2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

2024-2025 Progress Report for the S-STEM Project: Removing the Disparity in Success-Related Outcomes Between Academically Talented Low-Income Engineering Students and Other Engineering Students

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

In this paper, we report on the progress of a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. The paper outlines the project goals. It provides a detailed review of the completed project tasks since the start of the project. It also describes the project achievements to-date, and the planned next steps.

The overall goal of the project is 1) to increase the degree completion rate of 32 low-income, high achieving undergraduate engineering students at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) 2) to improve the probability of a successful graduation (having a major-related job after graduation or joining graduate studies) for these students.

The project supports these students in two cohorts. Cohort 1 students are 18 freshmen from six different engineering/computer science majors. More than 70% of these students belong to minority/underrepresented groups. 40% are first-generation. Cohort 1 students started their education in Fall 2024. Cohort 2 students will be transferring students and will be recruited in Summer 2025. Cohort 2 is expected to have 14 students.

The project leverages available programs at UIC and incorporates improved activities, which include cohort building and nurturing throughout the undergraduate education, a three-pronged mentoring program with faculty, peers, and industry partners, and a professional practicum through a guaranteed paid internship program, and a senior preparation course.

The project team completed the following main project tasks since the start of the project on March 1, 2024.
1) Identifying, inviting, interviewing, and selecting 18 students for Cohort 1. These students were selected from an eligible pool of more that 300 incoming freshmen.
2) Planning and implementing a one-week on campus Summer Bridge Program (SBP) experience for Cohort 1 students. The SBP was the first cohort building activity of the project.
3) Designing a special version of a current engineering freshmen course (ENGR100) for Cohort 1 students. This special section of ENGR100 is currently offered.
4) Matching Cohort 1 students with peer mentors.
5) Training faculty mentors and matching them with Cohort 1 students.

The project team is currently monitoring the academic progress of the students in Cohort 1. The next major task is the recruitment of Cohort 2 students.

Authors

Prof. Houshang Darabi http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7881-6542 The University of Illinois Chicago [biography]

Dr. Houshang Darabi is a Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Darabi’s research focuses on the use of Big Data, process mining, data mining, Operations Research, high performance computing, and visualization in improving educational systems and students’ learning. Dr. Darabi’s research has been funded by federal and corporate sponsors including the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety.
Dr. Shanon Marie Reckinger The University of Illinois Chicago [biography]

Shanon Reckinger is a Clinical Associate Professor in the department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her PhD and MS degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder in August of 2011 and an MS degree in Computer Science at Stanford University in 2018.
Dr. Renata A Revelo University of Illinois Chicago [biography]

Renata A. Revelo is a first-generation college student, migrated from Ecuador to the United States as a teenager with her parents and sister. She is the first in her family to obtain a Ph.D. She is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research focuses on shifting the culture of engineering via the study of engineering identity which centers students of color and examines systemic change
Dr. Betul Bilgin University of Illinois Chicago [biography]

Betul Bilgin is a Clinical Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). With a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University, Dr. Bilgin has extensive experience in both biotechnology research and engineering education. Since joining UIC, she has developed and taught various undergraduate courses, integrating innovative teaching methods and industry-relevant content to enhance student learning and engagement.

Dr. Bilgin's research focuses on engineering education, particularly in fostering professional identity among engineering students and integrating data science into the chemical engineering curriculum. She has received multiple awards for her contributions to teaching and mentoring, including the ASEE Ray Fahien Award and the UIC COE Harold Simon Award. Dr. Bilgin is also actively involved in professional service, currently serving as the Director of the Chemical Engineering Division for ASEE and participating in various initiatives to improve engineering education and student success.
Dr. Miiri Kotche The University of Illinois at Chicago [biography]

Miiri Kotche is the Richard S. Hill Clinical Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago and currently serves as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs in Engineering. Her research interests center on experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and promoting biomedical engineering through high school science teacher professional development.
Dr. Elizabeth A Sanders University of Illinois Chicago [biography]

Dr. Elizabeth A. Sanders is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Illinois Chicago. She holds a Ph.D in Engineering Education (Purdue University, 2024), a M.A. in Higher Education (University of Michigan, 2020), and B.S. in Chemical Engineering (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2018). Her research focuses on human-centered design teaching and learning in the engineering context and empathy in engineering design.
Nikith Rachakonda The University of Illinois at Chicago

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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