Collaborative research: providing engineering community college students opportunities for research, leadership, mentoring, and community development

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant, awarded under the STEM Education (CFDA 47.076) program, provides $314,248 to Fresno City College, a division of the State Center Community College District, to implement an Engineering Student Ambassador Program. The primary goals of the program are to: (1) create an engaging and supportive community for engineering students, (2) increase participation in the engineering program, and (3) provide students with the support and skills needed to succeed academically and professionally. Key program activities include seminars, workshops, outreach projects, mentoring sessions, and a summer undergraduate research experience at a four-year institution. The project aims to advance understanding of how experiential learning can impact community college students' awareness and preparation for engineering careers, with a focus on increasing participation and success of underrepresented student populations. The award period runs from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2027.

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by preparing community college students for careers in engineering through participation in evidence-based experiential learning opportunities. Currently, there is an increasing demand for engineers across many industries. One approach to meet this demand is to increase the diversity of the workforce by attracting and retaining diverse student populations that attend community colleges. This aligns with the NSF mission to cultivate a robust and diverse workforce that meet the evolving needs of industries that rely on engineering expertise. This project seeks to utilize an experiential learning approach to engage diverse and non-traditional student populations in real-world engineering activities with the goal of enhancing students' awareness and preparation for future engineering careers. By providing a supportive engineering pathway for community college students that includes opportunities to develop skills, engage in undergraduate research, and participate in internships, this project holds great potential to contribute to diversifying the engineering workforce. Ultimately, this project will advance knowledge on effective strategies for engaging underrepresented groups in engineering during their collegiate experience. This project aims to enhance the academic experience for community college engineering students by addressing gaps in persistence, engagement, and success rates while increasing enrollment of historically underrepresented students through the implementation of an engineering student ambassador program. The ambassador program has three primary goals: (1) create an engaging and supportive community for engineering students, (2) increase participation in the engineering program, and (3) provide students with the support and skills needed to succeed academically and professionally. The intellectual merit of this project is to advance understanding of the connection between experiential learning and community college students' awareness of real-world engineering applications. Experiential learning activities include seminars and workshops to develop and enhance engineering skills, outreach activities with real-world engineering projects, mentoring sessions with industry and academic engineering mentors, and a summer undergraduate research program at a four-year degree granting institution. The education research component of the project focuses on investigating: (1) the impact of participation in experiential learning activities on students understanding of engineering, and (2) students' pursuit of additional engineering opportunities contextualized by their programmatic experiences. Data collection and analysis involves both qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys, document reviews, and statistical analysis. By disseminating programmatic information and research findings through conference presentations, journal publications, and open access online venues, the project aims to foster the broader impacts of attracting students from traditionally underrepresented groups and contributing to the advancement of inclusive engineering education and a diverse engineering workforce. The NSF iuse: innovation in two-year college stem education (ITYC) program seeks to accelerate the impact of and advance knowledge about emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate stem education at two-year colleges. 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.- subawards are not planned for this award.