Collaborative Research: Research Initiation: Career Education Program to Increase Engineering Identity for Students from Low-Income High Schools

合作研究：研究启动：职业教育计划，以提高低收入高中学生的工程认同感

• 批准号: 2106192
• 负责人: Allison Godwin
• 金额: $ 2万
• 依托单位: Purdue University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-08-01 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2106192&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Initiation; Career; Education

STEM occupations are expected to grow in the next decade with much of the projected job growth predicted in architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) occupations. With current rates of college matriculation in engineering, the increase in engineering jobs along with the retirement of the aging engineering workforce is expected to result in a shortfall unless more young people can be recruited to fill the void. The underrepresentation of women, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students in STEM provides an opportunity for diversifying and growing engineering. Additionally, these pathways provide economic and social capital for learners. For these reasons, it is imperative that young students, particularly in middle school, become aware of and interested in careers in engineering. This research has two primary goals (1) to conduct research related to engineering identity development by studying the impact of an innovative middle school outreach program to support identity development and career pathways in engineering and architecture for students in low-income, racially diverse schools and (2) to increase the community of engineering education researchers through the mentored development of the PI in the area of engineering identity development. This work will bring the Identity-Based Motivation framework to K-12 education outreach efforts. As such, it will provide new, evidence-based ways to support students’ pathways into STEM. The study uses a multimethod approach to answer the research question: How do the combination of problem-based learning, exposure to industry role models, and career planning, focused on building industry applications, increase identity-based motivation of students from low-income households and marginalized students in pursuing STEM careers? Answering this question will inform future work developing interventions that target similar goals and will validate and expand the Identity-Based Motivation framework into pre-college education. By leveraging The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) Talent Search Program, the pilot year of the intervention will be delivered to over 40 7th and 8th grade students in a pilot program and then be expanded to over 500 students in the second year of the project. This project focuses on broadening middle school students’ conceptions of what it means to be an engineer by introducing students to diverse AEC role models and engaging students in the kinds of work done by engineers. There are several short- and long-term broader impacts expected to result from this grant. By expanding the understanding of the varied engineering careers and people that make up the AEC industry, middle school students can begin to see engineering identities congruent with their other identities. Identity congruence is motivating and consistent with higher academic achievement. This effort is particularly important in the low-income, racially and ethnically diverse Talent Search Program. Because middle school is a time of blossoming independence, activities to engage the student’s perception of their future self as an engineer can be fruitful. The proposed activities may inspire longer-term strategic change that makes an engineering career possible for several students who may otherwise have self-selected out of this possibility. The results of this effort can affect over 500 students in the short term and thousands in the long term through the development of the Talent Search Handbook that will be distributed to counselors in the program and the larger engineering education community. Additionally, this effort develops the capacity of the PI in engineering education research.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.

预计STEM职业将在未来十年内增长，并且预计建筑，工程和建筑（AEC）职业的大部分预计工作增长。随着工程学院目前的大学矩阵率，工程工作的增加以及老化工程劳动力的退休预计将导致短缺，除非可以招募更多的年轻人来填补空白。 STEM中妇女，黑人，拉丁裔和土著学生的代表性不足为多样化和不断增长的工程提供了机会。 Additionally, these pathways provide economic and social capital for learners.由于这些原因，当务之急是年轻的学生，尤其是在中学时期，对工程学的职业意识到并感兴趣。这项研究具有两个主要目标（1），用于通过研究创新的中学外展计划的影响，以支持身份发展和职业途径的影响，以支持低收入，大致多样化学校的学生在工程和建筑学中的职业途径，以及（2）通过工程认同开发领域的PI发展工程教育研究人员的社区。这项工作将把基于身份的动机框架带入K-12教育外展工作。因此，它将提供新的基于证据的方法来支持学生进入STEM的途径。该研究使用一种多方法的方法来回答研究问题：如何将基于问题的学习，对行业榜样的接触和职业计划的结合，专注于建立行业应用，增加来自低收入家庭的学生的基于身份的动机，以及从事STEM Careers攻击STEM Careers的学生？回答这个问题将为未来的工作提供开发针对类似目标的干预措施，并通过利用宾夕法尼亚州立大学（Penn State）人才搜索计划来验证和扩展基于身份的动机框架，干预年份的试点年份将在40年级和8年级的学生计划中提供40多名学生，然后将其扩展到500多名学生中的学生。该项目的重点是扩大中学生的概念，即通过向学生介绍AEC榜样并吸引学生参与工程师所做的工作的概念。这笔赠款预计将产生一些短期和长期的更广泛的影响。通过扩展对构成AEC行业的各种工程职业的理解，中学生可以开始看到与其他身份一致的工程身份。身份一致性是激励人心的，并且与更高的学术成就保持一致。在低收入，大致和种族多样化的人才搜索计划中，这种努力尤为重要。由于中学是一个独立盛开的时期，因此吸引学生对自己作为工程师的未来自我感知的活动可能会富有成果。拟议的活动可能会激发长期的战略变革，这使得一些可能从这种可能性中自我选择的学生成为工程职业成为可能。这项工作的结果可能会在短期内影响500多名学生，从长远来看人才搜索手册，该手册将分发给该计划中的研究员和更大的工程教育社区。此外，这项努力发展了PI在工程教育研究中的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准来评估，被认为是珍贵的支持。

项目成果

Development of a Middle School Architectural Engineering Pilot Program (Work in Progress)

中学建筑工程试点项目的开发（正在进行中）

• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition
• 作者: Wang, T;Jun Chee Yong, L.;Hanagan, L.M.;Godwin, A.
• 通讯作者: Godwin, A.