Scholars of Excellence in Engineering Design

工程设计卓越学者

• 批准号: 2322557
• 负责人: Karim Muci-Kuchler
• 金额: $ 249.93万
• 依托单位: Texas State University - San Marcos
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-01 至 2029-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2322557&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Scholars; Excellence; Engineering; Design

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 Texas State University. Texas State University is a Hispanic Serving Institution, and its campus in San Marcos, Texas, is at the center of a rapidly growing innovation corridor that extends from Austin to San Antonio. Over its six-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to thirty-eight unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in one of the following engineering majors: Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering. First-time-in-college students will receive up to four years of scholarship. In addition, the project will include activities that engage students early and often in cohort building, engineering identity formation, the development of important professional skills, and exposure to the engineering profession. In particular, the project will include training for faculty mentors, individualized student mentoring that starts before students arrive on campus, cohort-based professional learning communities that allow students to support each other, and a sequence of workshops focusing on the product design and development process, cooperative education experiences in industry, and undergraduate research opportunities. If the proposed approach is successful, it could be useful for STEM programs at academic institutions that want to support low-income students with demonstrated financial need during their undergraduate education. Given the demographics of the students served by Texas State University, success in retaining and graduating engineering students could translate into increased diversity in regional and national engineering career fields, which ultimately builds the broader society’s capacity to solve today’s most complex design and systems problems in ways that are equitable and sustainable. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. When these talented students enroll in engineering programs, they often feel they do not “belong” in engineering because of their financial situation, their math and science preparation, the absence of family support or mentoring, and the lack of engineering role models who share their cultural backgrounds. The project will use a comprehensive system of supports aimed at fully integrating, centering, and motivating these students to help them achieve their academic potential, foster their sense of belonging to the engineering profession, and develop professional skills. A sequence of product design and development workshops and the possibility to participate in cooperative education experiences in industry will allow students to connect what they are learning in their courses with the practical aspects of the engineering profession. The latter is expected to increase their motivation and persistence to degree completion. Opportunities to participate in research experiences will allow students to consider the possibility of pursuing graduate studies after obtaining their bachelor’s degree. The effectiveness of the project will be evaluated by tracking the scholarship recipients’ academic performance, retention rate, and graduation rate. In addition, surveys will be used to determine the impact of project activities in increasing student sense of belonging to the engineering profession, self-efficacy in engineering design, and professional skill development. An external evaluator will conduct periodic project assessments and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement. Project results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations. In addition, project information and results will be presented to the Industrial Advisory Boards of each of the engineering programs involved and will be made available upon request to interested STEM faculty members via Texas State University’s Digital Collections Repository. 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, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students.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.

该项目将通过支持有经济需要的优秀、低收入学生在德克萨斯州立大学的保留和毕业，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。服务机构及其位于德克萨斯州圣马科斯的校园位于从奥斯汀延伸到圣安东尼奥的快速发展的创新走廊的中心，该项目将在六年内为 38 名独特的全日制学生提供奖学金。正在追求的学生以下工程专业之一的学士学位：土木工程、电气工程、工业工程、制造工程或机械工程。此外，该项目还将包括长达四年的奖学金。尽早并经常让学生参与队列建设、工程身份形成、重要专业技能的发展以及接触工程专业的活动特别是，该项目将包括对导师教师的培训，以及在学生入学之前开始的个性化学生指导。校园、队列专业学习允许学生互相支持的社区，以及一系列专注于产品设计和开发过程、行业合作教育经验和本科生研究机会的研讨会，如果所提出的方法成功，它可能对学术界的 STEM 项目有用。考虑到德克萨斯州立大学所服务的学生的人口统计数据，想要在本科教育期间支持有经济需求的低收入学生的机构，留住和毕业工程学生的成功可能会转化为地区和国家工程职业领域的多样性。最终建立更广泛的社会解决当今问题的能力该项目的总体目标是提高具有经济需求的低收入、成绩优异的本科生的 STEM 学位。由于他们的经济状况、数学和科学准备、缺乏家庭支持或指导，以及缺乏与他们有共同文化背景的工程榜样，他们经常觉得自己不“属于”工程领域。该项目将使用一个全面的系统。旨在充分整合、居中和激励这些学生帮助他们发挥学术潜力，培养他们对工程专业的归属感，并发展专业技能。一系列的产品设计和开发研讨会以及参与行业合作教育经验的机会将使学生能够建立联系。他们在课程中学习的内容与工程专业的实际方面相结合，预计会增加他们完成学位的动力和毅力。参与研究的机会将使学生考虑在获得学位后继续攻读研究生的可能性。将评估该项目的有效性。通过跟踪奖学金获得者的学业成绩、保留率和毕业率，还将通过调查来确定项目活动对提高学生对工程专业的归属感、工程设计的自我效能和专业的影响。外部评估员将定期进行项目评估，并通过同行评审的文章和会议演示提供反馈和建议。此外，项目信息和结果将提交给每个行业咨询委员会。所涉及的程序工程并将根据要求通过德克萨斯州立大学的数字馆藏存储库向感兴趣的 STEM 教员提供该项目由 NSF 科学、技术、工程和数学奖学金项目资助，该项目旨在增加低收入学术人员的数量。它还旨在改善未来 STEM 工作者的教育，并提供有关低收入学生的学业成功、保留、转学、毕业和学术/职业道路的知识。这授予 NSF 的法定使命，并通过评估反映使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，被认为值得支持。