ABSTRACT

Using Methods and Principles of Adult Learning to Help First-Generation, Low-Income Students Succeed in Engineering

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Innovative Cross-Sector Partnership project aims to foster upward social mobility by improving the rate at which first-generation students from low-income families graduate with an engineering degree. Persistently low graduation rates lessen the impact that universities play in facilitating social mobility. Hispanic Serving Institutions are well-equipped to improve access to college opportunities for first generation students, students from underrepresented groups, and students from low-income families, but often struggle to make math, science, and engineering curriculums relevant. Current engineering education practice does not adequately engage with industry to give students professional motivation, skills, and certifications. This leaves many low-income, first- generation students uncertain as to how their education relates to their current and future economic security. Less than half of engineering majors finish with engineering degrees that would qualify them for high paying jobs and technical careers. This project will focus on mentoring, career readiness, industry-accepted certifications to augment the engineering curriculum through engagement in flexible learning communities. Industry partnerships, innovative intervention strategies, and research findings will be used to foster STEM-identity and student?s understanding, appreciation and interest in STEM, known indicators for first-generation STEM degree completion. Anticipated outcomes of the project include an engaged community of career-ready advanced student learners supported by evidence-based intervention strategies, industry partners, and university faculty and staff prepared to contribute to their success. Approximately 800 students will be directly supported in the industry-mentored, adult learning experiences. The 5-year goal is to increase the graduation rate in engineering for first-generation college students and those from low-income households by 50%. The innovative partnership with industry to prepare students and help them acquire certifications will show first generation students and their families that real-world skills are valued by the university, and that they are achieving important milestones each year of their higher education (not just at the end). Higher (engineering) education in the US is being pulled in different directions to balance critical, reflective, and deep thinkers while providing tangible skills. By acknowledging this tension and building curriculum maps that intentionally blend the two directions, this project and partnerships will promote a new path to satisfying societal needs based on the unique attributes of Hispanic Serving Institutions.

The project will test how andragogical (adult) learning methods, implemented in collaboration with industry, is linked to persistence within a traditional engineering curriculum at a majority-minority Hispanic Serving Institution. This study will follow students longitudinally to investigate how cross-sector collaborations influence educational outcomes and occupational success. Surveys will be used to investigate how activities that balance and blend andragogy and pedagogy contribute to student persistence by promoting the growth of engineering identity and professional confidence. Early results from the research will be used to integrate adult and industry-mentored learning into materials such as curriculum maps, catalog descriptions, websites, and student advising software. Continuous assessment of the outcomes will contribute to engineering education knowledge and stimulate discussion on how institutions can utilize learning communities and industry partnerships to improve the retention and subsequent social mobility for first generation, low income students. In addition to publications and conferences, project generated resources and findings will be dissemination through the HSI Resource Hub, a network of more than 450 HSIs, including those that receive little or no prior NSF support. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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