programs (Geisinger & Raman, 2013; Ikuma et al., 2019); and (3) Increase employers’ recognition of low SES students’ strengths and valuations of their employable competencies through a paid internship program.
The general objectives were established including; (1) New pathway to success. Scholars are provided a pathway to complete an engineering degree including direct education and intervention approaches for their engineering academic career (Geisinger & Raman, 2013) Scholars will be retained in the program and graduate at a statistically significant higher rate; goal 65-75%; (2) Reduce time to graduation. Underprepared BS engineering students typically require 6 to 7 years to graduate, and this program seeks to reduce the time by one year while their GPAs will statistically, significantly increase; (3) Enhance professional development. The program will improve PRISE Scholars’ professional and leadership skills through workshops, an experiential learning series, and subsidized internship/co-op. (4) Increase employer awareness. Employers who evaluate PRISE interns will receive targeted training on the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) research-based competencies.
The program has: (1) Developed academic workshops based on proactive study habits and utilizing resources; (2) Developed professional workshops based on NACE competencies, e.g. professionalism/work ethics, intercultural fluency, and communication; (3) Supported engineering bridge camp attendance; (4) Offered alternate degree pathways; (5) Provided Academic faculty and peer mentors; (6) Provided engineering freshmen course tutoring.
Thorough assessments are creating a refined, evidence-based model that can be utilized by other institutions to increase the success of underprepared engineering students with financial need. PRISE is designed to address academic climate, grades, high school preparation, career goals, self-efficacy, and confidence (Geisinger & Raman, 2013). The proposed theoretical framework comes from several evidence-based perspectives: Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977) and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) (Lent et al.,1994).
To date, the program has selected two program cohorts with 15 scholars in each. Cohort 1 is in the second year, and 100 percent of the scholars were retained, and their mean first-year GPA is 3.59, which is well above the CoE mean of 2.75 (std. 0.80) and currently, 53 percent of the scholars are on track to graduate in four years. Internal and external evaluations indicate that the program is overwhelmingly positive with the workshops cited as a top strength by the scholars. The workshop pre- and post-surveys indicated about half of the first-year workshops resulted in significant gains of knowledge. Adjustments to the surveys and content were made for cohort 2 and will be compared at the end of this academic year.

Authored by
Mrs. Sarah Cooley Jones (Louisiana State University and A&M College) and Dr. Elizabeth Michelle Melvin (Clemson University)

Carnegie Mellon University, Johns Hopkins University, and New York University created the Project ELEVATE Alliance (AGEP Grant – Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM in the Directorate for STEM Education) to develop a model promoting the equitable advancement of early career tenure-stream engineering African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders (AGEP) faculty. The goal of this AGEP Faculty Career Pathways Alliance Model (FCPAM) grant is to develop, implement, self-study, and institutionalize a career pathway model, that can be adapted for use at similar institutions, for advancing early career engineering faculty from these groups. In this paper we will provide an overview of the project’s successes during its first and second year. this project’s progress which is now in its second year. We will also present our process for engaging with our multi-institutional team and how we are using the results from our self-study team.

The Alliance interventions are focusing on three major pillars of activity, 1) equity-focused institutional change designed to make structural changes that support the advancement of AGEP faculty, 2) identity-affirming mentorship that acknowledges and provides professional support to AGEP faculty holistically, recognizing all parts of their identity and 3) inclusive professional development that equips all engineering faculty and institutional leaders with skills to implement inclusive practices and equips AGEP faculty for career advancement. The main pillars have informed our efforts during the early years of the grant.

Within the Equity-Focused Institutional Change pillar, the team collected 10 years of hiring and promotion data at CMU, NYU, and JHU to determine the hiring rates and promotion rates of AGEP and non-AGEP faculty members. Examining best practices in the faculty hiring practices in each participating engineering school ensures that a broad and deep pool of applicants are identified and equitably assessed. Additionally, this team is developing materials for promotion and tenure (P&T) committees which provide resources that they may use when requesting outside letters of reference in P&T cases. We will self-study policies, processes, and norms to ensure clarity and assess and create guidance for all faculty. Through the Inclusive Professional Development pillar, we developed content and implemented professional development in Inclusive Communication. With the Identity-Affirming Mentorship pillar, our team is developing and implementing a matching process for mentors and mentees. Moreover, this pillar will focus on building community within and across the alliance for AGEP faculty through social and networking events during the semester.

Beyond our pillars, we conducted a SWOT analysis of the ELEVATE Alliance Team as well as mentors and mentees to assess their perceptions of our efforts. When asked if they believed Project ELEVATE is making adequate progress towards its goals and benchmarks, both groups responded positively: Alliance Team (87% agree) and mentors-mentees (88% agree). From the analysis, key strengths identified include recruitment strategy, effective collaboration, and engagement focus. Regarding improvements, respondents suggested increased collaboration, improved support from leadership, expanded participation, enhanced engagement for mentees, and the value of strategic planning for the project's future.

Authored by
Dr. Alaine M Allen (Carnegie Mellon University), Darlene Saporu (The Johns Hopkins University), Elisa Riedo (New York University), Shelley L Anna (Carnegie Mellon University), Dr. Linda DeAngelo (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Andrew Douglas (The Johns Hopkins University), Nathalie Florence Felciai (New York University), Dr. Neetha Khan (Carnegie Mellon University), Dr. Jelena Kovacevic (New York University), Stacey J Marks (The Johns Hopkins University), Dr. William Harry Sanders (Carnegie Mellon University), Dr. Tuviah "Ed" E. Schlesinger (The Johns Hopkins University), Yao Wang (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Nelson O. O. Zounlomè (Carnegie Mellon University), and Charlie Díaz (University of Pittsburgh)

This project aims to gain insight into the academic success of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) college students with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), many of whom have learning strengths and challenges that are often unrecognized. These students make up a growing factor of neurodiverse college students; however, in spite of their growing presence, little is known about their college experiences and academic success. This explanatory mixed-methods project, guided by the social model of disability, will contribute to the literature by conducting three sequential studies. Study 1 is a quantitative analysis investigating the relationships between pre-college factors, college experiences (i.e., academic adjustment, faculty interaction, and sense of belonging), and academic success of college students with ADHD. Study 2 is a scoping literature review of the college experiences of these students, and Study 3 is a qualitative, interview-driven investigation centered on the role of classroom teaching practices as a precursor to academic success. The overarching goals of our project are to: ascertain college factors and teaching practices that directly impact the academic success of STEM college students with ADHD; understand the role of classroom teaching practices on the academic success of these students; and disseminate actionable recommendations to higher education instructors and administrators.
This paper provides an update on the three studies, sharing the findings of Study 1 and describing plans for Studies 2 and 3. We will present the findings of Study 1, showing that students’ academic adjustment is partially mediated the relationship between an ADHD diagnosis and lower first-year students and that students’ interaction with faculty and their sense of belonging in college are positively associated with their first-year grades. Then we will describe Study 2, a scoping literature review that answers the following research questions: (1) What is known about the college experience (academic adjustment, classroom experiences, sense of belonging) of students with ADHD? (2) What are the gaps and opportunities in the literature about the college experience of students with ADHD? and (3) What approaches are being used to understand the college experience of students with ADHD? Finally, we will describe the design and methodological processes for conducting focus groups and interviews (i.e., protocols, data collection, participants, etc.) for Study 3.

Authored by
Nolgie O. Oquendo-Colón (University of Michigan), Miss Xiaping Li (University of Michigan), Laura Carroll (University of Michigan), and Dr. Cynthia J. Finelli (University of Michigan)

Historically marginalized and minoritized students often have negative racially charged and discriminatory experiences in their classrooms that impact their achievement and persistence. Research demonstrates the positive impacts of prioritizing and improving inclusivity in the classroom in order to improve student experiences and belonging. Though these impacts are well studied, faculty in technical disciplines such as engineering have had difficulty finding actionable and relevant guidance. This study aims to address this gap through providing both tools and community to faculty who seek to improve inclusivity in their classrooms.

In the first two years of this study, we developed and piloted the inclusive engineering practices menu and its accompanying matrix, the inclusive learning communities (ILC) for the faculty participants, and both the student and faculty assessments. This presentation will focus on communicating the cumulative data collected from both student and faculty participants and include results from faculty interviews at each partner institution. We will also discuss how archetypes of the ILCs at each institution may have impacted the experiences in the learning communities and with the study overall as well as the lessons learned from implementing this study across three institutions. We will also link these essential pieces to strategies for supporting successful implementation of inclusive practices in engineering classrooms.

Authored by
Miss Jessica Moriah Vaden (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. April Dukes (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Amy Hermundstad Nave (Colorado School of Mines), and Dr. Melissa M. Bilec (University of Pittsburgh)

Challenge or problem-based learning help students develop deeper content understanding and enhanced STEM skillsets and provide opportunities for learning across multiple contexts. Educational interventions that include active learning, mentoring, and role modeling are particularly important in recruiting and retaining female and minority students in STEM. With this framework in mind, we implemented the Vertically-Integrated Projects (VIP) model at a public urban research university in the 2022-2023 academic year with the goal of helping participating students increase engineering and STEM identity and other psychosocial outcomes. This paper reports the results from the first year of our VIP program.

At the beginning and end of the academic year, participants completed measures of engineering identity; engineering self-efficacy; engineering mindset; intention to remain in the engineering major; intention to have a career in engineering; and STEM professional identity. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks (N=10) tests showed no statistically significant differences on any of these measures. Participants also responded to 20 items assessing their perceptions of their level of knowledge and skills in a variety of areas relevant to their experience in the VIP program. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests (N=10) revealed some statistically significant differences between pre- and post-test. Specifically, students tended to see themselves as having greater knowledge or skills in planning a long-term project, communicating technical concepts and designs to others, designing systems, components, or processes to meet practical or applied needs, understanding computer hardware and systems, working on a multidisciplinary team, and making ethical decisions in engineering/research. Finally, at the end of the Spring semester, participants rated the extent to which they perceived the VIP program helped them to develop their skills on the same 20 items. Most participants believed the VIP program helped them to develop each skill either somewhat or a great deal.

Overall, while participation in the VIP program did not influence student engineering identity, self-efficacy, mindset, or major/career intentions, it was associated with increased self-perceived abilities on six specific skills. Additionally, most participants agreed that the VIP program helped them develop 20 skills at least “somewhat.”

Authored by
Craig O. Stewart (University of Memphis), Dr. Chrysanthe Preza (The University of Memphis), and Dr. Stephanie S Ivey (The University of Memphis)

Makerspaces on university campuses have seen tremendous growth and investments in recent years. Growing empirical data demonstrates the significant learning benefits to engineering students. Makerspaces are a new tool in the engineering educators’ toolbox, and as such much more needs to be done to ensure these spaces effectively grow and meet their full potential. This grant has been developing a novel network analysis technique for makerspaces, to enable the underlying makerspace network structure to be understood in terms of its connection to the successful and impactful functioning of makerspaces. The work has uncovered some basic structural building blocks of makerspace networks, known as modules, and the tools and students that make up those modules. This network-level understanding of the space enables actions such as effectively removing previously undiscovered hurdles for students who are underutilizing spaces, guiding the design of an effective makerspace from the ground up at locations with fewer resources, and creating effective events or course components that introduce students to the space in such a way that increases their chances of returning. A deep understanding of the network structure that creates a successful makerspace also provides guidance to educators on things like the impact of adding particular learning opportunities through workshop or curriculum integration, and insight into the network-level impacts of the addition of new tools or staff. The work done over the past 3 years has tried to address the following key objectives: (1) Understand the role that network analysis can play in both understanding the connection between the structure and successful functioning of a makerspace. (2) Create design guidelines for both new makerspaces and the growth of existing makerspaces, derived from modularity analyses of two successful makerspace case studies. (3) Identify potential roadblocks that prevent students, especially underrepresented minority students, from feeling comfortable in and using makerspaces. Benefits of network analysis techniques include the ability to break down a seemingly complex and chaotic makerspace into actors interacting with tools. This data was obtained through short end-of-semester student surveys. Early work found that these end-of-semester surveys provide sufficient data for the proposed analyses and are comparable to survey information provided by students as they enter and exit the space.

Authored by
Claire Kaat (Georgia Institute of Technology), Pepito Thelly (Texas A&M University), Dr. Julie S Linsey (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Dr. Astrid Layton (Texas A&M University)

A National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) that is currently in its fifth year aims to enhance graduate education by integrating research and professional skill development within a diverse, inclusive, and supportive academy. To recruit a diverse cohort of trainees and help broaden participation in STEM, this NRT took a dual approach to recruitment. On the one hand, incoming graduate students already accepted into departments affiliated with the NRT in general – and those from diverse backgrounds in particular – were targeted. This strategy was most effective since students were already committed to the NRT’s institution, so recruitment simply required NRT faculty and trainees to reach out, describe the traineeship, and tout its benefits. On the other hand, NRT faculty and trainees from diverse backgrounds attended conferences organized by professional societies and organizations dedicated to gathering, representing, and supporting underrepresented minority scientists. At these venues, NRT faculty gave oral presentations on the traineeship and/or facilitated professional development workshops, while NRT trainees presented the results of their work and/or served in graduate student panels, all this allowing for trainee representatives to interact with and attract prospective applicants. NRT faculty and trainees attending these conferences also staffed a table in the resource/graduate school fair or expo of these conferences, further interacting with prospects, handing them flyers, and encouraging them to apply to the traineeship. This dual approach resulted in the following aggregate demographic data for all trainees recruited to date: 11% Asian, 39% Black/African American, 11% Hispanic/Latinx, 39% White/Caucasian; 43% men, 55% women, and 2% other (non-binary); 67% Domestic, 33% International; 30% first generation college; 9% have a disability; 11% LBGTQ+. These outstanding trainee demographics both attest to the effectiveness of the recruitment strategy employed and evince that this traineeship is effectively broadening participation in STEM.

A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on the part of NRT leadership and faculty contributed to the attainment of these noteworthy demographics. As part of the external evaluation, students participated in focus groups to discuss how they were recruited into the NRT program and to share their perspectives on why the program succeeded in recruiting diverse cohorts of students. Trainees reported learning about the program from various sources including: a graduate advisor suggesting the NRT program; a graduate student sharing a brochure about the NRT; learning about the NRT at a conference; and learning about the program from current trainees with diverse backgrounds. Trainees reported that they were drawn to the program because they saw students who looked like them, and several trainees said that their NRT classes were the most diverse classes in their schedules. Students also reported joining the NRT due to the PI’s commitment to DEI as well as the diversity of the faculty. Additionally, students were drawn to the wide range of expertise collectively provided by the NRT faculty, who represented several disciplines, were affiliated with multiple departments, and could thus provide a broader understanding of – and a more multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary approach to – STEM research and training.

Authored by
Dr. Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez (University of Kentucky), Carissa B. Schutzman Ph.D. (University of Cincinnati), Virginia W Lacefield (University of Kentucky), and Keren Mabisi (Affiliation unknown)

As engineering education seeks to integrate more experiential learning into the undergraduate portfolio, experiences within and outside of the traditional curriculum are being explored. To this end, community engagement is a particularly promising pedagogy, given its alignment with diversity research and the leveraging of university resources to address needs within our society. One of the largest engineering engagement organizations is Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA), which recently celebrated 20 years of student and community engagement. This poster presents results that are part of a larger sequential mixed-methods study consisting of surveys followed by interviews from program alumni of EWB-USA as well as individuals who have interacted professionally with the EWB-USA alumni. Surveys were designed for both populations and the results show positive impact on alumni transition into a wide range of industry settings. Interviews were conducted with alumni as well as the professional connections who were not part of EWB-USA. This poster will present two individuals as cases that span both categories of alumni who have risen professionally to become mentors of younger EWB alumni. Their perspectives shine light on the impact they have seen personally as well as the benefits they have seen through interacting with other professionals who participated in EWB-USA as students.

Authored by
Lazlo Stepback (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Paul A. Leidig P.E. (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Dr. William "Bill" C. Oakes (Purdue University, West Lafayette)

This EHR Racial Equity project, sponsored by National Science Foundation’s Directorate for STEM Education (EDU)/ Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), aims to shift the way faculty understand racial equity in engineering education. Rather than treating “underrepresentation” as a problem that needs to be solved (representation is not the same as power, after all), the literature illustrates that the culture of engineering creates an inhospitable environment for students and faculty of color. The invisible and normalized nature of whiteness has led to systemic barriers that are consistently ignored; making it difficult to identify, challenge, and (re)imagine racial equity in engineering. In order to challenge the hegemonic discourse of whiteness, engineering faculty must develop the ability to see and name these invisible forces. Our milestones for achieving this goal include: 1) conducting a collaborative autoethnography to identify a preliminary set of the scripts of whiteness in engineering education; 2) creating a faculty development program focusing on fostering and developing critical consciousness to reveal these underpinnings of engineering culture; and 3) engaging engineering faculty to critically reflect on their own positionality, question structures of power (such as the social, cultural, historical and political effects of whiteness in engineering), and become change agents for racial equity in engineering education.

In our first year, we focused on disseminating the idea behind the project: that our collective understanding of how to understand and tackle racial equity can and should be reframed to interrogate whiteness. The PIs presented 3 invited talks, published an editorial for the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), and produced four conference publications around the first stage of our work. In terms of new research, we began a collaborative autoethnography (CAE) within the PI team. The collaborative autoethnography produced mostly internal works (essays, journal entries, reflections, etc.), which will serve as the data we will mine for the creation of the transformative learning experience we will develop beginning in Year 2. This poster and associated paper will highlight our activities from Year 2 including hiring a postdoctoral scholar, regular meetings, detailed reflections and initial findings from our CAE that begin to reveal scripts of whiteness.

Authored by
Dr. Diana A. Chen (University of San Diego), Dr. Joel Alejandro Mejia (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Prof. Gordon D Hoople (University of San Diego), and Dr. R. Jamaal Downey ()

The existing curriculum and models for civil engineering graduate programs assume that graduating Ph.D. students will primarily pursue career opportunities in research or academia. However, the number of civil engineering Ph.D. graduate students continues to increase, while the number of opportunities in academia for civil engineers remains stagnant. As a result, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the civil engineering graduate programs must be reevaluated to assist students entering industry after graduation. As part of a larger research study funded through the NSF Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE), we aim to answer the following research questions: 1) How can a research-to-practice model assist students in preparing for a transportation engineering career outside of academia?, 2) What impacts does the research-to-practice graduate model have on the development of transportation engineering doctoral students’ professional identity?, 3) How does the cognitive apprenticeship framework prepare doctoral students for professional practice in transportation engineering?, and 4) What influences does the research-to-practice model have on doctoral students’ motivation toward degree completion?

As part of the first phase for the project, two surveys were developed: a graduate engineering student motivation survey based on Expectancy-Value-Theory, and an instrument based on the Cognitive Apprenticeship framework. The motivation survey was based on an instrument designed and validated by Brown & Matusovich (2013) which aimed to measure undergraduate engineering students' motivation towards obtaining an engineering degree. The survey prompts were reviewed and rewritten to reflect the change in context from undergraduate to graduate school. Revised survey prompts were reviewed with a group of graduate engineering students through a think aloud protocol and changes to the instrument were made to ensure consistency in interpretation of the prompts (Rodriguez-Mejia and Bodnar, 2023). The cognitive apprenticeship instrument was derived from the Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire (MCTQ), originally designed to offer clinical educators feedback on their teaching abilities, as provided by medical students during their clerkship rotations (Stalmeijer et al., 2010). To tailor it to the context of engineering graduate students, the MCTQ's 24 items were carefully examined and rephrased. A think aloud was conducted with three civil engineering graduate students to determine the effectiveness and clarity of the cognitive apprenticeship instrument. Preliminary results show that minimal clarification is needed for some items, and suggestions to include items which address support from their mentors. The other part of the project assessment involves students completing monthly reflections to obtain their opinions on specific events such as seminars or classes, and identify their perceptions of their identity as professionals, scientists, or researchers. Preliminary results suggest that the students involved place an emphasis on developing critical thinking and planning skills to become an engineering professional, but de-emphasize passion and enjoyment. This paper will report on initial findings obtained through this first phase of the IGE project.

Authored by
Mrs. Brittany Lynn Butler-Morton (Rowan University), Darby Rose Riley (Rowan University), Ing. Eduardo Rodriguez Mejia M.Sc (Rowan University), Dr. Cheryl A Bodnar (Rowan University), Dr. Yusuf Mehta (Rowan University), and Dr. Kaitlin Mallouk (Rowan University)

There are several changes anticipated in computer science (CS) education over the next decade, including updated student standards, rapidly changing impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), and an increasing number of school systems requiring a CS class for graduation. In order to prepare for these changes – as well as to address the equity issues that have plagued CS since its inception – we engaged in a project designed to reimagine content and pathways for high school CS education. As a collaborative project, we hosted multiple events for relevant parties (including K-12 educators and administrators, higher education faculty, industry professionals, state and district CS supervisors, and CS education researchers). These events were designed to collaboratively seek input for the creation of a series of reports recommending what a CS course that satisfies a high school graduation requirement should include, how that course should align with Advanced Placement (AP) and post-secondary CS instruction, and what pathways should exist for students after that introductory high school course.

The portion of the project highlighted in this article contains an analysis of data collected from focus groups (n=21), interviews (n=10), and an in-person convening of participants from K-12, post-secondary, and educators (n=35). The data is centered on determining what CS content is essential for all high school students. Participants considered knowledge, skills, and dispositions across a range of CS and CS-adjacent topics and, through a variety of activities, described what new content should be taught when viewing through the lens of teaching CS to high school students in the year 2030 and what content should be prioritized. Our analysis sought to delineate and synthesize their sentiments. Six major priorities emerged from our analysis: societal impacts and ethical issues, algorithmic thinking, data and analysis, inclusive computing culture, AI, and career knowledge. The significance of our findings is that they present a broad overview of what a variety of relevant parties consider to be the most important CS content for high school students; this information is important for educators, administrators, and those who develop curriculum, standards, and/or teaching tools.

Authored by
Dr. Julie M. Smith (CSEdResearch.org), Monica McGill (Institute for Advanced Engineering), Jacob Koressel (Affiliation unknown), and Bryan Twarek (Affiliation unknown)

Improving retention and degree attainment among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors from diverse low-income backgrounds is critical to growing the U.S. workforce and advancing the nation’s economy (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019). The National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program strengthens these efforts by providing funding to not only implement programming to support the recruitment, retention, and graduation of low-income S-STEM students; they also fund scholarships exclusively for students that meet designated academic and financial conditions.

Prior research highlights that Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) enroll a disproportionately high number of low-income minority students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). To determine the appropriate practices and policies to support students at HBCUs, a nuanced understanding of approaches to increase the number and diversity of students who persist through college is needed. An S-STEM Research Hub, referred to as the Hub, was created to conduct research on effective strategies that support low-income STEM students’ success at HBCUs. Currently, the Hub partners with 11 HBCUs with active S-STEM grants.

The purpose of this convergence mixed-method study is to identify factors contributing to STEM development at HBCUs within the Hub. Obtaining both quantitative and qualitative results through semi-structured staff interviews, student focus groups, and electronic student surveys at Hub institutions, enabled the examination of critical factors that influence student experiences and lead to STEM persistence using the Black cultural student STEM success model (Williams & Taylor, 2022) as the guiding retention theory. The central research question was: What support structures contribute to student development and persistence at HBCUs within the Hub?

Interviews with staff were conducted with principal investigators (PIs) of S-STEM programs at 10 Hub institutions. Analyses of the staff interview data revealed three themes related to STEM student development including faculty engagement through S-STEM programming, peer engagement through S-STEM programming, and students’ exposure to applied or experiential learning opportunities. Similarly, analyses of student focus group data at four institutions identified the importance of faculty and peer engagement to support STEM discipline persistence, financial factors and considerations for STEM majors, and academic and professional development to support degree completion and post-baccalaureate goals. Results from the 228 completed electronic surveys indicated that S-STEM participants spent a higher average number of hours preparing for STEM courses and participating in extracurricular activities (e.g., student government, fraternities/sororities). In contrast, non-participants spent more time on social/recreational activities (e.g., watching TV, partying). S-STEM program participants also averaged a higher GPA. However, all STEM students reported positive on-campus experiences and similar goals after graduation (e.g., pursuing a career or advanced degree in a STEM field).

Future work will support research efforts of S-STEM PIs at Hub institutions by sharing deidentified datasets, including institution specific data, with PIs that sign data use agreements. Additionally, findings from the research across institutions will not only be shared with Hub institutions but disseminated broadly to STEM and HBCUs leaders to share best practices for retaining low-income students at HBCUs.

Authored by
Dr. Brittany Boyd (American Institutes for Research), Dr. Taylor Lightner (QEM Network), and Mercy Mugo (Affiliation unknown)

Overview
Virtual, online, and digital learning tools can be used to provide equity in access to STEM knowledge. These tools also serve as the building blocks for personalized learning platforms. The assessment instrument, Student Perceived Value of an Engineering Laboratory (SPVEL) was developed to ascertain the impact and efficacy of virtual and in-person engineering laboratories in the 21st-century undergraduate curriculum, which addressed an emerging need for assessing engineering labs that take place in a myriad of environments in higher education, i.e., in-person, virtual, and hybrid. Due to the vast array of technological advancements over the last decade, this instrument addresses the need to holistically examine instructional content, instructor communication, and student perceptions of value and motivation to learn from in-person and virtual lab conditions. For this work, the SPVEL was used to evaluate student perceptions of a LabVIEW laboratory to understand their motivation, experiences, and performance (grades).

Theoretical Frameworks
This instrument is premised on three theoretical frameworks: the Technology Acceptance Model, Astin’s Input-Environment-Output (IEO) Conceptual Model, and Engineering Role Identity. SPVEL is unique because it extends beyond traditional course evaluation instruments that focus on instructor preparedness and ability to teach course content. Instead, the SPVEL connects students’ 1) appreciation for laboratory discipline content and relevance to their career aspirations, 2) engineering role identity development as a function of participation within the lab, and student sociocultural identities (race, ethnicity, and gender).

Research Question
This instrument was used to answer two research questions. How do student’s sociocultural identity characteristics relate to their perceptions of value in a virtual engineering lab? How are students’ perceptions of virtual lab value related to the sociocultural identities and lab report grades?

Research Methodology and Environment
This study was conducted in a capstone senior Mechanical and Aerospace engineering laboratory course within a virtual learning (VL) setting at a university in the northeastern United States with 227 undergraduate engineering participants. A quantitative analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the dependent list of the 26 items of the SPVEL, where the factors considered were race/ethnicity and gender.

Findings
Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in student’s perception of several variables, including VL's ability to replace physical labs, their friend’s seeing them as an engineer, their self-identification as an engineer, VLs being good learning tools and prior experience of high school VLs. From the post hoc tests performed using the Games-Howell procedure, it was revealed that LatinX/Hispanic American students strongly believed that VLs could replace in-person labs and that African American students found VLs to be good learning tools and indicated engineering as an essential part of their self-image to higher degrees than other race/ethnicity student populations.

Implications for Practice
Studies such as these are critical in elucidating how laboratory environments affirm (or do not affirm) students’ positionality in engineering. Furthermore, this work helps educators as they contemplate evidence-based practices for updating and modernizing laboratory equipment, protocols, and subject matter in innovative, novel ways. Lastly, this study works to build student-centered personalized learning approaches that are needed to customize learning for each student's strengths, needs, skills, and interests.

Authored by
Dr. Kimberly Cook-Chennault (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) and Ahmad Farooq (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)

Team building activities are popular interventions during early stages of team development. At [university], in the multidisciplinary capstone course with an average cohort size of around 350, the students on a particular capstone project team may not be mutually acquainted and thus may benefit from such team building activities. Prior literature has studied the effectiveness of various instructor-directed team building activities on student teams. However, our students are generally eager to spend class time working on their projects and often see in-class activities as a distraction rather than an important part of their growth. Instead, the student teams are now allowed to choose an intervention based on team consensus. In this paper, the relationship between attributes of the chosen intervention and student performance, as measured using a series of AACU VALUE rubrics, was studied using statistical measures.

The analysis revealed a statistically significant effect of type of team building activity on teamwork, oral communication, and design & problem solving scores of individual students on the team. Also, a statistically significant effect of location of team building activity (on or off campus) on design & problem solving score was observed.

Authored by
Hrushikesh Godbole (Rochester Institute of Technology), Dr. Elizabeth A. Debartolo (Rochester Institute of Technology), and Shun Takai (Northern Illinois University)

Background: This paper presents an example of the progress made in a five-year NSF IUSE-funded project on repairing the reputation of the teaching profession to address teacher shortages in STEM disciplines. [PROGRAM] does research on resources for and perceptions of the teaching profession through studies on the effectiveness of resources and analyses of student and faculty data from over 50 US institutions. [PROGRAM] is a partnership between [GROUP 1], [GROUP 2], [GROUP 3] and [GROUP 4] led by [INSTITUTION]. This paper focuses on an undergraduate student-facing presentation used for teacher recruitment. The goals of this paper are to disseminate knowledge and resources to ASEE members and to reach and empower more faculty to feel knowledgeable and able to share information about the teaching profession with students.

Methods/Assessment: Foundational research from the development and validation of the [SURVEY NAME] survey identified that common misconceptions about the teaching profession were preventing many students from considering teaching as a career path. Data on the profession, including information on retirement systems, survey data on job satisfaction, and salary data, formed the basis for the student-facing presentation. In 2021 and 2022, [PROGRAM] conducted further effectiveness studies on the presentation in a first-year chemistry course at [INSTITUTION] using pre/post [SURVEY NAME] surveys with a control (2021 n=103; 2022 n=163) and treatment group (2021 n=210; 2022 n=380). The treatment group took pre/post-tests immediately before and after viewing the presentation; they also took a delayed post-test approximately two months later. For each year, we ran paired t-tests in R on pre/post, post/delayed, and pre/delayed data sets for both groups. Results here reflect 2021 survey responses; data analysis for 2022 responses is ongoing.

Selected Outcomes: The post-test and delayed post-test results for the treatment group showed that many student perceptions of the teaching profession became significantly more positive (pre/post p<0.05) and remained more positive throughout the semester (pre/delayed and post/delayed p<0.05), regardless of their response to the statement, “I want to become a Grade 7-12 teacher.” From analyses of that statement, 20% of students in the treatment group who were not interested in becoming a grade 7-12 math or science teacher changed their minds after one presentation.

Implications: There is a shortage of middle and high school teachers in STEM disciplines. [PROGRAM] aims to distribute facts and data through resources, like the student-facing presentation, to repair the reputation of the teaching profession. To date, university faculty have shared the presentation with over 6,500 students from across the US. Results from [SURVEY NAME] indicate that using [PROGRAM] resources can increase student interest in and perceptions of grade 7-12 teaching as a career. The effectiveness study on the student-facing presentation is currently being repeated in 2023. Future work includes growing the network of faculty who share these resources to promote more students to join the profession and inspire young minds.

Authored by
Dr. Sabina Anne Schill (Colorado School of Mines)

In the second year of a replication in two new cities, this paper examines two years of data on the Community-Engaged Educational Ecosystem model (C-EEEM) in three regions in different Midwestern states. Cities in the deindustrialized Midwest often have higher percentages of those underrepresented in STEM, including low socio-economic status (LSES) and underrepresented minorities (URM); this makes it difficult for them to develop and retain STEM skills in the workforce, critical to rebuilding their communities in the Digital Age.

Broadly, C-EEEM can be viewed as a STEM learning ‘commons’ for delivering high-impact educational practices, particularly for LSES and URM, while showing broader impacts in neighborhoods, industry, and attraction to the region. It is based on a pilot program that targets deficits with which many regions of the deindustrialized Midwest struggle – community engagement, as well as knowledge, skills, and capacities to for economic redevelopment. Through a careful curriculum that centers on community-driven, strategically developed projects in critical areas for these communities (e.g., affordable housing, sustainability and resilience, health equity, and government efficiency) high school and college students work in interdisciplinary teams with a high degree of autonomy.

The C-EEEM has shown outcomes across all areas of interest – particularly student and community. Findings from first two years of the pilot region and the two replication sites are presented, with particular attention to underrepresented subgroups in STEM.

Authored by
Dr. Danielle Wood (University of Notre Dame), Dr. Hazel Marie (Youngstown State University), Dr. Faisal Aqlan (University of Louisville), Dr. Jay B. Brockman (University of Notre Dame), and Dr. Kerry Meyers (University of Notre Dame)

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are the focus for a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Site in Engineering at X University. The relevant and meaningful contexts of the SDGs allow middle and high school teachers and their students to easily make connections between research in a university lab setting to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) concepts in their classroom. Lesson plans inspired by the UN SDGs research experience were developed as an “integrated STEM” problem solving activity by each of the RET teachers.

Ten (10) teachers comprising of both pre-service and in-service middle or high school teachers have participated in each cohort over the two years of the NSF RET grant thus far. Six weeks of authentic summer research takes place in 5 different faculty labs at X University under the mentorship of faculty and their graduate students or postdoc. Examples of the research projects include “Photocatalysis for Clean Energy and Environment,” “Genetically Engineering Plasmid DNA molecules to address Tuberculosis Antibiotic Resistance,” and “New Water-Based Technology for Plastic Recycling.” RET participants also attend a weekly coffee session to help guide the teachers through the research process and a weekly ½-day professional development (PD) session to translate the research experience into a classroom lesson plan that aligns to state standards, as well as evidence-backed curriculum design and teaching strategies. Teacher cohort building and community is fostered through group lunches and additional activities (e.g., coordinated lab visits, behind the scenes tour of a local science museum, and industry panel).

For evaluation of the RET program, pre/post-surveys measured the teacher’s self-reported ability, confidence, understanding, and frequency of use of the Engineering Design Process (EDP), Integrated STEM, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Formative assessment was conducted throughout the summer on various aspects of the RET through surveys and regular check-ins with the teachers. At the end of the summer, focus groups were conducted by an external evaluator for both the teacher participants and the research mentors.

Both teachers and mentors declared the program was well planned and executed. The teachers developed close bonds and connections, learned a lot from each other, had meaningful research experiences, and developed a sense of community. The research mentors reported that the teachers provided useful research contributions, were enthusiastic about the research, had genuine lab experiences, developed professional skills, and built good community connections. Areas for improvement included clear expectations for everyone, reducing steep learning curves, and consistency of mentoring across the labs.

The RET program continues into the academic year with occasional meetings to report on the implementation of their research-inspired lesson plan in their classroom. The RET participants share that they are bringing in the “real world” relevance to their students with an integrated STEM lens (e.g., climate change and UN SDGs) and that they refer back to their own lab experiences (e.g., importance of measuring chemicals accurately). The research experience has made several positive impacts on the teacher participants that also benefit their students.

Authored by
Dr. Katherine C. Chen (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), Donna Taylor (STEM Education Center at WPI), and Erin Solovey (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

Engineers are societal caregivers, solving problems for the betterment of society. However, both practitioners and students of engineering struggle to make concrete connections between empathy and their role as engineers. While general empathy scales exist, these scales do not describe empathy in specific engineering scenarios and other helping professions have unique empathy scales. To address both the empathetic nature of the engineering discipline and the lack of discipline specific empathy understanding, our research team has set out to create an engineering empathy scale (EES) funded by the National Science Foundation. Our research is guided by two research questions: How is empathy conceptually perceived, experienced, and shown in engineering specific situations? and Can engineering specific situations be used to measure empathy in engineering students, faculty, and practitioners? In this article, we present a systematic literature review of empathy in engineering and engineering education. Based on our selection criteria, we found 48 peer reviewed articles. Three themes of the articles emerged focusing on empathy in engineering: teaching and learning, design, and the role of empathy in engineering. We analyzed the articles to determine what areas of connection to the constructs of empathy and the current model of empathy in engineering are supported and which need more research to support. Lastly, we present our research plan to create and validate the EES, which will be aided by this literature review.

Authored by
Dr. Emmabeth Parrish Vaughn (Austin Peay State University), Lily Skau (Austin Peay State University), and Dr. Bobette Dawn Bouton (Austin Peay State University)

This project's goal is to improve critical thinking in undergraduate engineering students through a new educational intervention aimed at enhancing ethics and professional responsibility. Developing an understanding of how engineering students perceive the broader impacts of their chosen profession, especially as articulated through the lens of ethics and professional responsibility, is an important first step in addressing professional formation. The current model of engineering education, focused primarily on technical proficiency, leaves little room for the structured and integrated exploration of these broader impacts. The intervention that was evaluated in this study involved student-group discussions that were centered around professionally produced narratives in an audio format. Students were required to listen to the narrative, respond to focus questions, engage with their peers' responses to the questions and then reflect on the experience. After completing this assignment for three narratives, students (N=45) participated in a separate discussion involving the ethical issues and broader impacts of engineering work that they encountered while working on their senior design projects. The same exercise was exercise was completed by a comparison group (N=49) that was not exposed to the intervention. Our results indicate that exposure to the critical narrative intervention did enhance students' abilities to identify ethical issues and broader impacts of engineering work (p<.05).

Authored by
Dr. Jeff R. Brown (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), Taylor Joy Mitchell (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), Chad Rohrbacher (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), and Dr. Leroy Long III (Sinclair Community College)

It is well-established that students have difficulty transferring theory and skills between courses in their undergraduate curriculum. At the same time, many college-level courses only concern material relating to the course itself and do not cover how this material might be used elsewhere. It is unsurprising, then, that students are unable to transfer and integrate knowledge from multiple areas into new problems as part of capstone design courses, for example, or in their careers. More work is required to better enable students to transfer knowledge between their courses, learn skills and theory more deeply, and to form engineers who are better able to adapt to new situations and solve “systems-level” problems.

Various authors in both the cognitive and disciplinary sciences have discussed these difficulties with the transfer of knowledge, and noted the need to develop tools and techniques for promoting knowledge transfer, as well as to help students develop cross-course connections. This work will address these barriers to knowledge transfer, and crucially develop the needed activities and practices for promoting transfer by answering the following research questions: (1) What are the primary challenges experienced by students when tasked with transferring theory and skills from prior courses, specifically mathematics and physics? (2) What methods of prior knowledge activation are most effective in enabling students to apply this prior knowledge in new areas of study?

Here, we present a summary, to date, of the findings of this investigation. These findings are based on an analysis of the problem solving techniques employed by students in various years of their undergraduate program as well as faculty experts. A series of n=23 think aloud interviews have been conducted in which participants were asked to solve a typical engineering statics problem that also requires mathematical skills to solve. Based on participant performance and verbalizations in these interviews, various barriers to the knowledge transfer process were identified (lack of prior knowledge, accuracy of prior knowledge, conceptual understanding, lack of teaching of applications, language of problem, curricular mapping). At the same time, several interventions designed to promote the transfer of knowledge were incorporated into the interviews and tested. Initial results demonstrated the potential effectiveness of these interventions (detailed in the poster/paper) but questions were raised as to whether participants truly understood the underlying concepts they were being asked to transfer.

This poster presentation will cover a holistic representation of this study as well as the findings to date.

Authored by
Dr. Alexander John De Rosa (University of Delaware), Dr. Teri Kristine Reed (OU Polytechnic Institute), Samuel Van Horne (University of Delaware), and Dr. Angela E. Arndt (Tech Literacy Services )

Students’ development of their engineering identity is known to play an important role in their decision to persist within the major. The first two years of students’ experiences are particularly critical, as most students who persist beyond this point will likely remain in engineering. While identity has been explored from many different perspectives, the influence of students’ affect on identity development has not been addressed. Existing models of affect and engineering identity suggest that local affect (the changing emotions that students experience during disciplinary activity) and global affect (the broad attitudes, values, and beliefs that students hold about a discipline) have potential to influence and interact with engineering identity (performance/competence, interest, and recognition), and in turn, to influence retention.

While affect has been found to be critical to learning and problem-solving in the fields of mathematics and science education, it has not been widely explored as widely in engineering education. As much of engineering students’ early required coursework takes place in mathematics and science departments, it is important to explore students’ affective experiences not only in their engineering classes but also in mathematics and science. Further, while affect has been widely studied using qualitative methods, our parallel use of qualitative interviews and piloting of quantitative survey instruments will contribute to the development of quantitative measures of affect that can be employed by others in STEM education.

This work seeks to address gaps within our understanding of affect in engineering students, as well as to develop a model of interactions between engineering identity and affect, building primarily on Godwin’s identity model (2016) and DeBellis and Goldin’s affect model (2006). Our study aims to address three research questions:
(1) How are 1st and 2nd year engineering students’ local affect different or the same while doing engineering work vs. mathematics and science work?
(2) Over the course of their early college experiences with mathematics, science, and engineering, how do students’ global affect about mathematics, science, and engineering change?
(3) How do students’ local and global affect about mathematics, science, and engineering contribute to/interact with their identities, including engineering identity?

This study is taking a mixed-methods approach. We have recruited two cohorts of students, who have agreed to participate in interviews and/or surveys at the end of each of their first four semesters pursuing coursework towards an engineering degree at a small private university in the southwestern United States. Using case study methodology, we are developing a model of the interactions between affect and engineering identity. The survey data is being used to inform the development of quantitative instruments for measuring affect, and to contextualize the interviews. This work will improve understanding of how students’ affective experiences in mathematics, science, and engineering courses contribute to or prevent the formation of their engineering identities, which in turn contributes to their decision to pursue or leave engineering. Because we plan to examine the influence of other identities on the affect-engineering identity relationship, this work could support participation and retention of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering.

Authored by
Dr. Emma Treadway (Trinity University) and Dr. Jessica E S Swenson (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York)

The purpose of this NSF CAREER project is to advance understanding of the navigational strategies used by undergraduate engineering students from marginalized groups. Our poster will present an overview of our results from complete data collection at one site and a snapshot of the tool we developed to assess students’ navigation strategies.

Over the past year, we concluded data collection at our first site. We interviewed upper division undergraduate students, talking to them about their experiences as engineering students and the opportunities and obstacles they encountered in engineering education. We then analyzed this data using two different approaches. First, we took an emotions-centered approach, investigating the contexts in which emotion words naturally surfaced in students as they talked about navigating engineering. Then we took a person-centered approach, uncovering how personal characteristics simplify or complicate navigating through the engineering learning environment. We looked at a subset of the interviews to understand the experiences of Women of Color (WOC) investigating how WOC thrive in engineering. Further analysis to understand the role of personhood in navigating is ongoing.

We also finalized a situational judgment inventory (SJI), piloting the instrument we developed in the previous year and fine tuning based on pilot results. Our SJI is a multiple choice scenario assessment tool that contains one sentence scenarios with one sentence response options. Our final SJI contains 19 scenarios with 5 response options for each scenario. The scenarios are within the following domains: academic performance, faculty and staff interactions, extracurricular involvement, peer-group interactions, professional development, and special circumstances. We will share details about the instrument development process, final instrument, and preliminary results from instrument dissemination with undergraduate engineering students.

Moving forward, we will interview undergraduate students at institutions beyond our primary data collection site to better understand how institutional context plays a role in student navigation of the engineering learning environment.

Authored by
Dr. Walter C. Lee (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) and Malini Josiam (Virginia Tech Department of Engineering Education)

Undergraduate research has received growing attention in recent years due to its positive impact on engineering, including increasing students’ understanding, confidence, awareness, and interest in numerous engineering subjects. Our research experience for the undergraduate (REU) program focuses on engineering educational research, which is to expose and train undergraduate students in emerging engineering education research through independent, collaborative well-managed, high-quality research projects.
This paper shares findings of the REU participants’ perception of engineering education research before and after participating in engineering education research projects. The qualitative data were collected through Qualtrics survey from three REU cohorts, who participated in the summer of 2021, 2022, and 2023. Each cohort participated in a 10-week research activity and was mentored by experienced researchers at a mid-size public university located at western of the United States. There were 24 students (16 females, and 8 males) from 20 institutions, and 15 different states, participated in the program working on 13 research projects.
One of the questions in the entry and exit surveys asked each participant to describe their perception of engineering education research (EER). Two researchers were involved in the data analysis to find themes that identify the participants’ understanding of engineering education research. More than 87% of the participants claimed that their views on engineering education research have changed after participating in the program. Five themes were identified reflecting students’ perceptions about EER before and after REU participation. Further analyses based on gender, prior research experience, and educational background were also conducted. Brief discussion on how their research experience impacts their future study or professional career will be included in the paper.

Authored by
Dr. Oenardi Lawanto (Utah State University), Dr. Wade H Goodridge (Utah State University), Mr. Rifatul Himel (Utah State University), and Zain ul Abideen (Utah State University)

The purpose of this poster will be to present results from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site at Penn State focused on low-carbon power and propulsion technologies. In the REU program, cohorts of 16 students per summer work at Penn State with faculty members, graduate student mentors, and research groups across the college of engineering related to propulsion and power generation, while also engaging in multiple professional development activities, including workshops, industry site visits, lab tours, and conference activities. Research topics of the students include combustion, additive manufacturing, fluid dynamics, materials, and heat transfer research. Simultaneously, engineering education research is being conducted on the students undergoing the research program, answering overarching research questions about the development of academic self-concept and how and when REUs can best influence undergraduate students to pursue graduate school. This poster will introduce the REU and the structure of the program and will also discuss findings from the first cohort of students from Summer 2023, which have been analyzed from the theoretical lenses of engineering identity and academic self-concept theory. Because of our grounding in theory, we intend for our REU model and the educational research studies performed to serve as a “sending context” in which other programs can consider designing REUs intentionally with experiences designed through educational theory to undergraduate students consider graduate school at the most beneficial time in their academic careers.

Authored by
Dr. Catherine G. P. Berdanier (Pennsylvania State University), Prof. Jacqueline O'Connor (Pennsylvania State University), and Prof. Karen A. Thole (Pennsylvania State University)

The Rising Scholars program was established by the National Science Foundation to promote the matriculation and retention of qualified low socio-economic students into STEM fields through the cultivation of their mentor support networks. Rising Scholars students were provided with a scholarship and had a defined path of activities in college designed to enhance their professional mentoring network. They were prearranged to participate in a pre-freshman academic bootcamp, an on-going faculty-directed research project, a self-directed research project, and an internship. Students attended seminars and produced written reflections of their various individual experiences on the path to a professional career. Three cadres of 21 students total, who had expressed a previous interest in engineering, were admitted to a general studies program and provided intensive guidance and an active social group. The Rising Scholars students were successful overall at remaining in a STEM discipline, but their path through college also intersected with the COVID pandemic. These results indicated that strongly supported students faired the social disruption better than their less well supported colleagues. Academic results for the Rising Scholars students against their matched pair grouping for graduation rate and GPA will be presented. Several students interviewed after graduation all professed that they believe they would not have graduated from South Harmon Institute of Technology and probably would not have attended in the first place. In turn, they would not have their current positions without the Rising Scholars Program.

Authored by
Ms. Grace Lynn Baldwin Kan-uge (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Carol S Stwalley P.E. (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Dr. Robert Merton Stwalley III P.E. (Purdue University, West Lafayette)

The Accelerated Engineering Leadership (AccEL) program addresses three critical needs: (1) promotion of graduate degree attainment by Low Income Academically Talented (LIAT) students to address workforce demands of master’s-level preparation in engineering, (2) implementation of evidence-based academic and student support activities that foster non-cognitive factors such as improved self-efficacy and engineering identity development and help LIAT undergraduate students transition to graduate degree programs, and (3) graduation of leaders skilled in technology, entrepreneurship and innovation to build and support the economy of the South Coast of New England, a diverse, post-industrial region characterized by high poverty.
The specific objectives for the AccEL program are to (1) double the application and recruitment of LIAT students with demonstrated financial need to accelerated B.S./M.S. programs in engineering, (2) double the participation, student success, and graduation of LIAT engineering M.S. students, (3) advance the research, leadership and entrepreneurship skills of LIAT engineering students, and (4) generate and disseminate knowledge on engineering identity and self-efficacy, and evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that affect LIAT student recruitment, persistence, and M.S. degree attainment. This paper will discuss the outcomes from our first year and a half of the program. In the first year we generated a robust applicant pool from which the AccEL scholars were chosen. Almost half (46%) of eligible students applied to the AccEL Program, including all 8 eligible female students and many students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. We successfully recruited eight M.S. students to the first cohort of AccEL S-STEM scholars. The scholars comprise a gender and racial/ethnically diverse group with 6 of the 8 scholars being either women and/or members of a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in Engineering (Hispanic/Latino or Black/African American). In regards to programming we launched the Introduction to the Research University (IRU) Seminar, which provided students with vital information intended to enhance their success in graduate school. This initial cohort currently has four students in PhD programs, and two employed in their field. This academic year we have seen an increase in applicants for the S-STEM scholarships and have increased the cohort to thirteen students, 69% are either women and/or members of a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in Engineering (Hispanic/Latino or Black/African American). We have added workshops to the IRU program to address feedback from the first cohort, such as assistance with PhD program applications and more events with other MS students in the college to increase networking.
In addition to the programming for current MS S-STEM scholars, we have a “Why Grad School” workshop series to encourage juniors to consider pursuing a Master’s degree. This includes career center activities, alumnae panels, personal statement preparation and time working with students to identify potential research advisors. This upcoming spring will be the first application cycle that would be impacted by this junior level programming. Lastly, we work closely with graduate program directors in each department to assist in recruiting S-STEM applicants and how to share the benefits of completing the +1 MS degree.

Authored by
Prof. Tracie Ferreira (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) and Shakhnoza Kayumova (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth)

Hispanic student performance indicators are markedly different from students of other ethnicities, with Hispanic students consistently having lower GPAs at graduation. SedimentSketch application will be a visual, personalized, and dual language tool that will combine new curricular materials and sketch recognition algorithms to improve student learning through sketching exercises and automatic, instantaneous feedback. We are currently working on development of SedimentSketch software, and only control group data are being collected.
We hypothesize that SedimentSketch can transform the higher-education geoscience curriculum for Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) by enabling geoscience students to interact with the material and receive helpful feedback outside of class and by cultivating a more inclusive learning environment. The goal of this project is to use SedimentSketch application to help close the gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students’ GPAs, situational interest in geoscience courses, and STEM career trajectories.

Authored by
Anna Stepanova (Texas A&M University), Dr. Saira Anwar (Texas A&M University), Juan Carlos Laya (Texas A&M University), Carlos Andres Alvarez Zarikian (Texas A&M University), Nancy Elizabeth Martinez (Texas A&M University), and Dr. Tracy Anne Hammond (Texas A&M University)

This IUSE project focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the impact of a unique storytelling intervention to enhance the self-view of undergraduate engineering students. It explores how telling personal narratives about oneself affects students' engineering professional identity, sense of belonging, and persistence in the major. Collaborating with the non-profit organization The Story Collider and funded by an NSF grant (award #2142137), the research uses a design-based mixed-methods approach to investigate the impact of storytelling on undergraduate engineering students. Incorporated into engineering courses, this intervention targets students during their sophomore year with the goal to develop and refine open-source curricular materials focused on teaching storytelling skills to engineering students. Each iteration of the intervention spans a semester, and involves personal narrative development supported by producers from The Story Collider. The research addresses three key questions: (1) What are the thematic and structural characteristics of personal narratives written by students about their experiences in engineering education?; (2) How does students’ development and performance of a personal narrative about their experiences in engineering education relate to their professional engineering identity, sense of belonging in the major, and downstream persistence?; (3) How do the thematic and structural characteristics of personal narratives written by students about their experiences in engineering education relate to their professional engineering identity, sense of belonging in the major, and downstream persistence?

Preliminary findings based on quantitative measures of student identity, sense of belonging, and persistence intentions (collected before and after the storytelling intervention; N = 104) indicate significant positive shifts in engineering professional identity in terms of engineering competence (F(1,87) = 6.16, p < .05) perceived recognition by others (F(1,87) = 2.98, p < .10), considering oneself to be an engineer (F(1,87) = 3.14, p < .10) and sense of belonging (F(1,87) = 5.09, p < .50). Qualitative data (student interviews) reveal several recurring themes. Many expressed a notable boost in confidence, particularly in their writing and public speaking abilities, as a result of sharing their personal stories. The experience also fostered a sense of belonging within the engineering community, especially for commuter students who felt a stronger connection and those students who felt like they hadn't really shared their stories with their peers before. The importance of communication emerged as a crucial skill, with participants recognizing its value in both personal and professional settings. Reflecting on life experiences was seen as a powerful tool for personal growth and a means to navigate uncertainties about the future. The interviews collectively showcased traits of perseverance, persistence, and a strong sense of shared humanity, underlining the participants' shared belief that they are still on a journey toward becoming engineering professionals.

This project expands the existing base of literature on evidence-based instructional practices in engineering education. The research team will generate new knowledge about why storytelling assignments enhance student success, and what type of stories appear to be the most effective in doing so. This will contribute to basic research on narrative identity and inform subsequent efforts to refine storytelling assignments to maximize its influence on aspects of engineering students’ self-view.

Authored by
Dr. Krishna Pakala (Boise State University), Eric Jankowski (Boise State University), Dr. Sara Hagenah (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Anne Hamby (Boise State University), and Brooke Ward (Boise State University)

This project, A National Model for an Undergraduate Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program, includes a novel experiential course, Service Learning in STEM, which aimed to create opportunities for students to apply their technical skills to community based problems. Incorporating service projects as part of required curriculum ensures that all students have access without the burden of additional credit hours. Moreover, the innovative partnership with career services has brought a diverse group of non-profit agencies from the local area to the program through its existing relationships. Agencies present their projects and students choose; 5-6 teams are assigned to each project. Projects vary from term to term. Examples include: coordinating Hack-a-thon on 3D modeling, creating digital tools to spread awareness on human trafficking, building a trebuchet by using mechanics and physics behind it, building a balloon powered cardboard car or constructing a digital map for circular economy programs to divert waste from landfills. Weekly meetings between agency and team are coordinated by a student team leader and held to co-develop the process, deliverables, timeline and implementation plans. Students complete bi-weekly personal journal reflections to unpack their experience throughout the term. Projects are presented at the end of the term with agency representatives attending. Peer evaluations are conducted, as well as periodic surveys and focus groups to understand the efficacy of the experiences for both students and community partners. Students report high satisfaction with the experience, pointing to several gains: deeper understanding of the plight of communities in need (e.g., homeless, seniors, underprivileged kids), skills they honed during the project (e.g., essential skills such as organizational, communication, presentation, teamwork, creative problem solving, perseverance, leadership), and technical skills (e.g., project design, data collection, analysis, visualization, project management), along with the feelings of pride and personal fulfillment from the intrinsic rewards of seeing their positive impact. Community partners appreciate the intensive project work, and the deeper connections they make with the institution. While feedback from students and community partners is overwhelmingly positive, a surprising finding was that students prefer educational and social justice projects (~78%), not necessarily those involving highly technical problem solving. Future iterations of the program will require deeper interrogation of these preferences.

Authored by
Urszula Zalewski (Stony Brook University), Dr. Marianna Savoca (Stony Brook University), and Dr. Monica Bugallo (Stony Brook University)

Undergraduate participation in research provides opportunities for students to develop their research and technical skills, network with other students/professors, raise their awareness of graduate studies, and understand the social context of research. While undergraduate students are often able to participate in research at their own institution or nationally in the US (through available Research Experiences for Undergraduates sites), it is also possible for undergraduates to complete research internationally.

In addition to the domestic benefits of research experiences, this provides an opportunity to network with international students/professors, learn about a different country and culture, and learn new perspectives on how professionals from other countries approach research. In support of this mission an International Research Experiences for Undergraduates (IRES) site is providing 12-week summer research experiences for students from the University of Alabama at the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic

From post-program surveys of the first cohort (N=5), students reported low satisfaction with the organized group activities and field trips. With 3 of 5 students reporting neutral or somewhat dissatisfied feelings with them. This contrasted with strong ratings for the research aspects of the program. While not directly connected to the student’s research activities, it is hypothesized that a greater focus on organized group activities will improve group dynamics and indirectly improve all program aspects. Further, a focus on group activities within an international program is expected to be even more important for participating students without access to their typical social and support structures. Therefore, to improve students’ experiences in the program the second iteration included a greater emphasis on organized group activities increasing both the number and scope of events for students.

This work provides an overview of the social and cultural activities of the IRES site in the Czech Republic and student reports of satisfaction in both Year 1 and Year 2 to evaluate if the increased focus on group activities in Year 2 improved student experiences in the program. These details will inform the design and execution of the 3rd iteration of the IRES site and help other IRES coordinators identify approaches to integrating social and cultural activities to meet their own site goals.

Authored by
Dr. Todd Jeffrey Freeborn (The University of Alabama), Sarah T Dunlap (The University of Alabama), and Dr. Debra Moehle McCallum (Affiliation unknown)

With the support of the NSF Broadening Participation in Computing program, the Socially Responsible Computing (SRC) alliance is committed to transforming early computing experience to motivate and engage historically marginalized students to pursue computing. This alliance, of six public universities, collectively serves over two thousand computing students who identify as Hispanic/Latino (Latinx). Unfortunately, Latinx students face a higher attrition rate across these campuses compared to non-Latinx students (34.6% versus 21.5%), especially during the first two years of computing journey. The primary goal of our alliance is to change this trend and broaden participation in computing. Specifically, we aim to create and deploy curriculum in the early Computer Sciences courses that demonstrate the value of computing to help society, which will provide students with the opportunity to see the alignment of their communal goals with computing and opportunities to bring their own cultural assets into the computing classroom. This includes students’ community-based knowledge or skills, general communication skills, and their skills related to teamwork and community engagement. We believe this framework will foster student’s sense of belonging, motivation, and engagement in computing. To achieve our goal of improve retention of Latinx students, the alliance has set four specific objectives.

O1: Designing and bringing curricular and pedagogical changes in the two earliest computing courses that integrate considerations of social responsibility into computing assignments.

O2: Introducing a new intervention in computing courses that focuses on creating a different kind of student experience focused on community driven computing projects.

O3: Building faculty learning communities to help train, orient and support instructors of this curriculum.

O4: Employing a cross site collaboration structure using a collective impact model, allowing variance for each site while working towards a common goal

Our alliance brings together six campuses, each with unique strengths and local challenges. We use a collective impact model, allowing each campus to contribute to the development, deployment, and continuous improvement the curriculum. Our team is composed of computer science educators and social scientists with expertise in evaluating inclusive STEM education and training faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Our evaluation plan examines both student and faculty outcomes, enabling us to reflect and refine our approach. Shared leadership and site teams are integral to sustaining our work, even amid potential academic personnel changes.

Our research is impactful in the learning sciences for several reasons. It utilizes faculty learning communities as a vehicle to bring change to the climate and curriculum of computing education. Furthermore, this project holds the potential to develop a broadly applicable introductory curriculum that is designed, deployed, and evaluated across a range of public education institutions serving the diverse state of [State-Name]. We aim for the success of this alliance to extend to all other sister campuses, potentially reaching tens of thousands of computing students. This curriculum will also be broadly deployed nationwide to help marginalized students pursue computing.

Despite being in the initial year of the project, we have achieved significant results in terms of instructor skill gains and attitudes. We are poised to make a meaningful impact on students as we have begun introducing new curricular and pedagogical changes. In this paper, we will share our current progress and core activities related to each objective, which include establishing a supportive alliance structure, developing new computing curriculum that includes a socially responsible component at each site, creating the structure and content for the first faculty learning community (FLC), and implementing the collective impact model. In addition, we will also share survey data, including feedback from both students and instructors, and lessons learned during the first-year implementation.

Authored by
Dr. David M. Krum (California State University, Los Angeles), Dr. Zoe Wood (California Polytechnic State University), Prof. Eun-young Kang (California State University, Los Angeles), Dr. Ayaan M. Kazerouni (California Polytechnic State University), Dr. Jane L. Lehr (California Polytechnic State University), Dr. Sarah Hug (Colorado Evaluation and Research Consulting), Paul Salvador Bernedo Inventado (California State University, Fullerton), Fang Tang (), Prof. Ilmi Yoon (Affiliation unknown), Anagha Kulkarni (San Francisco State University), Yu Sun (California State Polytechnic University), Mohsen Beheshti (Affiliation unknown), Aakash Gautam (University of Pittsburgh), Aleata Hubbard Cheuoua (Affiliation unknown), Sahar Hooshmand (Affiliation unknown), and Kevin A Wortman (California State University, Fullerton)

In the Spring of 2023, the Art + Engineering (A+E) team at South Dakota Mines made a concerted effort to engage with campus faculty and staff as well as the broader community. The engagement opportunities included participating in local annual events such as K-12 SD STEM Education Conference, 8th Grade Girls STEM Day, and Girl Scout STEM Days. The A+E team hosted a new one-day workshop for local artists and K-12 teachers, and hosted a ceramic and glass high school summer camp. These engagement opportunities provide a variety of networking activities for STEM and undergraduate recruitment. In addition to the activities described above a campus glassblowing facility was opened, and has become a vital facility for student and community engagement and has been integrated into classes, clubs, summer camps, and admissions activities. We have assessed the scientific merit and the participants overall satisfaction with co-curricular modules. These programmatic elements have increased the participants understanding of science and improved the overall mood of the participants.

Authored by
Dr. Katrina Jolene Donovan (South Dakota Mines), Dr. Jon J Kellar (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology), Dr. Stuart D. Kellogg P.E. (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology), Dr. Cassandra M Birrenkott (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology), Dr. Michael West (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology), Matthew Whitehead (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology), and Deborah Jean Mitchell (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology)

Spatial ability has shown to be a crucial innate ability that can shape students’ decision to persist in engineering. Research has shown that students who may not have a higher degree of innate spatial ability can be trained to improve their spatial skills. Notably there is an inclusivity gap among students who identify with historically marginalized communities in engineering when it comes to spatial skills. Our project frames spatial skills as an opportunity to address this gap with the mindset that such spatial skills can be improved and are not inherent or fixed to a person, and the opportunity of augmented reality for such efforts is under explored. We strive to develop a gamified, augmented reality (AR) environment that can benefit students who identify with marginalized communities, such as women and socioeconomically disadvantaged, a different approach in learning and improving their spatial skills. We plan to implement this AR application in a graphical communication course that focuses on visualizing different views of objects and modeling these objects in computer-aided design software, and in this case, CATIA. The development of such environment is based on existing research on spatial skills education, with the focus on reducing students’ cognitive workload while learning how to manipulate 2D and 3D objects.
This poster will present our current progress of developing and integrating the AR tools and environments that will be launched for students’ learning purposes. We have been focusing on creating six modules based on the six different perspectives of objects for the AR integration: normal surface, inclined surface, oblique surface, cylindrical surface, auxiliary view, and section view. For each module, the different objects will be loaded onto the AR application, with color-codes that differentiate based on the orientation of the faces of the objects and are accessible to those who may be color-blind. The object will be divided into different parts so that students can manipulate parts to form the 3D object. The users of the AR environment can then activate or deactivate available display settings to help them visualizing these objects. In addition, the users will be able to rotate these objects to any orientation of their choice. Additionally, a series of videos with animations and annotations will be embedded into the AR application which guide students step by step to understand the relationship between the surface and corresponding surface edges in the given multiple views, which in return will help students complete the 3D isometric view and the missing multiple view.
The piloting of these AR environments as learning tools will happen in early summer 2024 in summer classes and K-12 outreach programs in our institution, we will present preliminary findings from survey and interview data from the students who participate in the pilot implementation. Overall, the no-cost AR application has the potential to benefit students to learn step by step in an interactive gamified learning environment anywhere and anytime and improve their spatial skills with their ability for students to manipulate an object at different perspectives, and the integration is an important step toward realizing this potential.

Authored by
Juan Francisco Granizo (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), Lorraine M Acevedo (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), Dr. Magesh Chandramouli (Purdue University Northwest), Kai Jun Chew (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), and Dr. Lulu Sun (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach)

The S-STEM project entitled “Creating Retention and Engagement for Academically Talented Engineers (CREATE)” was designed to support low-income, high achieving students achieve academic success, persist to graduation, build self-efficacy, and develop engineering identity. The scholarship-based cohort program is located within the College of Engineering at a large western land-grant university and recruited two cohorts of 16 based on academic talent and demonstrated financial need [1 – 6]. The program has retained 25 of the original 32 students (referred to as scholars) with six new scholars filling vacancies, leading to a current total of 31 scholars in the program. Current scholars identify as 21 male, 10 female, 18 white, 7 Hispanic, 1 Black, and 5 Asian. Program numbers mirror similar enrollment trends to the College with the following exceptions: higher female and students of color enrolled. The scholars in both cohorts participated in a rigorous set of curricular and co-curricular activities that included enrollment in a summer bridge program, proactive advising, tutoring in engineering courses, peer and faculty mentoring, career and graduate school guidance, cohort building activities, theme seminars, funded undergraduate research experiences, and goals workshops.
Cohort 1 started during the fall 2019 semester and cohort 2 started a year later during fall of 2020 and had different first-year experiences as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Scholars from both cohorts participated in bi-semester quantitative surveys and end-of-semester focus groups which allowed them to describe how they were using resources provided by the CREATE program, and how they were developing as engineering students. These focus groups were transcribed, group coded using directed content analysis, and underwent thematic analysis where themes and patterns were then discussed with the larger project team who had close interactions with the scholars.
We present qualitative findings that illustrate the lessons learned in operating this program for four years and successfully supporting 12 cohort 1 scholars to graduation: Lessons learned at the end of four years include: (1) Proactive advising could be done for all four years as it remained useful in helping scholars stay on track to graduation and reaching their career goals; (2) Progress reports used as part of proactive advising promoted beneficial interactions between scholars and faculty, and hence reduced barriers to future interactions for the scholar; (3) Scholars could have a peer mentor for just the first two years, unless they are matched by their majors. The exception to this is first generation scholars who benefit from peer mentors for the first three years; (4) Scholars should have faculty mentors for all four years as they derive emotional support early on and then career and goals support later in the program; (5) Placement in summer bridge programs that facilitate shared, group experiences could be used to support a long-lasting and resilient shared sense of community within the cohort; (6) Cohorts could include scholars all from the same major as scholars described challenges keeping in contact with or feeling connected to scholars in different majors once they stopped taking the same common classes. (7) The College of Engineering career services director who was part of the CREATE program management team could have been involved earlier to better support the scholars as they think about and work towards goals early on. These lessons learned have implications for future programs looking to develop their own cohort or mentorship programs at their institution.
References
1. K. Scalaro, I. Chatterjee, A-M. Vollstedt, J.L. Lacombe and A. Kirn, “A two-step model for the interpretation of meaningful recognition”, Proceedings of the 2021 ASEE Annual Virtual Conference, July 26-29, 2021.
2. K. Scalaro, I. Chatterjee, A-M. Vollstedt, J.L. Lacombe, A. Kirn, “Is this the real life? Exploring how virtual learning environments influence engineering identity”, Proceedings of the Frontiers of Engineering Conference, 2021, October 13-16, 2021, Lincoln, Nebraska.
3. K. Scalaro, I. Chatterjee, A-M. Vollstedt, J.L. Lacombe, A. Kirn, “From knowledge to doing: Changes in performance/competence beliefs of developing engineers”, Proceedings of the 2022 ASEE Conference & Exposition, June 26 – 29, 2022, Minneapolis, MN.
4. I. Chatterjee, K. Scalaro, A-M. Vollstedt, J. Lacombe, A. Kirn, “S-STEM: Creating retention and engagement in academically talented engineers”, Proceedings of the 2021 Virtual ASEE Conference & Exposition.
5. K. Scalaro, I. Chatterjee, A-M. Vollstedt, J.L. Lacombe, A. Kirn, “Engineering interests dynamic major pathways”, Proceedings of the 2023 ASEE Conference & Exposition, June 24 – 28, 2023, Baltimore, MD.
6. K. Steinhorst, R. Young, K. Scalaro, I. Chatterjee, A-M. Vollstedt, J. C. LaCombe, and A. Kirn, “Creating social capital: Developing resources in a cohort program”, abstract submitted to the 2023 ASEE Conference & Exposition, Baltimore, MD, June 2023.

Authored by
Dr. Indira Chatterjee (University of Nevada, Reno), Miss Kelsey Scalaro (University of Nevada, Reno), Dr. Ann-Marie Vollstedt (University of Nevada, Reno), Ivy Chin (University of Nevada, Reno), Joseph Bozsik (University of Nevada, Reno), Dr. Julia M. Williams (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology), and Dr. Adam Kirn (University of Nevada, Reno)

Program X [X] STEM Scholars program contributes to the national need for well-educated STEM professionals by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at [blinded university]. Over its six year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 120 unique full-time students. The X STEM Scholars Program provides a financially sustainable pathway for students across the nation to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and up to two years of industry experience. Students typically complete their first two years of engineering coursework at community colleges across the country. Students then join X and spend one transitional semester gaining training and experience to equip them with the technical, design, and professional skills needed to succeed in the engineering workforce; it is during this semester that students receive the S-STEM scholarship. During the last two years of their education, IRE students work in paid engineering co-ops, while being supported in their technical and professional development by professors, learning facilitators, and their own peers.

The X STEM Scholars project financially supports low-income students during the transitional semester, which has two financial challenges: university tuition costs are higher than their previous community college costs, and the semester occurs before they are able to earn an engineering co-op income. In addition, the project provides personalized mentorship throughout students’ pathway to graduation, such as weekly conversations with a mentor.

The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates. As part of the scope of this project, a concurrent mixed-methods research study will be done on engineering students’ thriving, specifically their identity, belonging, motivation, and subjective wellbeing (or mental and physical health). This study will address the following research questions: How do undergraduate students’ engineering identity and belongingness develop over time in a co-op-based engineering program? How do undergraduate students’ motivation and identity connect to overall wellbeing in a co-op-based engineering program?

Currently in its second year, the project has supported 20 students, including 6 students on co-op. These six students have been interviewed on their sense of belonging in engineering during their co-op experiences, and have provided multiple survey data points describing X students’ experiences in co-op and overall sense of belonging. These STEM Scholars program participant-specific data along with survey data documenting the co-op experiences of all X students describe how co-op experiences can be used to provide a financially responsible pathway to an engineering degree for low-income, high achieving students.

Future work will utilize these values to identify ways to better support the X STEM scholars’ identity development as they move into their first co-op experiences. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.

Authored by
Dr. Catherine McGough Spence (Minnesota State University, Mankato), Dr. Emilie A Siverling (Minnesota State University, Mankato), and Dr. Michelle Soledad (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Even with a return to in-person learning by many institutions since the COVID-19 pandemic, many educational institutions continue to offer a plethora of online learning opportunities for students. Student experience with hardware-based applications and projects though can be somewhat limited for engineering and computer science courses not offered in in-person educational settings. Problem-based learning exercises enable students to learn skills for analyzing or solving problems and processes in STEM applications and projects.

We describe ongoing activities at two Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) for the development of engaged learning exercises and associated materials for two different IoT-based kits, one centered around a Raspberry Pi with associated sensors and actuators and a second commercial-off-the-shelf kit developed around a BeagleBone Green microcontroller with connected sensors and communication components. The Internet of Things (IoT)-based kits have been utilized to facilitate practical hardware experiences for remote student learning.

In this research we are currently concentrating on two research questions: Can transfer of learning be successfully achieved in remote hands-on engaged student learning (ESL) scenarios? and How well do online tutorials contribute to hands-on ESL, when coupled with physical hardware accessible at home? Preliminary assessment demonstrates that students benefit from the access to IoT-based course materials and many students incorporate IoT-based aspects into their senior design capstone projects.

Authored by
Dr. Lifford McLauchlan (Texas A&M University, Kingsville), Dr. David Hicks (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Mehrube Mehrubeoglu (Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi), and Dr. Adetoun Yeaman (Northeastern University)

The single institution Track 2 NSF S-STEM (Scholarships in STEM) project titled “Increasing Retention and Success of Students from Low-Income Backgrounds in Civil Engineering” provides a total of 32 two-year undergraduate scholarships, spread over 4 years. The focus during the Scholar’s freshmen and sophomore years is on building a strong foundation in the Gateway 8 courses. These eight basic science, math and introductory engineering courses are often the primary reason for attrition from engineering programs and pose significant hurdles to students from low-income backgrounds. Emphasis during the Scholar’s junior and senior years is on personal/professional development, preparation for graduate studies and workforce training. The core project team has developed a four-year support plan that includes: (i) financial support during freshman and sophomore years, (ii) academic support in the Gateway 8 courses via customized tuition support recommendations, (iii) monthly one-on-one progress check-up meetings with PI, and early alert using the learning management platform MU Connect, (iv) STEM Cohort networking with regular community-engagement service projects, field trips, and professional/personal development seminars, (v) workforce training with external partners for internship opportunities and college faculty for hands-on graduate research training, (vi) feedback from regular internal and external program evaluations for knowledge generation and finetuning program support features, and (vii) team-building events involving all STEM Scholars, internal and external partner panels for the project, and the core STEM Team, including the annual Meet and Greet event every Fall with the entry of a new cohort, and the annual banquet to recognize Scholar accomplishments in late Spring.
We use a multi-pronged approach to evaluate program effectiveness. Each Scholar is followed individually and longitudinally throughout the first two years. The Sense of Community-2 survey and an Engineering Self-Efficacy survey is administered at the beginning and end of the two years and again at a point mid-way through. The Sense of Community-2 measures a student’s feelings of belonging to a community and commitment to one another, and feelings that each member’s needs will be met by the community. The Engineering Self-Efficacy survey measures students’ judgments concerning their academic performance in engineering courses and an engineering program, their expectations about an engineering career, and their persistence in pursuing an engineering education. In addition, at the end of each academic year, students participate in a focus group to discuss their personal experiences in the program and offer suggestions for change. Grade point averages from each semester are recorded and correlated with self-efficacy measures.
The project team also partners with the Research on Organizational Partnerships in Education and STEM (ROPES) Hub, an NSF-funded effort at the Virginia Tech whose emphasis is on understanding intra- and inter-institutional partnerships and their effectiveness in student success among low-income engineering students.
With experience with three cohorts of STEM Scholars, partnership in the NSF STEM research hub, the core project team has developed data to-date that demonstrate excellent retention record and anticipated success in graduating and retaining Scholars in STEM fields.

Authored by
Prof. Vellore S. Gopalaratnam (University of Missouri, Columbia), Dr. Douglas J Hacker (), Dr. Sarah Lynn Orton P.E. (University of Missouri, Columbia), and Rose M Marra (University of Missouri, Columbia)

An INFEWS-themed National Research Traineeship (NRT) program aimed to build a community of researchers who explore, develop and implement effective data-driven decision-making to efficiently produce food, transform primary energy sources into energy carriers, and enhance water quality. Over five years, four cohorts of trainees, totaling 31 MS and PhD students from 16 graduate programs at a Midwestern land-grant university (approximately half drawn from five different engineering disciplines) have completed the major components of the two-year program. These include thesis or dissertation research on a food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) issue; a graduate coursework certificate in Data-Driven Food, Energy and Water Decision Making; and participation in a Graduate Learning Community that includes monthly workshops and weekly small-group activities designed to enhance the trainees’ interdisciplinary communication and collaboration skills, while preparing them for careers in diverse organizations.

As the program evolved, the students increasingly took on leadership of program elements. Student members of the leadership team collaborated with the faculty on programmatic decisions. Student-faculty working groups planned the learning community activities and annual research symposia. Most notably, small groups of trainees proposed, planned, and conducted multidisciplinary research projects. A trio of trainees from civil engineering, sustainable agriculture, and environmental science completed a systematic literature review on equity in FEWS that was published in a leading interdisciplinary journal. The final cohort of trainees divided into teams to collaborate on projects concerned with each of the three FEWS areas. The food team is studying food systems in Iowa to assess inequality in access to nutrition. They combine production, distribution, consumption, and nutritional data at the county level to assess causes of poor health outcomes of Iowans, while incorporating climate change components in their analysis to assess the sustainability of current food systems. The energy team is analyzing data collected from a microgrid that combines solar photovoltaic generation and storage to power a livestock feeding facility. Their goal is to assess the cost effectiveness of installed capacity relative to power purchased from the grid. The water team is studying how climate change affects regional drought and flood conditions, with the objective to produce an online, interactive map linked to low-income communities. Meteorological, climate, and demographic data are combined to identify hot spots of vulnerability to water excess or deficit. Feedback obtained at the annual symposium from the program’s external advisors will enhance the applicability of each project.

Authored by
Dr. Sarah M. Ryan (Iowa State University), Prof. Robert Brown (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Amy Kaleita (Iowa State University), Prof. Sergio Horacio Lence (Affiliation unknown), Cynthia Lidtke (Iowa State University), Cameron Alexander MacKenzie (Iowa State University), and Dr. Michelle Lynn Soupir (Iowa State University)

The SUCCESS Scholars Program (SSP) is an NSF S-STEM project awarded in Fall of 2022 to Louisiana Tech University. The five-year project supports two cohorts of engineering students as they each progress through four years of academic study. A first cohort of twenty-four, first-year engineering students was selected for the 2022-23 academic year, and a second cohort of twenty-two students was selected for the 2023-24 year. Each year the students in the program receive scaffolded levels of financial support based on their unmet need.

Cohorts in their first year of the program are provided with concentrated academic support through an additional two hours per week with their engineering instructor and supplemental instruction led by upper-level peer mentors. Faculty mentors are introduced to the students through weekly lunches beginning after their first quarter. The lunches, which provide a venue for professional development discussions, are also leveraged to build community among the students and faculty. As the first cohort progresses into their second year of study and begins to branch out into more discipline-specific courses, the weekly lunches have become the primary connection point for the students and faculty.
Additionally, the faculty mentors meet with their students regularly and serve as academic advisors to guide the students as they progress academically.

This paper will discuss the SSP in detail by outlining the many activities implemented and highlighting lessons learned as the project moves into the second year of implementation. Preliminary data will be used to assess outcomes pertaining to retention and academic performance. Initial results indicate a positive impact on the student population participating in the project.

Authored by
Ms. Krystal Corbett Cruse (Louisiana Tech University), Dr. David Hall (Louisiana Tech University), Dr. Mary E Caldorera-Moore (Louisiana Tech University), and Dr. Mitzi Desselles (Louisiana Tech University)

One of the requirements for a teacher participant in a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site is to convert the knowledge from the research experience into K-12 course curriculum. This motivates the teacher participants to actively think about how to convert the university research knowledge into something understandable by K-12 students. Each teacher needs to play a more active role in participating and drilling down into the research to effectively create new materials, rather than as a watcher or bystander of research activities. The course development usually needs to follow some curriculum standards such as Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in many states and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in Texas. NGSS is too general to provide useful guidance for detailed course module development. TEKS is very detailed in each course’s requirement, but teachers need to find their own ways to meet these requirements. NSF RET solicitation recommends the use of TeachEngineering.org (TE) template as the standard for course module development and distribution. Therefore, TeachEngineering template has been used by the teachers in our RET sites in the past few years. However, the acceptance rate of our teacher’s submission to TeachEngineering.org is consistently low (about two out of 12 teachers in each cohort can complete), even though a $1,800 incentive course fee is offered for each successful submission. Teachers cited various reasons for not completing the submission: too busy / no time, too much trouble, cannot find a good topic, very long review cycle, miscommunication (never got emails), no clue on how to revise when the first submission was declined, etc. A teacher needs to be highly self-regulated and persistent to complete this submission process. As such, a set of interventions was taken to improve the submission success rate starting from 2022. The actions include: 1) coordinate with TeachEngineering.org about shortening the review cycle time; 2) improve communications (make sure emails are not blocked by local school districts or go into a spam folder); 3) invite the TeachEngineering director to give an introductory talk to teachers at the beginning of the RET summer program; 4) recruit an experienced master teacher to provide more detailed guidance; and 5) follow up by the professors to ensure the course module quality. As a result, the submission success rate has been improved. Six out of the 12 teachers in summer 2022 have published their TeachEngineering course modules with a few more in the pipeline. Two teachers in the summer 2023 cohort have already published their course modules. One course module excerpt is provided as an example in this paper.

Authored by
Prof. Weihang Zhu (University of Houston), ROBERTO G DIMALIWAT (Affiliation unknown), Peter Weber (University of Houston), Ms. Dua Chaker (University of Colorado Boulder), and Christy Miller (University of Houston)

The semiconductor and digital electronics field is undergoing rapid changes with continuous progress in integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), expanding the Internet of Things (IoT), enhancing cybersecurity, and prioritizing sustainability. These developments have profound implications for various industries and the capabilities of electronic devices. Hardware engineers play a crucial role in driving these advancements, as they are responsible for designing the physical components and systems at the core of these technologies. However, there is a notable shortage of hardware engineers entering the job market due to a tendency among many first-year computer science and electrical engineering students to gravitate towards software-related career paths, often because of limited exposure to hardware-related topics. To address this issue, our project, funded by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program, aims to cultivate an early interest in hardware engineering to motivate students to view it as a promising career option.

We are developing a hands-on and gamified curriculum to simplify fundamental hardware concepts such as binary numbers, logic gates, and combinational and sequential circuits. These concepts serve as a stepping stone for delving into the complexities of AI hardware and edge computing. We utilize hardware platforms such as low-cost Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and microcontroller and sensor-based IoT boards to facilitate this learning journey by introducing an additional abstraction layer. This approach is particularly beneficial for students with limited prior knowledge or experience with hardware, as it enables them to engage with these concepts, grasp their fundamental principles, and apply them to real-world situations. Our curriculum is rooted in inclusive practices, incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) principles. We also include Experiential Learning and Inquiry-Based Learning pedagogies. Our primary goal is to provide a curriculum that resonates with all students, fostering self-efficacy, building expectations for positive outcomes, triggering and supporting interest, and guiding career choices in hardware engineering.

During the summer of 2023, we held a six-week seminar involving ten high school students entering their senior year. This seminar consisted of in-person sessions, with two meetings held each week. To gauge the participants' interest and perceptions regarding the curriculum, we administered both pre- and post-surveys and a focus group to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences and perspectives. The insights gathered during this implementation phase were integrated into our project's design-based research (DBR) process, improving the curriculum. The enhanced curriculum now encompasses additional topics like Artificial Intelligence IoT (AIoT) and Edge AI. In the fall of 2023, this curriculum was part of an undergraduate course offered as an elective to twenty-two first-year engineering students. We will present the results of the curriculum's development and refinement throughout these iterations in the upcoming paper and poster presentation.

Authored by
Ing. Andrea Ramirez-Salgado (University of Florida), Tanvir Hossain (The University of Kansas), Dr. Swarup Bhunia (Affiliation unknown), and Dr. Pavlo Antonenko (Affiliation unknown)

Today’s young learners face a future riddled with challenges, including access to clean water, increasing biodiversity loss, and climate change. These challenges are particularly thorny because the underlying problems are ill-structured and can be perceived in multiple ways. Front-end design projects could provide a promising context for learning to approach these wicked challenges, but historically front-end design has been difficult to implement in K-12 settings due in part to student unfamiliarity, task complexity and limited resources and support for teachers. The four-year Mobile Design Studio or MODS project seeks to support teachers in engaging secondary students in front-end design where they explore and define problems, and then generate and review design ideas that combine scientific, technical engineering, social and contextual considerations.

The project targets Earth and Environmental Science challenges for late middle school and high school students. The project team is developing a learning environment in which students can jointly learn socio-scientific reasoning and design thinking skills for approaching these wicked challenges. To facilitate this, the project will extend an existing collaborative project-based learning environment with tools specifically supporting design projects. The platform will enable students to collaboratively explore, make connections, generate, and evaluate design ideas. Critically, the platform will incorporate a virtual AI design mentor that relies on Design Heuristics, an empirically-based creativity tool, to guide students through exploration of ideas. The AI mentor will “learn” from students’ design processes to better assist them. This agent will rely both on event-based design process logs (e.g., when a student adds to a team members’ sketch or revises their problem statement) generated by the system as well as a tagging typology informed by researcher analysis for distinguishing more convergent or divergent concept generation artifacts.

In conjunction with the development plan and following a design-based research approach, the team will research students’ learning of and ability to integrate socio-scientific reasoning and design thinking, as well as changes in students’ perceptions of science and engineering and engineering self-efficacy. For students, we leverage the funds of knowledge framework in our curricular structure to help students make connections between their social and community knowledge or resources and the project. The project team will also develop a robust set of professional development (PD) workshops and aim to investigate how the PD and classroom implementation impacts teachers engineering design self-efficacy, classroom scaffolding moves, and views of front-end design.

At the time of writing, the MODS project is beginning its second year after a heavy curriculum and technology development in the first year. We are seeking to run design-based pilots in the coming months. We will be investigating both student gains from working in the environment, and the degree to which a digital drawing tools enables creative thinking and willingness to iterate. The project holds potential to bring front-end design and integrated Earth Science and engineering projects into K-12 settings and provide a more comprehensive portrayal of engineering to students who may place a greater emphasis on community impact, such as young women and minoritized students.

Authored by
Dr. Corey T Schimpf (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York), Dr. Shanna R. Daly (University of Michigan), Ms. Leslie Bondaryk (The Concord Consortium), Dr. Jutshi Agarwal (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York), Dr. Carolyn Giroux (), Stephanie L. Harmon (PIMSER, Eastern Kentucky University), Enqiao (Annie) Fan (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York), Jacqueline Handley (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Dr. A Lynn Stephens (The Concord Consortium)

While the importance of communication skills is widely recognized in engineering professions and included in accreditation standards, developing such skills is challenging. Evidence-based best practices have been identified in writing studies but are not well known among faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Many of these best practices have been developed in courses capped at 15 to 30 students and do not scale well, which presents additional challenges for STEM faculty teaching large classes. Our Writing Across Engineering and Science team has taken a transdisciplinary action research approach to this problem, engaging across engineering, science, and writing studies to iteratively develop, implement, and assess collaborative solutions. The program we co-created includes a faculty learning community and individualized mentoring, both facilitated by transdisciplinary teams, to support STEM faculty as they adopt and adapt new writing pedagogies. Our analysis of program effectiveness is based primarily on faculty surveys, mentoring records, interviews, and analysis of course materials. In one case, we are also investigating the effects of pedagogical changes on student writing. To date, 54 faculty from 15 different STEM departments at our university have participated. Most participated only in the faculty learning community. Thirteen have participated in both the faculty learning community and the individual mentoring, while 7 participated only as mentees. Data are available for 12 of the faculty who participated only in the faculty learning community; 11 of these faculty reported making pedagogical changes. Of the 20 mentees, we have documented pedagogical changes from all 20. The examples provided illustrate both the types of pedagogical changes participants are making and the concepts that seem to be more difficult to implement. Overall, our analysis suggests that this program effectively promotes pedagogical change and innovation around writing in STEM classes.

Authored by
Bruce Kovanen (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Prof. Paul Prior (Affiliation unknown), Dr. John R Gallagher (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Ms. Celia Mathews Elliott (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Prof. John S Popovics P.E. (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Prof. S. Lance Cooper (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), and Julie L Zilles (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

The NSF S-STEM funded project "Attracting and Cultivating Cybersecurity Experts and Scholars through Scholarships" (ACCESS) has a goal to increase the number of high-achieving undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need who complete a degree in the cybersecurity field. This goal contributes towards addressing the huge unmet need for cybersecurity experts. This paper presents the activities and the accomplishments of the ACCESS project thus far. The ACCESS project has successfully awarded scholarships to four cohorts of students consisting of a total of 50 unique students and has achieved its objective to increase the annual enrollment in the B.S. and Area of Emphasis (AoE) in Cybersecurity at West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. Specifically, the enrollment has more than doubled since the beginning of the project. Over four years, the ACCESS project developed and offered numerous co-curricular activities and student support services and has strengthened its partnerships with many cybersecurity employers from the public and private sectors. Students’ feedback about the ACCESS project, which was provided using surveys and focus groups discussions conducted by the external evaluation team, was overwhelmingly positive and highlighted significant benefits to students’ academic success and their future professional careers. This paper also presents the lessons learned that were synthesized using the observations made by the project team and evaluation team, and the feedback provided by the students. These lessons learned can be institutionalized at West Virginia University and elsewhere in higher education to aid students' success in their education and future professional careers in the cybersecurity field.

Authored by
Dr. Katerina Goseva-Popstojanova (West Virginia University), Daniel Mackin Freeman (University of Washington), and Dr. Robin A.M. Hensel (West Virginia University)

The purpose of this project is to advance our understanding of the experiences, educational training, and research that supports the development of effective engineering education leaders assuming roles focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These roles include but are not limited to DEI University committee service, National Organizations focused on racial equity and the improvement of conditions for traditionally marginalized populations, DEI administrative roles in higher education, DEI advisory roles in funded projects, or DEI consulting work. In the context of this work, we conceptualize racial equity in engineering as a collection of outcomes, processes, and interpersonal treatments that are neither determined nor predicted by race or racial bias, that are sustainable and have a long-term impact.

Despite efforts in the field to broaden participation and make engineering more equitable and inclusive, we still fall short of attracting and retaining students and faculty members from traditionally marginalized populations, especially at the large engineering Institutions (which drive overall numbers). Part of the problem is that DEI initiatives, programs, and research is not supported by strong institutional commitment and policies.

In this paper, we report our updates on phase 1 of the project, which includes the conduction of a review of the literature to understand how DEI has been theorized in engineering education, and based on those theories, we describe the development of an interview protocol to understand the experiences, knowledge, and decision-making processes of DEI leaders. Similarly, we report on the development of criteria to be able to select our interview participants.

Authored by
Dr. Homero Murzi (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Miss Yi Cao (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Natali Huggins (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), and Andres Nieto Leal (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

The Multiple Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) has been developed over many years with substantial investment by the National Science Foundation through Engineering Education and Centers in the Engineering Directorate and the Division of Undergraduate Education in the Education and Human Resources Directorate. This project is focused on transitioning MIDFIELD to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). The current team of MIDFIELD researchers continues to support this project including helping others learn to use the database. We have developed detailed tutorials in R that introduce MIDFIELD, key metrics, and example scenarios. We have also designed and facilitated workshops. In year 2, we offered the MIDFIELD Institute, an online three-day workshop to help researchers learn about and use MIDFIELD effectively. Attendees included graduate students, early career faculty, senior faculty, and an NSF program officer. Results from the 2023 offering of the MIDFIELD Institute are described in this paper. Dissemination and products are also summarized.

Authored by
Dr. Susan M Lord (University of San Diego), Dr. Matthew W. Ohland (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. Marisa K. Orr (Clemson University), Dr. Richard A. Layton (), Dr. Catherine E. Brawner (Research Triangle Educational Consultants), Mr. Russell Andrew Long (Purdue Engineering Education), Haleh Barmaki Brotherton (Clemson University), Hayaam Osman (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Dr. Joe Roy (American Society for Engineering Education)

Ethics education has been recognized as increasingly important to engineering over the past two decades, although disagreement exists concerning how ethics can and should be taught in the classroom. With the support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program, a collaboration of investigators from the University of Connecticut, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Pittsburgh, and Rowan University are conducting a mixed-methods project investigating how game-based or playful learning with strongly situated components can influence first-year engineering students’ ethical knowledge, awareness, and decision making.

The popularity and prevalence of game-based or “playful” learning strategies has grown significantly over the past two decades, finding applications in a diverse range of educational contexts. Playful learning offers unique affordances for the practical assessment of ethics learning outcomes. Current ethical assessments often place undue emphasis on the categorization of knowledge and skills, while not sufficiently addressing the process through which students navigate and act on ethical dilemmas. This, we posit, is an area that needs redefining, given that ethical decision-making is rarely a linear process with single objective “right” answers and often involves iterative reasoning and interactive engagement with the problem. As such, we have developed a suite of ethics-driven classroom games that have been implemented and evaluated across three universities, engaging over 400 first-year engineering students over the past 3 years. Now in the grant’s final year, we are finishing the design of two of the game-based ethics interventions to (1) more accurately align with the ethical dilemmas in the Engineering Ethics Reasoning Instrument (EERI), (2) allow for more flexibility in modality of how the games are distributed to faculty and students, and (3) provide more variety in terms of the contexts of ethical dilemmas as well as types of dilemmas.

In this paper, we will summarize our findings to date, address the application of playful learning to engineering ethics education, and review some key challenges to successful implementation of playful learning. We assert that playful learning environments can afford the assessment of ethical decision making as a first-person interaction and engagement with dynamic information in the world. Challenging the status quo and redefining the teaching and learning of engineering ethics will open up a plethora of new research opportunities and should prompt a deeper, more critical engagement with the development of ethical engineers.

Authored by
Dr. Scott Streiner (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Daniel D. Burkey (University of Connecticut), Dr. Kevin D. Dahm (Rowan University), Dr. Richard Tyler Cimino (New Jersey Institute of Technology), and Tori Wagner (University of Connecticut)

The Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training at Scale (IMPACTS) mentoring program brings together Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the American Society for Engineering Education, and T-STEM External Evaluation to develop, implement, study, and evaluate an evolving mentoring model in engineering academia. The IMPACTS mentoring program is sponsored by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Broadening Participation in Engineering Track 3 award (#22-17745) and builds on the success of two prior NSF awards. The program was originally intended to be an innovative strategy to complement prevailing approaches that support career mentorship opportunities for engineering faculty of color while boosting the career longevity of emeriti faculty who served as mentors. Historically, mentees have been recruited through the Academic and Research Leadership Network, a database of minority STEM faculty, as well as the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. To create the mentoring matches, names of emeriti faculty are solicited from mentees, and then the program administrators contact the emeriti faculty and orient them to the program's goals. The primary goal of the mentoring program was to match emeriti faculty mentors with faculty of color mentees as they navigated the university promotion and tenure processes and established a greater professional presence in their field. Distinct from other mentoring models, this program moved beyond career development to include professional networking and advocacy by renowned emeriti faculty positioned to provide these resources and who had the flexibility, time, and desire to mentor faculty of color.

The current iteration of the IMPACTS mentoring program also includes white women engineering faculty as mentees. With the evolution of the mentoring model expanding to white women, the purpose of this ASEE NSF Grantee Poster is to report insights with a subset of past IMPACTS participants on the efficacy of this evolution. An instrumental case study design (Stake, 1995) was utilized, and inductive data analysis strategies (Silverman, 2019) were employed with the eight interviews conducted. Findings reveal three themes: (1) a great need exists for the mentorship of women faculty in male-dominated disciplinary fields; (2) including white women as mentees may overshadow the mentoring needs of faculty of color; and (3) the mentoring needs of women of color may be marginalized with the inclusion of white women. The findings indicate while including white women in the IMPACTS mentoring program potentially broadens the success and impact of this evolving model, it may negatively affect the mentoring experience of faculty of color, particularly women of color.

Authored by
Dr. Sylvia L. Mendez (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs), Dr. Comas Lamar Haynes (Georgia Tech Research Institute), Dr. Billyde Brown (Affiliation unknown), Ray Phillips (American Society for Engineering Education), Jennifer Tygret (Affiliation unknown), and Taelor Malcolm (Georgia Institute of Technology)

This paper reports on one aspect of a four-year NSF-funded transforming STEM undergraduate education initiative carried out at a public R1 Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in the U.S. southwest. The aim of the initiative focused on improving Latinx undergraduate STEM education through: 1) the restructuring of undergraduate STEM courses; 2) providing research opportunities; and 3) developing a near-peer mentoring program. This paper focuses on analyzing the use of a language-rich STEM Lesson Study (LR-LS) framework related to the restructuring of critical undergraduate engineering courses (Authors, 2021; Author 2023). Lesson study (LS) meetings were intended to offer faculty professional development on teaching and learning practices as well as a collaborative space to redesign course lessons. In this paper we examine the extent to which faculty engage in the LR-LS framework through a fidelity of implementation (FOI) analysis across four-years. FOI refers here to adherence and quality of implementation of the instructional model (Akiba et al., 2022; Albers & Pattuwage, 2017). Additionally, a report on student outcome data in relation to the FOI of the LR-LS framework is provided.
The LR-LS framework incorporates socio-cultural pedagogical principles within lesson study designed to improve instruction and learning through focused attention to learning challenges (Cerbin, 2018; Lewis & Perry 2014; Wood & Cajkler, 2018). To examine the FOI, an LR-LS FOI rubric was developed to score faculty on five core indicators of the LR-LS framework: 1) STEM/academic literacy, 2) orientations to student learning, 3) affordances for student interaction, 4) reflective practice, and 5) faculty leadership. The quality of the implementation was assessed using a four-point scale. A score of “0” means the indicator was not present, “1” reflects minimal implementation, “2” reflects moderate implementation, and “3” reflects strong implementation. Data were drawn from four semesters of LS activities consisting of 46 LS meeting transcripts and 6 classroom observation video-logs of lesson implementations for two focal engineering instructors. The authors analyzed and coded LS meeting transcripts and video recorded lessons with respect to LR-LS FOI rubric indicators. The authors then reviewed the coded segments and scored individual engineering faculty. Composite scores for each of the two engineering faculty were calculated across four semesters to examine the quality of their engagement with the LR-LS framework. These scores ranged from moderate (score less than 2) to high levels of implementation (score greater than or equal to 2).
The findings of the student outcome data indicated differences between Latinx students who participated in a course section with high FOI (Vasquez Cano & Yin, 2023). Latinx students in high FOI course sections had a higher change in STEM self-efficacy, were more likely to still be enrolled in a STEM major, be in good academic standing, and to apply to graduate school. While students in a section with moderate FOI experienced an increase in sense of belonging (Vasquez Cano & Yin, 2023). However, the results of the regression analysis, while indicating a positive trend in outcome measures, did not reach statistical significance. Recommendations for higher education practitioners and researchers are provided.

Authored by
Janeth Martinez-Cortes (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Mark Appleford (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Jose Francisco Herbert Acero (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Harry R. Millwater Jr. (The University of Texas at San Antonio), and Prof. Heather Shipley (The University of Texas at San Antonio)

Two-year colleges, with their open access missions, have significant impact on higher education. These institutions enroll a large percentage of the total undergraduate population (36-41 percent), and 49 percent of all students who completed a four-year degree had some previous enrollment at a two-year college. Yet, in engineering education, there is little empirical understanding of this large, pre-transfer student population. Research that does exist examines students’ post-transfer experiences at a single institution and little to none examines the impact of geographic and demographic variances between students. The purpose of this NSF CAREER grant Valuing Education and Career Transition Opportunities Raising Student Success (VECTORS) is to address this gap and advance understanding of the assets, factors, and strategies that increase two-year college engineering transfer student outcomes and improve broad access to engineering education and baccalaureate degree programs. The theoretical framework guiding this work is transfer student capital (TSC).
Thus far, the mixed methods approach of this project has contributed to engineering transfer research through four initial studies. First, foundational theoretical understanding was established through a systematic literature review of the theory of TSC in engineering and STEM. This literature review described underlying theoretical frameworks and new theoretical perspectives on TSC in engineering education contexts. Second, for a national view of the engineering transfer landscape, interviews were conducted with experts and researchers focused on collecting perspectives, expertise, and knowledge of assets, factors, and strategies engineering transfer students. These interviews identified demographic and geographic assets and “friction points”, effective formal policies and interinstitutional collaborations, and the importance of increasing meaningful financial aid and financial literacy for engineering transfer students. Third, the quantitative research phase of this project shifted focus to students with the distribution of surveys to pre-transfer two-year college students. The survey was adapted from three existing engineering and general transfer student surveys. Findings revealed significant differences in skills developed and the importance of experiences with faculty and staff based on institution, gender, and first generation and nontraditional statuses. Finally, since later phases of this project will focus on developing a digital engineering transfer student dashboard, a study of existing digital transfer tools was conducted. This study collected data from expert and researcher interviews, published transfer literature, and Internet searches. Results identified degree audit tools, articulation agreement websites, cost calculators, for-profit apps, automated text engagement platforms, and various websites. While these tools all have value, none had a focus on engineering transfer or students’ personalized needs for building TSC to support successful transfer to a baccalaureate institution.
In addition to the research findings of this project, other important outcomes are emerging. This includes bringing new participants into the discipline of engineering education such as experts, administrators, and faculty in other disciplines. This work also served to bring greater awareness to the specific problem identified in prior research of viewing transfer students through a deficit-based perspective. The research resulting from this current and future work will be to promote transfer students from an assets-based lens.

Authored by
Dr. Kristin Kelly Frady (Clemson University) and Randi Sims (Clemson University)

The Influence of Belongingness and Academic Support during a Global Pandemic for Engineering Students through Participation in an S-STEM Intervention Project

Dr. George K. Quainoo, Dept of Physics and Engineering, North Park University, Chicago, IL

Dr. Elizabeth Gray, Dept of Psychology, North Park University, Chicago, IL

Dr. Sunshine Silver, Dept of Chemistry, North Park University, Chicago, IL

Dr. Timothy Lin, Dept of Biology, North Park University, Chicago, IL

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this S-STEM intervention project is to provide support for talented but financially needy students to increase degree completion and successful job placement in STEM fields. The project provides support through scholarship funding and participation in an academic cohort designed to provide experiential learning in career-relevant spaces. Students in our sample were completing their STEM degrees during the recent “COVID years”, a time when they were not only at risk due to financial hardship, but also separated physically from teachers, peers, mentors, and opportunities. Although COVID had a negative effect on the types of experiences available to these students, participation in this program has helped them to thrive, persist and succeed. Through group meetings, guest speakers, career development participation and trips to engineering industry sites, the group developed professional relationships with peers and faculty, and belongingness within the university community. While in the program students were assessed yearly on the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and measures of cognitive flexibility, attitudes about STEM, grit, self-control, professional readiness, and involvement. The psychological connection, made possible by this program, has led to academic growth and professional development which in turn has supported degree completion and job placement success for students. Specifically, students, despite a pandemic, showed growth in academic performance, cognitive skills, and career networks through the support of their S-STEM mentor, program guidance, tutoring, and internship opportunities.

Authored by
Prof. George Kow Quainoo (North Park University)

Over the past 50 years, there has been little change in the way that most academic departments in U.S. universities conduct their day-to-day affairs. Many reasons contribute to the lack of innovation in department operations, which includes;
• We have been doing this forever, and it works well, so why change it?
• Is this a high priority issue, that needs attention now?
• Are we being assessed for this, if not, then why bother?
• Change is hard, so why we ask for trouble?
The XXXX department at YYYYY university has been wrestling with the same questions for a while. In the meantime, we recognized that in recent years, many software companies have made the transition to using agile processes which resulted in delivering higher quality software within the schedule and budget. We also noticed other industries such as automobile, business, military, also started using agile processes as part of their day-to-day operations. Given the above fact, we thought we could incorporate agile processes, more specifically Scrum, as part of our department operation.

Scrum is a framework to facilitate productivity by prioritizing tasks with the highest value and by working in short time increments within a "inspect and adapt" framework. One of the fundamental principles behind the Scrum framework is the integration of the stakeholders (constituents, customers) as part of the project. This integration allows the project requirements to be adjusted during the development process, therefore we have an opportunity to adjust and respond to the needs of the stakeholder in a timely manner. In addition, regular reviews by customers and other stakeholders, and the feedback provided resulted from these reviews we could improve the quality of the final product.

Over the last four years, the XXXX department have adopted the Scrum framework as a change strategy for the operation of the EECS department. Throughout this time, we have conducted over twenty projects, where the faculty, staff, and students worked together to deliver products that were useful to the department. Based on our experiences with these projects, we noticed that the integration of the Scrum process not only improved the quality of the products that are resulted in much shorter time span, we also recognized an increase in faculty, staff and student participation. Another observation is associated with the importance of the feedback as part of the department operation. Since Scrum framework is built on the principles of inspection and adaptation, where feedback drives the inspection process, and the team adapts based on that feedback to optimize its performance and outcomes. Within engineering departments, Scrum requires departments to examine how and when feedback is obtained to ensure that the department is remaining agile. This poster illustrates the role of feedback within two Scrum teams, one focused on student success and the other focused on faculty rewards and incentives. The two cases emphasize the need for continuous introspection at team and department levels.

Authored by
Dr. Massood Towhidnejad (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), Dr. Omar Ochoa (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach), and Dr. James J. Pembridge (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach)

It is well-known that a significant population of doctoral students drop out of their graduate programs and face or develop significant mental health distress. Stress plays a role in exacerbating mental health distress in both engineering PhD programs and more broadly for university students in general. While rates of dropout for engineering students may not differ strongly from other disciplines, engineering students have been suggested to be less likely to seek help from university services for well-being concerns. In the first year of our three‐year NSF RFE project, we interviewed doctoral engineering students to identify major stressors present in the doctoral engineering experience at the present study’s focal institution. In the second year of our project, we had developed the Stressors for Doctoral Students Questionnaire – Engineering (SDSQ-E), a novel survey which measures the frequency and severity of these top sources of stress for doctoral engineering students. The SDSQ-E was designed using the results of first year interviews and a review of the literature on stress for doctoral engineering students. In year three, we completed analysis of the year 3 data and conducted further testing of the SDSQ-E. We also developed a discipline-general form of the survey, called the SDSQ-G. In October-December 2023, we administered these surveys to engineering PhD students as a subset of a large sample of graduate students at two institutions. Further, we tested the potential for the SDSQ-E to predict factors such as anxiety, depression, or intention to persist in doctoral programs. We broadly summarize these survey distributions including tests of the SDSQ-E for validity, fairness, and reliability.

Authored by
Jennifer Cromley (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Karin Jensen (University of Michigan), and Dr. Joseph Francis Mirabelli (University of Michigan)

We describe the deliberate changes made since 2005 in our department and how those changes have affected every aspect in the department for our faculty, staff, and students. The external fundings by various federal agencies, including the S-STEM funding from the National Science Foundation, have played important roles to transform our department for the better. The improvements include:

* inclusion and understanding the needs of faculty, staff, and students
* building a community and an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable and has a sense of belonging
* mutual respect among faculty, staff, and students
* synergy among faculty, staff, and students
* student mentoring not just by faculty but also by staff, industrial mentors, and peer mentoring by students
* using financial and other resources optimally but generously for student success
* initiation of programs and activities benefiting students
* building good relationships with other mathematics departments in Texas, in the neighboring states, and also in the nation

We share the lessons learned and the best practices developed during the transformation, and we explain how the external fundings have helped us for the transformation.

Authored by
Prof. Tuncay Aktosun (The University of Texas at Arlington), Dr. Yolanda Parker (Tarrant County College District), and Prof. Jianzhong Su (The University of Texas at Arlington)

Comprehensive experiences with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the pre-school settings can assist young students in learning about computer science and engineering in K-12 classrooms. Such experiences are also an important way to attract more students to STEM careers. Currently however, the number of high-quality STEM education resources and materials available to preschool educators is limited. This is particular the case in areas of high poverty in communities that have been under-resourced longitudinally. This research addresses a gap in preschool teachers’ capacity to support young children’s STEM content knowledge by determining what sorts of technology is present in children’s home, and how such technological experiences impact children’s familiarization with and use of technology in preschool classrooms for children ages three-five. The presented study is part of a larger, NSF funded project in which preschoolers, their teachers and their families experience an intervention to improve children’s access to technology and experience in pre-engineering and early computer science education via professional development with their early childhood teachers.

The referenced “umbrella” study’s research questions include: (1) In what ways does the project’s infusing of play-based early computer science and pre-engineering into child development programs impact young children’s early computer science and pre-engineering knowledge, and their knowledge of and early interest in STEM careers? (2) What is the relationship between the project’s teacher professional development model and participating teachers’ content knowledge of early computer science and pre-engineering and instructional performance? (3) What impact does the teachers’ cyber-safety focused professional development have on the cyber-safe practices of participating preschool teachers and their young students? And (4) What role do young students’ early technology experiences play in their comfort with, interest in and understanding of technology use?

The full research project employs a teacher professional development program that allows preschool educators and university STEM faculty to co-create materials and engage in teacher professional development together. This is “work in progress” research during its second year in operation. In the first year of the project, the research team engaged in research on the needs of teachers in diverse early childhood education. These results were presented last year (2023) at ASEE.

This 2024 ASEE paper submission responds to the fourth research question (above) of the referenced larger early education study regarding children’s use of and comfort with technology use. This question was included in the research because the literature suggests that frequency of use of technology and familiarization with technology increases K-12 students’ interest in STEM majors in college and careers; so as researchers, we wish to determine the level of interest, experience and comfort with technology young children have in their homes and how that may impact their in-class technology familiarization and use. This is of particular importance for the population engaged with this research because 92.3% of them are considered under-resourced financially by federal poverty standards.

For the present paper, we conducted a family survey on the use of technology in children’s home who are in the preschools in which the teacher participants for the larger study teach. The family survey collected information about the types of technology the child had in their homes, whether the young children in the families witnessed use of the technology, (a proxy for learning vicariously from about technology), whether they used the technology themselves, and then compared that information to the children’s use, familiarization and comfort with using technology in their preschool classroom. Results of this research indicated that the majority of the preschool children had only experiences using a smart phone or television, either vicariously or directly. Nearly 100% of the children had access to television. Of those who had smart phones in their home 64.1 percent had direct experience playing with a smart phone. Only 26% of the children had experiences with computers and these experience were primarily vicariously, watching either a parent, other adult, or an older sibling using a computer. Very few children used a robot at home, a few had access to an e-tablet, and a small number of children had access to musical technology. The connections to use in the classroom were rather profound. Of those who used technology other than a TV, the more frequent and the variability in technology use, the more comfortable the children were with in-class technology use. Full empirical results of the family survey will presented in the full paper that will correspond to this paper abstract.

Authored by
Dr. Gisele Ragusa (University of Southern California)

In this paper, we report on the progress of a collaboration between engineering education and machine learning researchers to analyze student thinking in written short-answer responses to conceptually challenging questions using machine learning. Eliciting short-answer explanations that ask students to justify their answer choice to conceptually challenging multiple-choice questions has been shown to improve students’ answer choices, engagement, and overall conceptual understanding [1], [2]. Additionally, these short-answer responses provide valuable information for instructors and researchers to gain insight into student thinking [3]; however, analyzing these responses is cumbersome. Previous work utilizing natural language processing in education research has shown that Large Language Models (LLMs) such as T5 [4] and GPT-3 [5] are capable of coding the student responses reaching F1 scores up to 73% when trained on or prompted with in-context examples respectively [4]. Thus, using NLP to qualitatively code short-answer responses can help researchers and instructors gain more information about student thinking. We have the following goals:
- For instructors, we want to create a tool to help them learn about patterns of student reasoning and sense-making in short-answer responses. Utilizing this information can help them shift their instructional practices.
- For education researchers, we want to create a tool to help them understand and code aspects of student thinking in short-answer responses that can help them develop codes or themes for future study.
- For machine learning researchers, we aim to develop language models and a set of prompting strategies to code student answers. The models should be able to identify and annotate the key concept and reasoning behind the answer choice in the given text. We hope to develop language models and prompting strategies which can generalize on newer science questions which can help instructors use it as a tool to gain deeper insights into students’ understanding of the concept.

At the 2022 ASEE Annual Meeting [6], we described the preliminary results of work done to apply large pre-trained generative sequence-to-sequence language models [4], [5] to automate qualitative coding of short-answer explanations to a statics concept question. At the 2023 Annual Meeting [7], we began to conceptualize a human-computer partnership where human coding and computer coding can influence one another to better analyze student narratives of understanding. Additionally, we began thinking about promoting linguistic justice in our coding processes to ensure all narratives of understanding are attended to. This paper describes the progress we are making to improve our prompting strategies for GPT-4 and finetuning other open source LLMs like Llama-2 [8] on the manually coded answers, extending qualitative and machine learning analysis to another engineering context, as well as what we are doing to conceptualize a human-machine partnership to understand student thinking in written short-answer responses.

Authored by
Harpreet Auby (Tufts University), Namrata Shivagunde (University of Massachusetts, Lowell), Anna Rumshisky (University of Massachusetts, Lowell), and Dr. Milo Koretsky (Tufts University)

Community college students who transfer to 4-year institutions for engineering degrees are known to face significant adversity. Some common challenges they face include having minimal financial resources, a lack of engineering-oriented mentorship, and prolonged time to degree. Engineering transfer students are naturally diverse, ranging in age, experience, and motivation. Some have carved paths that include, for example, military service, starting a family of their own, or switching their career aims. The nuanced nature of the transfer student experience challenges higher education professionals to identify innovative ways for transfer students to meet their individualized goals.

The engineering transfer students aim to transition from a previous institution to a 4-year baccalaureate institution, obtain an engineering undergraduate or graduate degree, and, finally, transition into an engineering-oriented career. These are major transitions. Schlossberg has identified factors that influence an individual’s ability to cope with their experienced transitions, namely, situation, self, support, and strategies. Through this lens, the transfer experiences and transfer shocks undergone by these ambitious students may be better understood and improved.

A partnership between a 4-year institution, the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and two community colleges, Imperial Valley College (IVC) and Southwestern College (SWC), has been formed to better understand and support transfer engineering students as they make major transitions in, through, and out of their respective institutions. Through this partnership, a supportive program called EMPOWER has been devised to assemble cohorts of Pell-grant-eligible engineering transfer students so that their diverse and timely needs can be addressed. Scholarships and high-impact practices have been offered to these students. Program activities include cross-campus visits, faculty, and alumni mentorship, financially supported research opportunities, and cohort-supporting social opportunities. Through focus groups and survey questionnaires, the transition experience for these students is further investigated. In this paper, an outline is provided detailing the common challenges faced by engineering transfer students as they transition toward their careers, along with high-impact practices to support them.

Authored by
Prof. Karcher Morris (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Jaclyn Duerr (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Saharnaz Baghdadchi (University of California, San Diego), and Prof. Bill Lin (University of California, San Diego)

The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program plays a crucial role in fostering research interests among undergraduate students, motivating them to pursue advanced degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and developing a diverse, skilled workforce for STEM careers. Annually, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awards approximately 170-190 REU grants. The funding for REU sites often reflects current trends in research. Our study aims to examine REU sites’ contributions in terms of scholarly publications and student training over the past six years. Additionally, we explore the research themes of these REU sites and compare them with those in the Web of Science (WoS) database.

The NSF award database provides details about 3,500 REU awards, including project titles, abstracts, funding periods, and NSF directories. All REU award information is reformatted into the WoS citation format for thorough analysis using a literature analysis tool CiteSpace. Utilizing CiteSpace, we create and visualize topic clusters based on terms and keywords of REU titles and abstracts. Outcome data of REU sites is extracted from the 'Disclaimer/Publications' sections found in the Project Outcomes Reports on NSF award webpages. Quantifiable metrics are extracted, including the number of REU trainees and underrepresented and/or minority students, the number of publications produced, and the number of students who advanced to graduate studies.

Distribution of REU awards across various NSF directories is summarized, highlighting the emphasized areas of REU programs. Examining the quantified outcomes of the REU projects, such as the number of trainees, underrepresented trainees, publications, and students joining graduate school, facilitates a quantitative evaluation of the impact of REU programs and verifies REU sites’ efforts to meet the goals of NSF REU program. Research themes of REU awards and engineering, science and technology-related publications from WoS are represented through the creation of topic clusters. Shared research themes from REU programs and WoS publications suggest that REU sites are keeping pace with the current and emerging trends in scientific research and that the REU program is an effective vehicle for contributing new knowledge to the research community. The analysis of the REU outcome data shows that REU sites made effective efforts in increasing the percentage of underrepresented students.

This study represents the first systematic and quantitative analysis of REU grants in terms of their research trends and outcomes. The insights gained will provide valuable information on the evolution of REU research areas and the scholarly impacts of REU programs, benefiting and aspiring REU principal investigators, grant administrators, and a broader range of researchers.

Authored by
Dr. Yanxia Jia (Arcadia University), Tiantian Wang (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Chaomei Chen (Drexel University), and Yu-Fang Jin (The University of Texas at San Antonio)

Interdisciplinary Traineeship for Socially Responsible and Engaged Data Scientists (iTREDS) program trains undergraduate students at the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College in data science through a lens of social responsibility and community engagement, including rigor and responsibility, ethics, society, and policy. The mission of the two-year iTREDS program is to educate the next generation of data scientists in a way that ensure ethics and social responsibility are intertwined with delivering data-driven solutions in the real world. Students are encouraged to produce impactful and equitable solutions while appreciating the ethical implications of data science innovation and results. Entering its fourth year, the NSF-funded (award number 1924279) iTREDS program stands tall as a remarkable tale of achievement and impact. Not only does it boast an impressive rate of women and minority participation for when compared to other data science programs, but also many student capstone projects are informed by real-life problems and are implemented to make a real difference.
Envisioning the future, we set out to create an exceptional data science education program that not only empowers students to harness the potential of data and technology but also cultivates their ability to contemplate its impact on society. Thus, iTREDS was born—an embodiment of this visionary idea. Through an interdisciplinary and hands-on learning approach, we foster collaboration between students and stakeholders to tackle data-driven challenges while honing essential skills within a well-structured curriculum. At its core, iTREDS embraces the convergence of data-centered and human-centered methodologies. The iTREDS program encompasses a range of carefully crafted objectives:
1. A comprehensive data science curriculum that fosters data acumen and provides interdisciplinary experiential learning opportunities, with a focus on creating a positive societal impact.
2. A year-long capstone project that serves as a tangible framework for experiential learning and showcases the utility and value of data science in driving positive change in society.
3. Programming that nurtures the principles of design thinking and encourages students to collaborate closely with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and varying levels of expertise, thereby enabling collective and innovative problem-solving.
4. A curriculum infused with a strong emphasis on data ethics, ensuring students develop a keen sense of responsibility and ethical awareness while working with data.
5. Enhanced professional development for undergraduate students that enables them to communicate complex concepts effectively to decision-makers and the broader public. Valuable practicum opportunities through internships that allow students to gain real world experience and apply their knowledge in practical settings.
This paper reports on the accomplishments of the program over the four cohorts, presents lessons learned, opportunities for improvement, and recommendations for incorporating elements of iTREDS into data science curriculum at other universities or programs.

Authored by
Dr. Valentina Kuskova (University of Notre Dame), Prof. Nitesh Chawla (Affiliation unknown), Sugana Chawla (University of Notre Dame), Dr. Danielle Wood (University of Notre Dame), and Ann-Marie Conrado (University of Notre Dame)

Abstract: There is a need for seamless and inexpensive approaches to detect and treat various types of cancer as diagnoses and deaths continue to increase in the United States (1.95 million new cases and 609,820 deaths in 2023), while cost of treatment also remains high ($1.16 trillion annually). The development of sensitive and accurate methods for detection of cancer in the early stages is essential, as ninety percent of all cancer deaths are caused by metastasis of original tumors. It is also necessary to have a diverse source of trained medical professionals and engineers, that will advance such emerging technologies. Organizations with above-average diversity in their teams report higher innovation successes. Unfortunately, there is a minimum uptick in minorities and women representation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce from 1995 to 2017. The Undergraduate Research and Innovation Experience in Cancer Diagnosis and Therapeutic Intervention, is a summer research experience for undergraduates (REU) that includes research, education, and training activities for thirty students over three years, from underrepresented minority groups. Such groups include African Americans, LatinX, women, students with disabilities and first-generation college students. The goals of this project are to 1) engage undergraduate students to foster innovative research cancer diagnostics to therapeutic intervention; 2) cultivate multidisciplinary research among NJIT faculty; and 3) increase the participation in research by underrepresented minority groups, resulting in participants being co-authors on publications and presenters at scientific conferences. During the 10-week summer program, domestic student participants’ main activities include carrying out individual cancer-related research projects in biomedical engineering, materials science and photonics. Students gain perspective on their career paths through weekly seminars with current doctoral candidates, medical professionals, entrepreneurs and engineers working in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. After their experience in the summer REU, a number of students were able to present their work at multiple conferences, including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting and National Pre-health Conference. In addition, students were able to publish as a co-author with their summer mentor and advisor; become inductees to the National Academy of Inventors; and have continued on to post-undergraduate STEM programs. Through a series of surveys conducted by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at New Jersey Institute of Technology, participants were largely satisfied with the program and would recommend it to other undergraduates. This REU will continue to strive to: 1) increase the number of undergraduates participating in research projects focused on cancer related research; 2) increase communication of bio-inspired science and engineering to undergraduate peers, faculty and general audience; and 3) diversify the supply of scientists and engineers contributing to American industries and economics as a whole.

Authored by
Dr. Nellone Eze Reid (New Jersey Institute of Technology)

Recent advancements in robotics, including applications like self-driving cars, unmanned systems, and medical robots, have had a significant impact on the job market. On one hand, big robotics companies offer training programs based on the job requirements. However, these training programs may not be as beneficial as general robotics programs offered by universities or community colleges. On the other hand, community colleges and universities face challenges with the required resources, especially qualified instructors, to offer students advanced robotics education. Furthermore, the diverse backgrounds of undergraduate students present additional challenges. Some students bring extensive industry experience, while others are newcomers to the field. To address these challenges, we propose a student-centered personalized learning framework for robotics. This framework allows a general instructor to teach undergraduate-level robotics courses by breaking down course topics into smaller components with well-defined topic dependencies, structured as a graph. This modular approach enables students to choose their learning path, catering to their unique preferences and pace. Moreover, our framework's flexibility allows for easy customization of teaching materials to meet the specific needs of host institutions. In addition to teaching materials, a frequently-asked-questions document would be prepared for a general instructor. If students' robotics questions cannot be answered by the instructor, the answers to these questions may be included in this document. For questions not covered in this document, we can gather and address them through collaboration with the robotics community and course content creators. Our user study results demonstrate the promise of this method in delivering undergraduate-level robotics education tailored to individual learning outcomes and preferences.

Authored by
Dr. Rui Wu (East Carolina University), Dr. Sergiu Dascalu (University of Nevada, Reno), Dr. Zhen Zhu (East Carolina University), Dr. David Feil-Seifer (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Marjorie Campo Ringler (East Carolina University), Bryan C. Hutchins (Affiliation unknown), Laura Rosof (Affiliation unknown), Ponkoj Chandra Shill (University of Nevada, Reno), Hossein Jamali (University of Nevada, Reno), and Frederick C Harris Jr. (University of Nevada, Reno)

This work presents the first year of work on a project addressing the productive beginnings of engineering judgment in undergraduate engineering students. In particular, we discuss a new research question about how open-ended modeling problems (OEMPs), which engage students in engineering judgment, foster the growth of conceptual knowledge. Because OEMPs are open-ended with multiple answers, they are different from the typical well-defined “textbook” problems given in engineering science courses where students learn canonical mathematical models and apply relevant formulas to find a single correct answer. By looking at the conceptual gains that result from assigning an OEMP, we aim to convince other instructors to create and assign open-ended questions. More practice using engineering judgment will give students experience with engineering judgment before receiving their engineering degree. Ideally, this will increase the number of graduates prepared for real-world engineering application.

Authored by
Melissa Joan Caserto (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York), Dr. Jessica E S Swenson (University at Buffalo, The State University of New York), and Dr. Aaron W. Johnson (University of Michigan)

Many physics and engineering students struggle with conceptual understanding of electricity and magnetism concepts that involve visualizing abstract 3D models. An augmented reality (AR) app called MARVLS: Physics II E/&M developed for a smartphone or tablet, allows students to interact with many different conceptual models in a second semester introductory physics course. In this study, we examine how students develop conceptual understanding as they interact with an augmented reality model representing the magnetic field surrounding a long current bearing wire in the MARVLS App. A grounded theory framework is used to analyze semi-structured interviews with students as they use the App through guided interactions with the AR models. This study examines how students incorporate manipulable AR visualizations into their conceptual understanding of magnetism concepts.

Authored by
Michele W. McColgan (Siena College), Dr. Jason Morphew (Purdue University, West Lafayette), Dr. George E Hassel (Siena College), Junior Anthony Bennett (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and Dr. Megan Clark Kelly (Siena College)

Whether in response to the mental health crisis or the widespread inequities and discrimination within engineering graduate programs, the graduate engineering education community needs to take targeted action to create systemic change and healing from standing systemic issues. This collaborative research project focuses on graduate program faculty administrators, or Graduate Program Directors (GPDs), who are central to improving and sustaining graduate mental health and well-being. GPDs can shape departmental procedures, enact institutional policies, and disrupt power dynamics between faculty and students. Yet, as prior work has shown, little attention is given to and little is known about GPDs. Through research on those who hold power in the graduate engineering ecosystem, we can re-imagine the defaults of graduate education to support students experiencing, or who have experienced, trauma, a severe and highly interconnected mental health outcome. In particular, we leverage trauma-informed frameworks of care, theoretically-informed models of care that guide practice. These frameworks can enable engineering graduate education to realize the widespread impacts of trauma, recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma, and respond by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into practice and policy to prevent (re)traumatization of individuals and groups.

This paper and poster will provide an overview of the entire project plan and preliminary results of our first two research questions: (1) What are the characteristic roles of engineering graduate program directors in fostering cultures of care in their programs? and (2) How do the systemic structures within higher education impact engineering graduate program directors’ implementation of trauma-informed frameworks of care? Using a two-phase research design, the research team, composed of faculty and graduate students, seeks to learn from and with GPDs. Through multiple forms of data collection (i.e., national survey, interviews), Phase 1 is characterizing the extent to which and how programs leverage care practices and where change is needed. Phase 2 will leverage the resulting characterizations to co-create an evidence-based professional development framework for designing trauma-informed systems of care within engineering graduate programs. As part of Phase 1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 Graduate Program Directors and Coordinators (i.e., administrative staff who support the graduate program) from a diverse set of institutions and disciplinary programs. The interviews sought to understand the roles and responsibilities of the GPDs and coordinators as well as the experiences of the GPDs and coordinators as they seek to support their students, especially in cases where students could or are experiencing trauma. Leveraging trauma-informed frameworks of care and systems analysis techniques, the data analysis has focused on the first two research questions. Preliminary results will be shared to provide a foundation for future professional development activities that seek to partner and co-create with engineering GPDs ways that can make care a programmatic default within their programs and institutions.

Authored by
Dr. Alexandra Coso Strong (Florida International University), Dr. Adam Kirn (University of Nevada, Reno), Kaitlyn Anne Thomas (University of Nevada, Reno), Mais Kayyali (Florida International University), and Dr. Kelsey Scalaro (University of Nevada, Reno)

Despite recent progress in the adoption of engineering at the K-12 level, the scarcity of high-quality engineering curricula remains a challenge. With support from a previous NSF grant, our research team iteratively developed the three-year middle school engineering curricula, STEM-ID. Through a series of contextualized challenges, the 18-week STEM-ID curricula incorporate foundational mathematics and science skills and practices and advanced manufacturing tools such as computer aided design (CAD) and 3D printing, while introducing engineering concepts like pneumatics, aeronautics, and robotics.

Our current project, supported by an NSF DRK-12 grant, seeks to examine the effectiveness of STEM-ID when implemented in diverse schools within a large school district in the southeastern United States. This paper will present early findings of the project’s implementation research conducted over two school years with a total of ten engineering teachers in nine schools. Guided by the Innovation Implementation framework (Century & Cassata, 2014), our implementation research triangulates observation, interview, and survey data to describe overall implementation of STEM-ID as well as implementation of six critical components of the curricula: engaging students in the engineering design process (EDP), math-science integration, collaborative group work, contextualized challenges, utilization of advanced manufacturing technology, and utilization of curriculum materials. Implementation data provide clear evidence that each of the critical components of STEM-ID were evident as the curricula were enacted in participating schools. Our data indicate strong implementation of four critical components (utilization of materials, math-science integration, collaborative group work, and contextualized challenges) across teachers. Engaging students in the EDP and advanced-manufacturing technology were implemented, to varying degrees, by all but two teachers. As expected, implementation of critical components mirrored overall implementation patterns, with teachers who completed more of the curricula tending to implement the critical components more fully than those who did not complete the curricula. In addition to tracking implementation of critical components, the project is also interested in understanding contextual factors that influence enactment of the curricula, including characteristics of the STEM-ID curricula, teachers, and organizations (school and district). Interview and observation data suggest a number of teacher characteristics that may account for variations in implementation including teachers’ organization and time management skills, self-efficacy, and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Notably, prior teaching experience did not consistently translate into higher completion rates, emphasizing the need for targeted support regardless of teachers' backgrounds. This research contributes valuable insights into the challenges and successes of implementing engineering curricula in diverse educational settings.

Authored by
Dr. Jessica D Gale (Georgia Institute of Technology), Dr. Meltem Alemdar (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Roxanne Moore (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Many students from structurally disadvantaged groups who are interested in a career in engineering choose an engineering technology (ET) college major over one in engineering. The need to identify the reasons for the over-representation of African American (AA) students in particular in ET, and to better understand the extent to which the apparent popularity of ET results from systemic racism and restricted access to engineering frame this project. The central goal of this project is to gain insight into the racial equity implications of the ET pathway- informed by the voices and experiences of African American ET students, technologists, and engineers.
According to data from the ASEE [1], the enrollment in both bachelor’s and master’s programs in ET has been increasing over the past ten years. Despite this, many in academia, K-12 education, and industry are not familiar with ET and the differences and similarities between technologists (graduates of 4-year bachelors programs in ET), engineers, and technicians. The 2016 report “Engineering Technology Education in the United States” published by the National Academies Press examined many aspects of the status, role, and needs of ET education [2]. The percentage of students earning 4-year ET degrees who are AA is almost three times that of students earning 4-year degrees in engineering who are AA [2]. ASEE annual data shows that there is a significantly higher percentage of AA students enrolled in four-year ET programs than in engineering programs at many of the institutions that offer ABET accredited programs in both engineering and ET [1]. The NAE report recommended that agencies consider funding research ‘to better understand the reasons for the preference for ET over engineering of African American students’. Indeed, issues associated with African American students’ career pathways within STEM and the choice of ET versus engineering remain largely underexplored in the literature. We conjecture that the factors influencing the choice of ET over engineering for many of these students include systemic issues related to the quality of pre-college mathematics and science preparation, career counseling received (or not received) in high school and college, a preference for a more ’hands-on’ curriculum, as well as socioeconomic, institutional, and psychological factors. In addition, hidden stereotypes in the branding and marketing of engineering and ET, and implicit bias in advising may contribute to students’ perception that their cultural perspectives are more aligned with ET than with engineering.
Here we present preliminary results based on focus group interviews of African American ET students at a predominantly White institution (PWI) where engineering technology is housed within the college of engineering. We also discuss the planned next phases of the research that include focus groups at a large PWI where ET is in its own college which is separate from the college of engineering, as well as a survey which will be informed by the focus group data. This survey will be disseminated to ET students at the two institutions in the study as well as other universities with ABET accredited ET programs.
Through this research, we have to gain a better understanding of the factors that influence the decisions of AA students to pursue degrees in ET over engineering and how these relate to systemic racism will contribute to the existing knowledge of how the pipeline to engineering careers and the professoriate might be strengthened. It will help inform strategies and new approaches toward full participation of engineering technologists in engineering. Potential strategies might include the facilitation of pathways from a bachelor’s degree in ET to advanced engineering degrees, the engineering professorate, and professional engineering registration,

[1] ASEE Editorial Board, "Profiles of engineering and engineering technology colleges," 2018: American Society for Engineering Education, 2018.
[2] G. Pearson, R. M. Latanision, and K. G. Frase, Engineering Technology Education in the United States. National Academies Press, 2017.

Authored by
Dr. Lesley M Berhan (The University of Toledo) and Dr. Anne M Lucietto (Purdue University, West Lafayette)

With growing awareness of and interest in neurodiversity and neurodivergence among members of the general public and within academia, there has been a surge in scholarly publications that make use of this terminology. This paper undertakes a critical review and exploration of the current uses of 'neurodiversity' and 'neurodivergence,' looking to untangle these terms and discuss their implications in research and practice. As engineering education researchers who have personal experiences with ADHD, anxiety, and/or dyslexia, we are particularly interested in the implications of language usage in relation to neurodiversity research within the STEM context. Drawing on a review of recent literature, we explore the power of language to shape understandings of neurodiversity in an emerging field of study. Specifically, we aim to unpack the ways in which neurodiversity/neurodivergence language may either challenge normative assumptions about neurocognitive function or further reinforce marginalizing and deficit-based assumptions about individuals with neurodiversity-related diagnoses. Finally, this paper explores the implications for engineering and STEM research contexts. We argue that researchers’ language usage in relation to neurodiversity has the potential to either reinforce the overarching norms embedded in STEM academic cultures by reinforcing rigid understandings of “normality,” or, alternatively, to deconstruct these norms to make way for a more inclusive understanding of cognitive diversity.

Authored by
Ms. Connie Syharat (University of Connecticut), Dr. Alexandra Hain (University of Connecticut), and Prof. Arash Esmaili Zaghi P.E. (University of Connecticut)

The Urban STEM Collaboratory is an NSF-funded S-STEM project featuring partnership across three urban universities to develop effective interventions, in combination with financial support, for improving academic outcomes for engineering students. The Urban STEM project was designed to address challenges faced at the three urban institutions collaborating for the project, and in particular the need for many of the engineering students to work a significant number of hours each week, resulting in them taking fewer course hours each semester and being disconnected from their peers, faculty, and campus. These factors are especially concerning for students who are underrepresented in engineering majors, as they already leave engineering majors and careers at higher rates. Thus, the Urban STEM Collaboratory was designed to support students both financially and in the development of a stronger STEM identity and sense of ‘fit’ and connection to their academic program and career pathway. This paper outlines the Urban STEM Collaboratory model, describes the student cohorts, and highlights findings from student engagement in the project.

Authored by
Dr. Stephanie S Ivey (The University of Memphis), Craig O. Stewart (University of Memphis), Dr. Aaron Robinson (The University of Memphis), Stefano Alessandro Blasoni (The University of Memphis), Prof. Maryam Darbeheshti (University of Colorado Denver), Michael Jacobson (Pennsylvania State University), William Taylor Schupbach (Affiliation unknown), Dr. Tom Altman (University of Colorado Denver), Dr. Karen D Alfrey (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), Dr. Mengyuan (Alice) Zhao (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), and Tony Chase (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)

East Carolina University (ECU) was funded by a multi-institutional Track 3 S-STEM Grant #1930497 in January 2020. The funds from this grant have been used to recruit and support three cohorts of students at ECU and three partnering community colleges. The project is referred to internally as the PIRATES project for Providing Inclusive Residential and Transfer Engineering Support. In addition to funding scholarships, the research aim of this project uses Lee and Matusovich’s Model of Co-Curricular Support for Undergraduate Engineering Students [1] to study best practices in co-curricular support for both students who start their pathway towards an engineering degree at a university and students whose higher education academic pathway began at a community college. Major goals of the project include building a sense of belonging and an engineering identity among students both within and across cohorts and institutions.

One of the ways that this project has worked to encourage student retention and persistence in engineering is through engineering design challenges coupled with related presentations from speakers working in a variety of engineering careers. The goals of these events are to showcase the many opportunities engineering students have and the many ways that engineers work to solve local and global issues by having students engage in small engineering projects that can be completed in one day and showcasing how those projects relate to a broader field of engineering. The projects extend the experiences students have in various engineering courses and labs and introduce some technical skills that students may not develop in traditional classrooms and lab courses.

This paper will highlight the design problems posed to students during single-day design activities in which students from all cohorts and participating institutions were invited to work in teams to tackle design challenges. Student teams were purposefully assigned to get students working together who attend different institutions and are in different graduating classes to create mentoring opportunities for less experienced students to learn from more experienced students. Emphasis is also placed on how students were introduced to career opportunities related to the design challenges by recruiting alumni from the partnering institutions to speak on the work they do and how their educational pathways prepared them for diverse careers. This paper will also discuss survey and focus group interview data from students participating in these activities to showcase how the activities may have helped to expand their knowledge of opportunities available to engineers in a variety of fields.

Authored by
Dr. Ricky T Castles (East Carolina University) and Dr. Chris Venters (East Carolina University)

In 2022, the US Congress passed the Chips and Science Act, which aimed to bring more advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to the US while mitigating supply chain risks and maintaining US technological and economic leadership. With $52 billion in Federal and $210 billion in private investments committed to date, the US is facing a new problem: not enough workers. The shortage of STEM students was just one of many causes. A more important one may be that most high school curricula today do not have any materials related to semiconductors, even though transistors were invented in the 1940s.

To address the problem, we proposed a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site on chip design funded by the National Science Foundation. Ten high school and community college teachers were recruited around the State to learn about chip design basics for six weeks. As part of the RET, teachers were also required to translate their experience into new curriculum modules suitable for their students. At the end of the RET, we asked how teachers felt about implementing the new modules they developed in the next academic year. This paper summarizes the results of this evaluation.

First, teachers still require a lot of hand-holding after their RET training. This is probably because the learning of semiconductors is not a one-time deal but a continuous learning process. Teachers reported the desire for continual access to training videos, industry engineers, faculty, and graduate students for Q&A.

Second, peer-to-peer support is essential to sustain the momentum. Teachers enjoyed learning semiconductors as a cohort and needed to feel that they were not alone in teaching semiconductors to their students. Many teachers proposed multiple ways to stay connected and share their lessons learned once they implement their modules in the classroom.

Third, the curriculum needs to be student-centric and tailored to their students’ interests. For some teachers, semiconductor careers may be a hard sell because their students don’t see any jobs within our State. For others, hands-on activities are what their students like the most. For others, career statistics will persuade students, and they continue looking for ways and materials to hit that message home.

The data in this paper was collected using qualitative methods, such as exit interviews and one-on-one feedback. The pedagogical approach used during our RET training includes two workshops on a tri-part framework for curriculum design: cultural relevance, concept-based understanding, and backward design.

The takeaway message of this paper is that the end of RET teacher training is not the end. It is only the start. A complete understanding of the teacher’s perspective and the challenges they face implementing these new modules are critical to the success of any similar semiconductor workforce training and curriculum development effort.

Authored by
Andrew J. Ash (Oklahoma State University), James E Stine (Oklahoma State University), Erin Dyke (Oklahoma State University), and John Hu (Oklahoma State University)

The diverse group of students served by community colleges holds great potential in contributing to the desired diversification of the engineering workforce (Fay, 2022). However, more effective support for community college students transferring to four-year institutions is needed to ensure their success (Strickland, 2018), as transfer students commonly experience a “transfer shock” when transitioning from community colleges to four-year bachelor-degree awarding institutions. This can affect their academic achievement, retention, and degree attainment negatively (Elliot & Lakin, 2016, Smith et al., 2022, Zhang, 2019). One way to assist transfer students in the transition from community colleges to four-year institutions is the provision of structured support programs, such as NSF’s S-STEM programs. However, to develop the best support system possible, we need to have a clear understanding of what drives students to engage in engineering in the first place, what obstacles they might be perceiving in their path to success, and what unique assets and experiences they bring to engineering. In the current study, we are investigating students’ motivations for pursuing engineering, being part of a scholarship program, the obstacles they are perceiving and the goals they are ultimately looking to achieve. To this end, we analyzed data collected from 122 students in an S-STEM scholarship program for low-income engineering transfer students. As part of the scholarship program application process, students submitted essays discussing their career goals, their motivation for joining the scholarship program and the obstacles they are perceiving for their future success. Using thematic analysis, essays were analyzed for prominent emergent themes. Results revealed a nuanced picture of students’ manifold career goals, the challenges they encounter along their career path as well the needs students hope to address by joining a scholarship program. In addition, they possess unique assets that will support their success. Having a deeper understanding on what drives the students involved in the scholarship, their needs and assets will allow us to improve and create better support programs to help and empower engineering students from diverse backgrounds to persist in their degree programs and future advanced study and engineering careers.

Authored by
Anna-Lena Dicke (University of California, Irvine), Athena Wong (University of California, Irvine), Dr. David A. Copp (University of California, Irvine), Analia E. Rao (University of California, Irvine), and Prof. Lorenzo Valdevit (Affiliation unknown)

Scholarships in Science Technology Engineering and Math (S-STEM) is a national program administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The purpose of the S-STEM program is to provide scholarships and programming to recruit, retain and graduate low-income scholars in STEM disciplines. S-STEM offers grants in three tracks: Track 1, Institutional Capacity Building; Track 2, Implementation by a Single Institution; and Track 3, Inter-Institutional Consortia. Currently, West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech) has a Track 1 S-STEM project and is participating in an accelerator grant program administered by a Track 3 project at Virginia Tech.

Recruitment for S-STEM programs can be a challenge. To combat this challenge, the present study is part of a larger initiative to investigate intra-institutional partnerships and share findings broadly to help ensure that no eligible S-STEM scholars are overlooked in future S-STEM program recruitment efforts. Institutional partners at WVU Tech included the S-STEM principal investigators, financial aid, the Student Success Center where first year advising occurs, enrollment management where admissions is housed and university relations where marketing and communications is housed. The current study focused on efforts to recruit S-STEM scholars over two recruitment cycles.

To better understand current recruitment efforts, institutional partners and current S-STEM scholars responded to reflection prompts about their experience with recruitment. The sample included all institutional partners and 13 out of 14 scholars. The authors analyzed the written reflections using thematic content analysis with most findings relating to (1) factors in awareness and decision making, (2) reasons for applying, (3) hesitancies and potential barriers and (4) future opportunities and communication strategies. The study revealed that staff perspectives regarding what worked for students did not necessarily align with student perspectives. Students were informed and influenced both internally by institutional partners and externally by relatives and high school teachers. There was not one form of communication that was clearly most effective. Rather, each mode of communication (the website, emails, print materials and word of mouth) played an important role in reaching different groups of potential scholars. These and other findings from the study can provide guidance for future S-STEM and related programs to help ensure that partnerships are leveraged effectively, and recruitment efforts are successful.

Authored by
Dr. Tamara Floyd Smith (West Virginia University Institute of Technology), Dr. Kenan Hatipoglu (West Virginia University Institute of Technology), and Kelly J Cunningham (Affiliation unknown)

Manufacturing is a foundation of economic growth and job creation across the U.S. and is constantly changing with improvements in technology, materials and design. While this field is a pillar for economic growth within the US, manufacturing companies struggle to recruit a prepared workforce. Therefore, a program for high school teachers was established to increase understanding of the multiple career pathways in manufacturing along with their ability to explain how new manufacturing technologies depend on the advancement of engineering and science. Specifically, this program was focused on the manufacturing in the southeastern US and facilitated by a research-intensive university with a center focused on driving advanced manufacturing. This paper provides an overview of: (1) this research experience for teachers program, (2) changes between initial program vision and adjustments from this vision during initial implementation, (3) insight into how teachers’ self-confidence in discussing manufacturing changed during the program, and (4) reflections of the program team on the benefits and challenges facilitating a research program for teachers versus undergraduates on a research campus.
Eight high school teachers in the summer of 2023 were invited to engage in manufacturing research and learn about the manufacturing field over a six-week intensive program and then bring their newly gained knowledge back to their classrooms the following academic year by incorporating it into a lesson plan. The cohort of high school teachers was diverse with respect to gender (50% self-reporting as female), ethnicity (25% African American/Black), educational level (37.5% held a masters degree) and prior research experience. While this cohort is still mid-program (all have not yet incorporated their teaching modules into their classrooms), all have completed the onsite research, completed professional development activities and toured manufacturing facilities. Using surveys and focus group interviews, the program administration looked at the teachers’ changing self-confidence in talking about and teaching manufacturing in their classrooms. Analysis showed that these teachers already have reported increased confidence and comfort with presenting information on advanced manufacturing to their students.

Changes in how the program is administered will be made for the next cohort. The shifting calendar for schools in the southeastern region to shorter summers in exchange for a higher number of short breaks during the academic year, has made it more difficult for teachers to commit to being onsite for a continuous six-week research experience. To help interested teachers, the RET leadership team allowed teachers the ability to incorporate remote work or a mid-program leave. In addition, the recruiting process will be changed. Recruiting of teachers was a more intensive process than the leadership team anticipated.

Authored by
Prof. Marian Kennedy (Clemson University) and Dr. Kristin Kelly Frady (Clemson University)

This paper/poster shares the initial findings of an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) study conducted in an undergraduate engineering mechanics course (Statics) at a 4-year university. Like many early undergraduate engineering courses, Statics is notorious for high attrition and often stifles students' subsequent persistence in engineering programs. The objective of the study described herein is to identify links between students' self-efficacy, motivation, emotional states, and other factors that may serve as early-warning indicators of dropout.
The EMA approach utilizes repeated experience sampling of students' psychological state using cell phone-based polling. Sampling is conducted on a semi-daily basis as well as proximal to high-stakes assessments. Unlike prior studies that only measured students' psychological state twice (at the start and end of a semester), this study is unique in that it measures a broad range of psychological variables repeatedly (up to 65 times over 17 weeks). The surveys utilized in this study include validated instruments such as PANAS, MSLQ, APPLES, as well as new instruments specific to learning outcomes in Statics that have been developed by the authors. Preliminary quantitative results suggest that (a) students' emotional state rapidly declines once the semester begins, (b) negative affect remains worse than baseline throughout the semester, (c) students' weekly change in negative affect after the 4th week of the course may serve as the best predictor of their persistence and final grade in the course. These observations are generally true for all students enrolled in Statics regardless of their final grade. The study is ongoing and will be replicated in future studies to increase the relatively small samples size, which is the primary limitation of the current findings.

Authored by
Dr. Diana Arboleda (University of Miami), Dr. James Giancaspro P.E. (University of Miami), and Aaron Heller (University of Miami)

The Strategic Partnership for Alignment of Community Engagement in STEM (SPACES) is a collaborative research effort under the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program. The overarching goal of SPACES is to build an inclusive academic culture to address intersectional gender-race-ethnicity inequities in Environmental Engineering (EnvE) via the application of evidence-based strategies for systemic change. The two main thrusts of the project are to address systemic problems that cause: (1) underrepresented minority women faculty (URMWF) experiences of isolation in and/or departures from STEM academia and (2) the devaluation of research conducted by URMWF, especially community-engaged research (CER). SPACES is a collaborative effort of faculty and administrators from 11 universities with four leading professional societies. SPACES is adapting evidence-based practices to support women’s intersectional identities and catalyze an attitudinal change among individuals and institutional leaders. This process involves the pursuit of 12 objectives crossing the micro, meso, and macro levels and is being operationalized through 11 activities. An overview of the motivations for this project and activities to date is provided in the paper.

Authored by
Dr. Angela R Bielefeldt (University of Colorado, Boulder), Prof. Lupita D Montoya (University of Colorado, Boulder), Andrea Ferro (Clarkson University), Prof. Cesunica E. Ivey (University of California, Berkeley), Dr. Shakira Renee Hobbs (University of California Irvine), Dr. Maya A Trotz (University of South Florida), Dr. Cliff I. Davidson (Syracuse University), Dr. Susan J. Masten P.E. (Michigan State University), Dr. Sheryl H Ehrman (San Jose State University), and Chang-yu Wu (University of Florida)

This investigation is the first of four investigations funded by the NSF (DUE award 2215807) to develop and then field test on open educational browser-based writing-to-learn tool called GIKS. The underlying theory is that writing-to-learn with immediate formative feedback presented as concept networks is engaging and effective for learning concepts covered in lectures. This work was studied in a second year architectural engineering course focusing on building materials, processes and modeling. Participants (n=84) completed a lesson (readings, lecture, and labs) then followed by writing prompts centered on the following topics: Building with Concrete and Wood Construction (3 weeks later). Participants were assigned to one of two counterbalanced groups, group A used GIKS software to write a 300-word summary of the first lesson but did not write in the second lesson, while group B did not write in the first lesson but used GIKS in the second lesson, so that each group served as a control treatment for the other group. All students completed a concept structure survey at the end of each lesson that contained 20 key concepts from that lesson, the two concept structure surveys’ data were transformed into concept networks and then these networks were compared to an expert network benchmark referent, as well as to networks of the textbook chapter and the PowerPoint slides of the related lesson. Then a week after the second lesson students completed the standing end-of-module multiple-choice posttest that included items from these lesson as well as from other lessons in the module.
Results to date highlight that for both lessons, the group using GIKS scored higher on the concept structure survey (more like the expert network) BUT lower on the multiple-choice test, the difference was significant for the Building with Concrete lesson (p < .05) but not for the Wood Construction lesson. This interaction has been reported before by Ntshalintshali & Clariana (2020), that improving conceptual knowledge sometimes decreases memory of lesson details. Descriptive analysis of the group-average networks derived from the concept structure surveys for Building with Concrete show that the group-averaged network of those using GIKS compared to the control was more like the expert network (54% vs. 36%), the network of the textbook Chapter (32% vs. 29%), the network of the PowerPoint (PP) (46% vs. 41%), and especially like peers in the other group (67%). For Wood Construction the difference between the groups was less, the group-averaged network of those using GIKS compared to the control was more like the expert (40% vs. 39%), like the light-framed construction PP (28% vs. 24%), and especially like peers in the other group (72%). These findings show that writing-to-learn with GIKS with immediate network feedback improves conceptual knowledge as expected but at the cost of details. Peers conceptual structure of the lesson materials were very similar (peer-peer mental model convergence) and were more like others than like the expert, or the book chapters, or the PowerPoint slides; in addition, the PowerPoint slides appear to influence conceptual structure more than the textbook chapters. Investigation 2 will consider writing-to-learn with or without immediate network feedback in order to isolate the effects of immediate network feedback.

Authored by
Dr. Ryan Solnosky P.E. (Pennsylvania State University) and Roy B. Clariana (Pennsylvania State University)

This NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE: EHR) Institutional and Community Transformation (ICT) capacity-building project is designed to support faculty to collaboratively explore questions on student learning and success in introductory and gateway undergraduate STEM courses, such as early engineering courses as well as prerequisite math and science courses. The project motivates faculty to consider evidence-based teaching strategies by including them as co-designers of learning analytics tools and storytellers inspired by data and their reflections. Learning analytics uses data about learners and learning to draw inferences to inform actions and changes to achieve a goal, which for this project is improving student success and retention in early STEM courses. Learning analytics is an emerging approach to motivating STEM faculty to implement evidence-based teaching practices.

The project also builds and strengthens faculty communities and develops a culture of inquiry and conversations that are evidence-based and data-informed – all to build readiness for transformation. We are exploring how a change framework for intentional capacity building by creating faculty communities with similar interests across disciplines and course-level data dashboards can establish the foundation for implementing change in their instructional practices and curriculum, with faculty members becoming change agents.

While most transformation projects and use of learning analytics have been conducted at large research institutions, the findings from this project will contribute to the knowledge of engineering education change in the context of a public, regional, primarily undergraduate institution in the Midwest. This paper describes the grounding, planning, and implementation of these activities to build capacity for change and shares the challenges encountered and strategies used.

Authored by
Dr. Amy B Chan Hilton (University of Southern Indiana)

A series of workshops were developed and offered to build capacity for project teams to gather and fully use institutional data as they develop their S-STEM proposals. The NSF S-STEM solicitation includes a requirement that the project description “analyze institutional data … to determine the potential number of eligible Scholars.” While faculty often are passionate about recruiting and supporting engineering degree attainment for academically talented, low-income scholars with unmet financial need, some might not be certain of how institutional data can inform and strengthen their project development.

The virtual workshop series addresses challenges from both project development and practical perspectives, with the goal of enhancing participants’ ability to effectively use institutional data in their S-STEM proposals and other efforts with similar goals. For the workshop participants, the outcomes include a) articulating awareness of how institutional data can be used to inform their project plans and S-STEM program goals; b) developing a plan for using student data in project development, including identifying relevant questions that the student data can help answer and with a focus on the latest S-STEM solicitation requirements; and c) drafting a plan for requesting student data from their Institutional Research and Financial Aid offices including IRB considerations.

The workshops were developed using systems thinking and evidence-based approaches to build capacity in the participants’ recognition of the value of data to their S-STEM project goals and increase their confidence to gather and use student data. The three-part workshop and participant hour sessions incorporated inquiry, reflection, hands-on activities, and practical strategies to both meet the S-STEM project description requirements and strengthen the proposal development process. A total of 112 participants from diverse backgrounds and institution types were recruited to two workshop cohorts (winter 2022 and 2023), including faculty and administrators with limited or no S-STEM experience. Evaluation data indicates that the workshops will enhance the ability and confidence of the participants and their institutions to develop data-informed projects. This empowerment not only benefits participants’ S-STEM proposals but also strengthen related efforts that seek to identify low-income STEM students with academic ability and potential and to support them to degree attainment.

Authored by
Dr. Amy B Chan Hilton (University of Southern Indiana)

This poster displays results from a project supported by an NSF grant to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration in civil and environmental engineering education. In its second year, part of the project focused on improving team science competencies within the core research group. Key activities included workshops on collaborative writing and grant writing best practices. The team attended a Science of Team Science (SciTS) workshop to refine collaboration skills and responded to the Teaming Readiness Survey, which revealed strengths in valuing expertise but identified areas for improvement, such as role clarity and effective communication. In addition, the team responded to a Social Network Analysis Survey that showcased a growing network of research ties, indicating a robust collaborative environment, particularly among Principal Investigators. The preliminary results highlight a development in the team’s effectiveness and psychological safety ratings, fostering trust and collaboration. The social network evolved from professional to social connections, with new members gradually integrating into the team. The research team concludes that focusing on collaborative skills and effective communication strengthens interdisciplinary collaboration in the changing scientific landscape.

Authored by
Dr. Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez (Colorado State University), Dr. Kristen L. Sanford P.E. (Lafayette College), Dr. Frederick Paige (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), and Dr. Philip J. Parker P.E. (University of Wisconsin, Platteville)

This work-in-progress (WIP) paper shares findings at Year 1 of “Collaborative Research: Innovating Quantum-Inspired Learning for Undergraduates in Research and Engineering (INQUIRE),” a 5-year Improving Undergraduate STEM Education project funded by the National Science Foundation. The project brings together quantum engineering and engineering education researchers at two public land-grant research universities in State X and State Y. The team aims to develop and establish a new paradigm for quantum-inspired learning for undergraduate students, which can then serve as a platform and may be adopted and customized across disciplines and institutions. The work detailed in this paper pertains to activities and developments at the University of X. Specifically, this WIP addresses two research questions in the context of the quantum information science and technology (QIST) software course, Introduction to Quantum Computing: (1) What are the barriers undergraduate students face on their pathways to building a knowledge base in QIST? (2) How does INQUIRE address the knowledge base need and lower the barriers to QIST entry? 
We have developed new teaching modules that include a diverse range of instructional techniques. These techniques involve using multimedia-based learning (MBL), simulation-based learning (SBL), and hands-on programming for experiential learning. Most lectures are designed with a focus on MBL. We have incorporated various SBL tools into the course, including Quantum Spice to simulate and design Superconductor-based quantum computing hardware, Spin Quantum Gate Lab to simulate semiconductor-based quantum computing hardware, and Qiskit to program quantum software and algorithms. These tools enable students to directly apply quantum concepts in their assignments, providing more immersive and hands-on experience.
To measure the student learning experiences and the effectiveness of the new teaching modules introduced, a mixed method approach has been designed. At the beginning of Fall 2023 semester, we distributed a baseline survey to the enrolled students in the quantum computing course. The result of the baseline survey showed that the students were highly motivated and genuinely curious about the conceptual working of the QIST. Currently, we are in the process of evaluating the effectiveness of the newly designed teaching modules. This assessment is being carried out through the implementation of a comprehensive mid-semester survey. At the end of the semester, we will administer a survey to complement the course evaluation. This will inform the follow-up semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students, the instructional team, and subject matter experts. To validate and triangulate the qualitative and quantitative data gathered through surveys, interviews, and course evaluations, we will align them with the students' actual performance in the course. Then, a comparison will be made against preliminary results from previous iterations of the course.
The immediate next steps for the QIST software track will be curriculum mapping. Concurrently, we will implement newly developed modules for the QIST hardware courses at University X and Y in the Spring semester and apply a similar mixed-method approach.

Authored by
Mr. Syed Hassan Tanvir (University of Florida), Gloria J Kim (University of Florida), Jing Guo (University of Florida), Philip Feng (University of Florida), and Wanli Xing (University of Florida)

The choice of academic major is a critical juncture in a student's academic and professional journey. Unfortunately, this decision is often plagued by uncertainty and indecision, leading to a higher attrition rate among students who think they have made a definite choice. [1]
Selecting an academic major is a complex process that is influenced by various factors such as personal interests, family and peer pressure, and access to reliable information. The information available to students can be outdated, unreliable, or inaccessible to underrepresented groups, leading to ill-informed decisions. To address these challenges, we must understand engineering students' information-seeking behaviors when making their major selection.

This research paper aims to delve into the academic major selection process among engineering students at two Midwest universities. In Fall of 2022, an online survey was distributed to nearly 2,000 students who were part of an introductory engineering orientation program across two midwest universities [3]. To build upon and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges students face in selecting a major, we conducted in-depth interviews with a diverse range of students who participated in the survey.
Ten undergraduate students enrolled in various engineering programs were interviewed. The participants were selected using purposive sampling criteria, including their race, major, and gender. There were 3 male and 7 female participants. All participants gave their informed consent to participate in the study.

The qualitative data obtained through the interviews was analyzed using thematic analysis [4]. Thematic analysis involved identifying patterns and themes in the data and coding them into sub-themes. Additionally, a survey was conducted to collect quantitative data, which was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, including correlation and regression analysis.
Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed five major themes that influence undergraduate students' decision-making process when choosing an engineering major. Five themes that emerged are Personal Interest and Passions, Family and Peer Influence, Career Prospects and Financial Considerations, Pre-university Experiences, and Access to Resources and Information.

The results of this study provide valuable insights into the factors that influence undergraduate students when choosing an engineering major.

Authored by
Ashley Y. Tran (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Debapratim Ghosh (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Samuel Harford (The University of Illinois at Chicago), Prof. Houshang Darabi (The University of Illinois at Chicago), and Dr. Jennifer R Amos (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

There continues to be a growing demand for engineering graduates to meet societies’ technological needs. This investigation targets a K-12 engineering outreach program, known as the Colorado SCience and ENgineering Inquiry Collaborative (SCENIC Colorado). The investigation is focused on studying and refinig an educational infrastructure for supporting engineering identity formation in an outreach program in rural Colorado high schools.
SCENIC is informed by existing sociocultural theories on identity development and learning and their application to engineering, as well as empirical literature on how learning environments foster STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) learning and identity development. Previous evaluation results indicated that the rural students gained knowledge and new perspectives about engineering, but identity impacts were not studied.
SCENIC integrates university engineering faculty and student mentors with rural high schools via on-line, interactive curriculum and in-person visits to support high school students in carrying out educationally impactful local environmental monitoring projects. By refining existing university partnerships with regional higher education institutions and rural high schools, SCENIC seeks to transform the engineering formation system. University undergraduate and graduate engineering students enroll in a two-semester course that prepares them to mentor the high school students. Environmental monitoring Pods and other educational resources and interactive support mechanisms will be iteratively improved via design-based research. The project builds on existing partnerships reaching rural high school students where a significant number of students would be the first generation in their families to attend college.
Design-based research will both inform the refinement of the materials and approach for supporting high school student inquiry, and advance our fundamental understanding of the underlying processes and mechanisms that support engineering identity formation. The research questions are: How do aspects of the outreach program’s educational infrastructure support rural high school students’ participation in and identification with engineering and science? How does conducting locally relevant environmental monitoring contribute to rural students’ engineering and science identity development? Qualitative methods in the forms of observations and interviews as well an identity survey will be employed for data collection.
The project will advance knowledge regarding the adaptation of cutting-edge university research tools for environmental monitoring into high school classrooms with an expected impact on enriching high school student developmental and learning outcomes that contribute to students’ forming an identity as the kind of person who is interested in and engages with engineering. Results will be discussed in the paper and at the poster.

Authored by
Dr. Daniel Knight (University of Colorado Boulder), Dr. Angela R Bielefeldt P.E. (University of Colorado Boulder), Dr. Joseph Polman Polman (Affiliation unknown), and Prof. Michael Hannigan (Affiliation unknown)

This work in progress (WIP) paper focuses on the development and initial validation of a survey adapting the three identity scales from Godwin’s (2016) Engineering Identity measure – Recognition (R), Interest (I), and Competence (C) - to assess research identity formation in doctoral engineering students. This study is a product of an NSF grant (Award No. 2205033) obtained to apply user experience (UX) methods to investigate the process through which doctoral engineering students develop their research identity. This survey was conducted during 2022 and 2023 for on-site and online Ph.D. students enrolled in various engineering fields at a large research university in the United States. In addition to the three identity scales, items from the survey include demographics, self-perceptions of capability to perform in different contexts, and various curricular and co-curricular experiences, including research experiences. Validation results include exploratory factor analysis of items utilizing oblimin rotation, KMO and Bartlett’s test, pattern matrix, component correlation matrix, and Cronbach’s alpha measures for each identity construct. These results suggest that the survey’s adaptation for research identity formation is valid and reliable. The instrument properties are further compared with the most closely related measures, including Godwin’s original scales, their sources, and the expanded researcher identity measure proposed by Perkins et al. (2018). Future research and applied work can benefit from this study by considering the experiences of other doctoral students, including those in programs beyond the engineering contexts studied. This research may impact future engineering doctoral program designs and contribute to the education of generations of doctoral engineering students and scholars interested in this area.

Authored by
Diego Alejandro Polanco-Lahoz (Texas Tech University), Dr. Jennifer A Cross (Texas Tech University), Kelli Cargile Cook (Texas Tech University), Dr. Mario G. Beruvides P.E. (Texas Tech University), Jason Tham (Texas Tech University), and Md Rashedul Hasan (Texas Tech University)

We present preliminary results from a scientific research study conducted at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU); a Hispanic-Serving Institution located along the U.S-Mexico border. Our study focuses on generating knowledge about learning strategies that improve and enhance undergraduate STEM education. As such, our study has both a programmatic and a research component. Through our project's programmatic component, we aim at increasing the quantity and improving the quality of retained and graduated TAMIU STEM-students. We do this by engaging 3 consecutive cohorts (one cohort per year) of students in a 4-semester pre-/early-college (i.e., pre-college summer; and freshman fall/spring/summer semesters) curriculum-based STEM-enrichment program called USTEM. Through USTEM, we implement high-impact and proven STEM-enrichment activities, practices, and strategies published in the STEM-education literature. Through our project’s research component, we examine how a set of creative video projects (CVPs) that we designed influences students’ psychosocial, scholastic, and persistence outcomes.

Casted as a longitudinal RCT-type experiment in generalized randomized block design (GRBD; with cohorts as complete blocks and students serving as replications within complete blocks), we randomly assign half of each cohort to participate in USTEM without CVPs (USTEM1); the other half of each cohort to participate in USTEM with CVPs (USTEM2). USTEM2 participants produced four CVPs in the form of: 1) a biography of a STEM scientist, 2) a position statement on a STEM controversy, 3) a tutorial on a STEM technique, and 4) a methodological critique of a STEM peer-reviewed research article. Outcomes were measured every end-of-semester.

The longitudinal data set generated allows us to compare and evaluate the efficacy of USTEM1 versus USTEM2, and to parametrically characterize trends across semesters; and to assess and evaluate USTEM as a STEM-enrichment program methodically and statistically. We performinferential analyses using SAS 9.4 (e.g., PROC MIXED) and SPSS 29 Premium Version (Generalized Linear Models). In consideration of the level of measurement and the empirical distribution of outcomes, and our objectives, the analytical techniques we use are in the form of analysis of variance, generalized linear models using normal (for scores) and logistic (for binary outcomes; e.g., graduated or not) link functions, and longitudinal analysis with trend analysis.

The intellectual merit of our research derives from our use of: 1) RCT-design, blocking and replication techniques, and GRBD-structured randomization to enhance internal validity and minimize extraneous variation; 2) longitudinal analytical techniques to examine trends in outcomes; and 3) empirically-validated and target-population-calibrated instruments to ensure the measurement reliability, reproducibility, and validity of the measures and indicators we use. Our research results and products advance a fundamental understanding of how STEM-oriented CVPs influence psychosocial outcomes and ultimately, persistence in STEM.

Authored by
Dr. Marcus Antonius Ynalvez (Texas A&M International University), Claudia San Miguel (Texas A&M International University), Dr. Ruby Ynalvez (Texas A&M International University), Dr. Deepak Ganta (Texas A&M International University), Dr. Runchang Lin (Texas A&M International University), Marcela Moran (Texas A&M International University), Mrs. Leonela Preciado (Texas A&M International University), Mayra Alejandra Garza (Texas A&M International University), Mr. Rene Rangel Jr. (Texas A&M International University), and Veronica Judith Prado (Texas A&M International University)

Given the need for continued scientific innovation and a diverse, skilled STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce in the United States, increasing the representation of women, Hispanic, Black, first-generation, and other underrepresented groups in STEM is vital. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are recognized for enrolling a large proportion of students from lower income, first generation, and racially marginalized backgrounds. Additionally, Hispanic students earn STEM degrees at high rates at HSIs; in 2016, 46% of Hispanic students who earned STEM bachelor’s degrees graduated from HSIs. HSIs have the potential to play an important role in closing national gaps in STEM degree attainment and workforce needs through intentional policies, practices, and institutional commitment.

An institutional transformation project focused on STEM undergraduate student success and servingness is underway at a public R1 Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in the southern region of the United States. The university enrolls almost 35,000 students, 59% of whom are Hispanic. About 30% percent of undergraduate students are enrolled in the College of Engineering and the College of Sciences. However, the first-year retention rate is 69% and six-year graduation rate is only 31% for the College of Engineering, with slightly lower rates for College of Sciences. Several courses at the university experience substantial failing rates, as high as 31% to 55% in some gateway and required courses for engineering majors, which act as a major obstacle to degree completion for many students at the university. This work-in-progress poster presentation will provide an overview of the 5-year NSF grant collaboration between engineering and education faculty and leaders at an HSI. Additionally, the poster will highlight the educational research methods and progress from the first two years of the project.

Authored by
Dr. Katherine R. McCance (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Vanessa Ann Sansone (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Mark Appleford (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Arturo Montoya (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Harry R. Millwater Jr. (The University of Texas at San Antonio), Dr. Jose Francisco Herbert Acero (The University of Texas at San Antonio), and Prof. Heather Shipley (The University of Texas at San Antonio)

This paper discusses the developments during Year 2 for a project concerned with analyzing the curricula of engineering programs in the United States to understand the structural barriers embedded in degree requirements that could push out diverse groups of students. We are using an emerging method for quantifying the complexity of these programs called Curricular Analytics. This method involves treating the prerequisite relationships between courses as a network and applying graph theoretic measures to calculate a curriculum’s structure complexity. In Year 1, we collected 497 plans of study representing five engineering disciplines (i.e., Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, Chemical, and Industrial) across 13 institutions - spanning a decade. To ensure the dataset is as useful as possible to engineering education researchers, we have intentionally aligned our data collection with institutions available in the Multiple Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD).

One of the outputs of this project is an R package that will enable researchers and practitioners to explore and leverage the dataset in their work by enabling the calculations to be completed at scale. With the efforts in Year 1, the package has the required functionality to compute the necessary metrics for Curricular Analytics. During Year 2, we have been building functions to manipulate course-taking trajectories of actual student data such that they can be compared to one another using association analysis. Association analysis will enable us to mine common course-taking patterns disaggregated by strata like institution, discipline, first-generation-status, and transfer-status and reconstruct them as networks to complement the plan of study data. Moreover, after sharing this work in preliminary forms with faculty, there was a desire for more customized functions. Thus, we are currently conducting a systematic literature review of how Curricular Analytics has been applied and extended to search for usable metrics to add to our package.

Much of Year 2 has been spent verifying the data and correcting errors that would impact the results of any analysis, whether quantitative or qualitative, by exploring the dataset using a combination of descriptive statistics and visualizations like histograms, boxplots, and longitudinal plots. As the data currently exists, the mean structural complexity of all engineering programs we considered (n = 497) is 313, and the median is 294. Chemical engineering has the highest mean structural complexity of 430, followed by mechanical engineering with a structural complexity of 369. The remaining disciplines were more tightly clustered together: electrical with 287, industrial with 248, and civil with 232. Although we are finalizing corrections to these data, it is not expected that the results will change significantly. We are currently sampling cases at the distribution's tails in the box plots of structural complexity to explore the extreme cases in our dataset and jumpstart analyses regarding curricular design patterns.

This paper will provide details on the preliminary analyses we have conducted using Curricular Analytics, an introduction to the R package, and updates from our systematic literature review.

Authored by
Dr. David Reeping (University of Cincinnati), Dr. Kenneth Reid (University of Indianapolis), Dr. Matthew W. Ohland (Purdue University, West Lafayette), and NAHAL RASHEDI (University of Cincinnati)

Co-constructing Interventions within a Community College Engineering Program
The economic demand for engineering and engineering technology professionals in the United States continues expand with the support of national government policy. In this paper, the authors will describe their efforts to design and implement an engineering and engineering technology program within a community college. In the Fall of 2022, the program began to offer five associate degrees of science and eleven certificates of achievement in the fields of engineering and engineering technology. In one year, the program has produced 43 completers and the home department has experienced significant increases in course enrollments. While research in engineering education has shown mixed impacts from associate degree engineering programs, these program awards are designed to serve as curricular milestones that align with students’ transfer and employment goals. As evidence of their promise, these program awards are being incorporated into an assembly bill proposal for statewide engineering pathways in two higher education systems. Other program interventions include high school course articulations, a summer bridge program, student participation in national engineering societies, wellness activities, and revised STEM course curriculum designed to reduce time-to-degree.
Previous quantitative studies of this program were analyzed using inferential statistical tests; and indicate that a majority of program students are knowledgeable of program awards, industry standards, interview procedures, and transfer application processes. This project will share findings from a new qualitative study of program students, program alumni and industry advisors. The evaluation team will develop and implement an interview protocol for focus group studies with participants. The study design is conceptually framed by a holistic model (DRESS) for student success that identifies each student’s Desires, Resources, Engineering Identity, Skills, and Sense of Belonging.

Authored by
Prof. eugene leo draine mahmoud (Mt. San Antonio Community College)