| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 18, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 15, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1430789 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Alexandra Medina-Borja
amedinab@nsf.gov (703)292-7557 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $710,877.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $710,877.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2016 = $257,329.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3401 CSM DR SAN MATEO CA US 94402-3651 (650)358-6755 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
4200 Farm Hill Blvd Redwood City CA US 94061-1030 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
S-STEM-Schlr Sci Tech Eng&Math, IUSE |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001617DB NSF Education & Human Resource 1300XXXXDB H-1B FUND, EDU, NSF |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Creating Alternative Learning Strategies for Transfer Engineering Programs (CALSTEP) is a collaborative project that aims to strengthen community college engineering programs. The project is developing core engineering laboratory courses that are delivered either completely online, or with limited face-to-face interactions. These laboratory courses, together with the online lecture courses developed through a previously funded NSF project, will enable community college students from colleges with limited engineering course offerings to complete the required lower-division engineering courses needed for transfer. CALSTEP is also developing alternative models of flipped classroom instruction to improve student success and enhance student access to engineering courses that otherwise could not be supported in traditional delivery modes due to low enrollment. The project will also train engineering faculty in effectively using the curriculum, and facilitate the continued improvement of the curriculum through a consortium of over twenty community college engineering programs in California.
The project will result in the development of a comprehensive set of lower-division engineering curriculum materials that are consistent with system-wide vetted course descriptors, opportunities to further understand and contribute to the growing body of research on the potential of technology in improving STEM education, and investigation of alternative models of instruction. The project will contribute to increasing student access to engineering education; increasing the number of economically/educationally disadvantaged students, and students from underrepresented groups who pursue an engineering career; reducing the time and money that transfer students spend in four-year institutions to complete their degrees; and increasing the diversity of the future engineering workforce.
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
CALSTEP (Creating Alternative Learning Strategies for Transfer Engineering Programs) is a collaborative project among four community college engineering programs in Northern California to improve community college engineering education by developing a set of engineering curricula based on alternative delivery strategies that will enable institutions and instructors to offer courses that would otherwise have been extremely challenging, if not impossible, due to low enrollment and limitations in resources and faculty expertise. CALSTEP has developed curriculum resources for key lower-division laboratory courses (Introduction to Engineering, Engineering Graphics, MATLAB Programming, Circuits, and Materials Science) that are delivered either completely online, or with limited face-to-face interactions. These courses will enable more community college students to complete lower-division engineering courses required by community college students to transfer to a four-year institution. The project has demonstrated that these lower-division engineering lab courses can be delivered online to community colleges students in a manner that is at least as effective as face-to-face delivery of the same courses. CALSTEP also demonstrated successful implementation of an Emporium Model of instruction for low-enrolled courses in which content is delivered online, and face-to-face contact focuses on group problem solving facilitated simultaneously by a single instructor for students in two or more courses in the same or adjacent classrooms. CALSTEP also implemented the Summer Engineering Teaching Institute to create a community of engineering education practitioners adopting and continually improving the online laboratory curricula and alternative instructional models. A growing number of institutions and community college instructors from all over California have used or are using CALSTEP curriculum. In many cases, the use of the CALSTEP curriculum has led to institutions developing new engineering programs or strengthening existing programs.
CALSTEP has contributed to the engineering education community by providing additional data on opportunities and challenges associated with online and flipped delivery of community college courses. The project has increased awareness of technology tools and practices best suited for development and delivery of content for online and flipped courses. The project team has provided guidance and support to community college instructors that are new to teaching specific courses, or new to teaching in general, by providing both curricular resources and guidance regarding their implementation. The successful integration of alternative teaching strategies into the CALSTEP curriculum has enabled community college engineering programs to expand their course offerings by providing alternative laboratory settings and expanding lab enrollment capacity beyond traditional lab classroom capacity. A long-term impact of CALSTEP is increasing opportunities for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and/or rural areas to obtain education leading to engineering careers, thereby increasing the number and diversity of future engineering professionals.
Last Modified: 08/25/2018
Modified by: Amelito G Enriquez
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