Scholarships to Support a Co-Op Based Engineering Education

支持基于合作的工程教育的奖学金

基本信息

批准号：
2221441
负责人：
Catherine Spence
金额：
$ 149.98万
依托单位：
Minnesota State University, Mankato
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2022-10-01 至 2027-09-30
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2221441&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Scholarships Support Co Op Based

项目摘要

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 120 unique full-time students who are pursuing Bachelor of Science degrees in engineering. First-semester junior, primarily transfer, students will receive scholarships for one semester. The Iron Range Engineering (IRE) STEM Scholars Program provides a financially sustainable pathway for students across the nation to graduate with an engineering degree and up to two years of industry experience. Students typically complete their first two years of engineering coursework at community colleges across the country. Students then join IRE and spend one transitional semester gaining training and experience to equip them with the technical, design, and professional skills needed to succeed in the engineering workforce. During the last two years of their education, IRE students work in industry, earning an engineering intern salary, while being supported in their technical and professional development by professors, learning facilitators, and their own peers. The IRE STEM Scholars project will provide access to a financially responsible engineering degree for low-income students by financially supporting them during the transitional semester, which has two financial challenges: university tuition costs are higher than their previous community college costs, and the semester occurs before they are able to earn an engineering co-op income. In addition, the project will provide personalized mentorship throughout students’ pathway to graduation, such as weekly conversations with a mentor. By providing these supports, the IRE STEM Scholars project aims to prepare students to be competitive applicants for the engineering workforce with career development and engineering co-op experience. Because community colleges draw relatively representative proportions of students from a variety of backgrounds, this project has the potential to learn how transfer pathways and co-op education can support financially sustainable pathways to engineering degrees for a more diverse group of students and contribute to the development of a diverse, competitive engineering workforce.The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. As part of the scope of this project, a concurrent mixed-methods research study will be done on engineering students’ thriving, specifically their identity, belonging, motivation, and overall wellbeing (or mental and physical health). Student outcomes have previously been measured primarily through academic markers such as graduation rates and GPA. In addition to these outcomes, this project explores ways to better support overall student thriving. This study will address the following research questions: How do undergraduate students’ engineering identity and belongingness develop over time in a co-op-based engineering program? How do undergraduate students’ motivation and identity connect to overall wellbeing in a co-op-based engineering program? The results of this work will be available in conference and journal publications and workshops focused on applications for other engineering co-op programs to better support high achieving low-income students. This project is funded by NSF’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer,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.

该项目将通过支持明尼苏达州立大学曼凯托分校六名以上成绩优异、有经济需要的低收入学生的保留和毕业，满足国家对受过良好教育的科学家、数学家、工程师和技术人员的需求。该项目将为 120 名正在攻读工程学理学学士学位的独特全日制学生提供奖学金，第一学期的转学生将获得 Iron Range Engineering (IRE) STEM 的奖学金。学者计划为全国各地的学生提供了一条经济上可持续的途径，让他们能够获得工程学位和长达两年的行业经验。学生通常在全国各地的社区大学完成前两年的工程课程，然后加入 IRE 并在该校学习。一个过渡学期获得培训和经验，使他们具备在工程队伍中取得成功所需的技术、设计和专业技能。在教育的最后两年中，IRE 学生在工业界工作，赚取工程实习生工资。在教授的技术和专业发展的支持下，学习IRE STEM 学者项目将通过在过渡学期期间为低收入学生提供经济支持，为他们提供获得经济责任工程学位的机会，该项目面临两个财务挑战：大学学费高于他们之前的社区。此外，该项目还将在学生毕业的整个过程中提供个性化的指导，例如每周与导师进行对话。 IRE STEM 学者项目旨在做好准备使学生成为具有职业发展和工程合作经验的工程劳动力的有竞争力的申请人。由于社区学院吸引了来自不同背景的相对有代表性的学生，因此该项目有可能了解转学途径和合作教育如何发挥作用。支持更多元化的学生群体获得经济上可持续的工程学位途径，并为培养多元化、有竞争力的工程队伍做出贡献。该项目的总体目标是提高低收入、成绩优异的本科生完成 STEM 学位的比例作为该项目范围的一部分，一项同时进行的混合方法研究将针对工程专业学生的成长，特别是他们的身份、归属感、动机和整体幸福感（或心理和身体健康）进行，此前主要通过毕业率等学术指标来衡量。除了这些成果之外，该项目还探讨了更好地支持学生整体发展的方法。本研究将解决以下研究问题：本科生的工程身份和归属感如何在带薪实习的工程项目中随着时间的推移而发展？本科生的动机和认同如何与整体幸福感联系起来基于合作的工程项目？这项工作的结果将在会议和期刊出版物以及研讨会上公布，重点关注其他工程合作项目的应用，以更好地支持成绩优异的低收入学生。该项目由国家科学基金会资助。科学、技术、工程和数学项目奖学金，旨在增加获得 STEM 领域学位、有经济需要的低收入学术才华学生的数量，并改善未来 STEM 工作者的教育。生成有关学业成功、保留、该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。