| NSF Org: |
EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | May 11, 2020 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 11, 2020 |
| Award Number: | 2029564 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Dana L. Denick
ddenick@nsf.gov (703)292-8866 EEC Division of Engineering Education and Centers ENG Directorate for Engineering |
| Start Date: | May 15, 2020 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $152,514.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $152,514.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
310 E CAMPUS RD RM 409 ATHENS GA US 30602-1589 (706)542-5939 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
310 East Campus Rd. Athens GA US 30602-1589 |
| 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): | COVID-19 Research |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| 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): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
The 2020 global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has forced higher education institutions in the United States to immediately stop face-to-face teaching and transition to virtual instruction. While this transition has not been easy for any instructor, the shift to online learning has been especially difficult for students in STEM courses, particularly engineering, which has a strong practical/laboratory component. This project investigates how the pandemic is impacting students historically underrepresented in engineering. There is an urgency to collect this data in the midst of the crisis. Through the use of an online data collection platform, SenseMaker, short stories will be collected from underrepresented engineering students to describe how they are experiencing the COVID-19 crisis during the transition to online learning. These stories will be used to help provide institutions with tools necessary to ensure minority students are not left out of decisions made with the majority in mind. This RAPID project will adopt the SenseMaker approach to investigate how underrepresented college students cope in times of crisis. This study builds on a previous investigation of community experiences in a crisis context; namely the SenseMaker approach was used to investigate how stakeholder groups in Puerto Rico adapted in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria (NSF #1832678).
The overarching research question that guides this project is: How has the abrupt transition to online instruction due to COVID-19 affected students historically underrepresented in engineering? More specifically, the investigators are interested in understanding how the transition has impacted underrepresented students based on the following factors: 1) year in school (underclassmen vs. upperclassmen); 2) Predominately White Institution attendance vs Minority Serving Institution attendance; 3) socioeconomic status; and, 4) geographical location. This RAPID project will collect data until December 2020. The approach is to continuously collect micro-narratives of participants? experiences (qualitative data) and responses to a survey questions that prompt participants to make sense of their experiences (quantitative data). These data will be analyzed for patterns to inform actions to improve the experiences of underrepresented engineering students. These data will inform future work that will focus on the development of empirically informed policies to aid institutions as we continue to navigate this current pandemic and reduce the disruption of such transitions in the future. Additionally, an outcome of conducting this research is to inform institutions of challenges faced by this particular population to highlight that diversity and inclusion efforts must be attended to in virtual learning environments and activities.
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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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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.
The 2020 global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has forced higher education institutions in the United States to immediately stop face-to-face teaching and transition to virtual instruction. While this transition has not been easy for any instructor, the shift to online learning has been especially difficult for STEM courses, particularly engineering, which has a strong practical/laboratory component. Additionally, we argued that underrepresented students (URMs) in engineering may be experiencing a range of difficulties that we have the opportunity to capture and learn from right now. This was made evident as $1.3 billion in funding was awarded solely to Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) as a part of the $2.3 trillion COVID-19 rescue package. This decision was made based on the high number of URMs and low-income students, many of whom fall into both categories, who are represented within those institutions.
Anecdotally, students have described hardships associated with this abrupt adjustment, such as having to suddenly leave campus and unexpected costs, inadequate access to technology off-campus, laboratory assignment requirements, and more. The concerns expressed in public forums by underrepresented engineering students point to an immediate opportunity for researchers to explore how this pandemic has impacted students in a variety of ways and to develop empirically informed policies to aid institutions as we continue to navigate this current pandemic and reduce the disruption of such transitions in the future. Additionally, an outcome of conducting this research is to inform institutions of challenges faced by this particular population to highlight that diversity and inclusion efforts should not be limited to on-campus environments and activities.
The overarching research question that guided this project is: How has the abrupt transition to online instruction due to COVID-19 affected students traditionally underrepresented in engineering? A total number of 500 undergraduate and graduate (primarily from minoritized backgrounds as defined by NSF) students participated in this study. From this research question, so far we were able to explore research questions within the following categories:
A. Gender + Race
- What were the experiences of women in engineering during the COVID-19 crisis compared to their male counterparts and at the intersection of race?
B. What students wish their instructors knew
- What impact does race, gender, major, and perceived future impact have on participants? desire to share their experiences with their professor?
- How does gender identity impact students? coping mechanisms during COVID-19?
- How does racial identity affect the attitude or outlook students have when facing the struggles of a pandemic?
C. Mental Health
- How many minoritized students chose to prioritize their mental health?
- How do minoritized students describe their experiences and choices to prioritize (or not prioritize) their mental health?
Outcomes
A. Gender + Race
- Black women were more likely to have had negative experiences than Black men
B. What students wish their instructors knew
- 50% of participants reported negative experiences.
- Non-men participanrts were more likely to have negative experiences.
- Aerospace, Civil, Industrial and Systems, and Mechanical engineering majors were more likely to want their professor to know about their experiences, whereas Computer Science majors were less likely to want their professor to know about their experiences.
- Participants who were mostly male, expressed finding a silver lining amidst the struggles of the pandemic whereas participants who were mostly female, expressed pessimism or complacency in the stories they shared.
- White participants shared having more support and more hope for the future whereas the level of support was less prevalent amongst non-White participants.
C. Mental Health
- 46% of participants prioritized their mental health whereas 54% prioritized the needs of others during this time.
- Students prioritized mental health because they were encouraged to and felt the support to do so.
- Students prioritized mental health as a form of self-care in a generally negative and spiraling time.
- Students were so overwhelmed that self-care was the lowest priority.
Last Modified: 05/17/2022
Modified by: Racheida S Lewis
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