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This paper presents the results of a STEM Accelerator focused redesign of the 'Foundation of Engineering' course at University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) towards a more handson, interactive, and project based effort while also providing them with the tools and lifestructure needed to be successful in Engineering study. As part of this effort, the following tools are highlighted: Winning The First Month; Math Stress Quests; and Semester Project. The above efforts assisted in changing the 'Foundations of Engineering' course from a teacher dominated instruction and philosophy course to a more student learning centered, engaging, hands-on, engineering problem solving course that improves student-faculty interaction and student motivation which will better prepare them to have a successful engineering education and career. A survey was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the course redesign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concept based classroom teaching and instructions undoubtedly enable students to think as practitioners by utilizing knowledge at both theoretical and practical levels. Concept based learning increases student technology and applicability readiness levels, along with increasing student engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) classrooms. In this twenty first century of globalized economy with an emphasis on product sustainability, curricula must be significantly expanded to enable future workforce with the concepts of sustainable product development. As a part of this effort, this paper discusses on introducing undergraduate and Graduate students of Green Energy Manufacturing class at The University of Texas at El Paso to the Design for X (DfX), a concept widely used in manufacturing industries for product design and development. We discuss on our experience of the course, where in to enhance student understanding of DfX, additive manufacturing technology was used to analyze how the theoretical concepts learnt by students in class were reflected upon their product design and development in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kansas Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, KS-LSAMP, is an alliance led by Kansas State University (KSU) in partnership with three minority-serving community colleges in the southwest part of the state and a minority-serving private college in urban Kansas City, KS. All partner institutions in the KS-LSAMP project have established recruitment and retention programs aimed at serving the needs of underrepresented minority (URM) students including African-Americans, Native Americans/American Indians, and Hispanic/Latino students. The KS- LSAMP project builds upon foundations in place and allows expansion of efforts and extensive coordination among the partners to facilitate recruitment and retention of URM students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs of study leading to baccalaureate degrees at KSU. The National Science Foundation funded project includes development of an innovative pathway for URM students in STEM that addresses unique institutional and student characteristics. Specialized activities are offered at critical junctures in the pathway, such as high school to college, two-year to four-year institutions, and the critical freshman to sophomore transition at 4- year institutions. The overall goal is to double the number of URM students graduating with baccalaureate STEM degrees from KSU within the five years of the project. In building the infrastructure to support this goal, the capacity of all partners will be enhanced, communication and coordination to facilitate the success of transfer students will be embedded in the culture of the partners, and other populations not currently well represented in STEM disciplines such as women, first-generation-to-college, and military-associated students also will benefit. In addition, best practices developed at KS-LSAMP partner institutions will be disseminated around the state to its other two- and four-year institutions that are increasingly serving URM students as well. The project uses a systems approach to address the needs of underrepresented minorities in STEM, linking existing successful recruitment and retention strategies with new programs based on research into needs of underrepresented students. The project design is grounded in educational theories including retention/integration, cumulative advantage, engagement, and constructivism. It incorporates established best practices for working with URM students such as STEM identity formation through experiential programs including student research and internships, a focus on critical junctures, training of faculty and staff to enhance cultural competency, and building of academic integration and STEM self-efficacy. An extensive evaluation plan designed around the project logic model will be used as the basis for project assessment. This paper includes a description of the project, partner institutions, and first year research and evaluation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the implementation and assessment of an e-textiles curriculum in a summer STEM program for girls. The goal of this residential, five day camp is to help girls learn about STEM subjects and introduce them to careers involving STEM. Girls completing 6th grade or 8th grade can attend the program. Variations of this program has been offered for 15 years and have reached over 3,000 girls. The new curriculum, using e-textiles, was implemented in the summer 2014 program. The evaluation of the curriculum was done through observations of the e-textile sessions, feedback from the participants, and information gathered in participant's engineering notebooks. The evaluation offered is primarily anecdotal, though participant feedback and notebook analysis is compiled into quantitative data. While the overall feedback on the e-textile projects was positive, the girls exhibited some displeasure at having sewing be part of the project. We present the results of this evaluation, as well as a discussion of the lessons learned through the design, implementation, and assessment process of this program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foundation of modern engineering curriculums is a strong background in science, mathematics, and technology. Engineering education begins with math and science education at the grade school level. Without properly cultivating interest and excitement to study these fields, it is difficult for many students to endure the prerequisites to become engineers. In this paper, The Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences (PGSS), a five-week residential summer science program at Carnegie Mellon University, is described and then assessed using feedback from students. Surveys were administered pre-program and post-program asking about attitudes toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), critical thinking skills, and their living/learning environment (home and at the program). Appropriate statistical analysis methods were applied to the results to show significant gains over the course of the program for the overall group as well as key demographics of interest, such as females and minorities. Comments from students are also shared to express their impression of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]