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This paper presents the development of personalized job preparation and job search training and services for underrepresented STEM scholars as part of an institutional partnership model created to assist dissertators, postdoctoral researchers, and early career faculty along their path to joining and persisting in the professoriate. This work is part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) grant awarded to four university partners. The alliance's goal is to develop, implement and study a model of STEM doctoral degree completion and the transition to successful postdoctoral fellowships and faculty careers for historically underrepresented minorities. Underrepresented Ph.D. candidates in STEM fields have long lacked role-models from similar demographic representations due to the small number of underrepresented faculty in STEM fields who can serve as role models and mentors. This has created systemic challenges in recruiting underrepresented students for PhD programs and retaining them into the professoriate. Institutions have been providing job preparation and job search support for their students through general career and related services, such as resume/CV writing, oral presentation skills, mock interviews, and access to employer databases. This type or support may not be the most valuable for Ph.D. dissertators and postdocs whose needs are unique and whose schedules are packed with multiple commitments. In this paper, we discuss the approach to identifying and implementing multi-year job search and preparation activities to match the needs of underserved STEM scholars who started as Ph.D. candidates and moved towards academic positions at different rates. Sources of data informing the personalized training and services include perspectives of the project leadership, and feedback from the participating scholars collected as part of program evaluation. This feedback helped fine-tune the partnership model to provide participating scholars with the most meaningful support possible. Findings suggest three design features of successful support: 1. While general training and support such as those offered by career service centers are useful, specific support by STEM faculty with real-time efforts in applying for academic positions was more timely and valuable for URM scholars. 2. Transition support is critical as scholars' needs shift from dissertator to postdoctoral researcher to early career faculty. For example, requests to review job applications early on were joined by interest in grant writing once scholars moved into their first postdissertation academic positions. 3. Real time writing groups focused on proposal development and application portfolio development represent one of the most promising practices. Participants reported multiple academic, social, and motivational benefits resulting from the weekly meetings. Particular attention to job search and preparation will provide value to underrepresented scholars and assist them to successfully secure and persist in academic positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work-in progress study is to explore the impact of digital nudging strategies on the students' app engagement while using an educational application (i.e., CourseMIRROR). CourseMIRROR prompts students to reflect on their learning after each lecture and uses natural language processing algorithms to generate summaries of those reflections. Although, prior studies have provided evidence on the effectiveness of the educational apps on students' learning, there have been concerns about their inability to keep students engaged with the application. However, it is observed that behavioral interventions can be the way for positive reinforcements. Drawing from the "Nudge Theory" in behavioral sciences, we aim to use nudging strategies to enhance students' app engagement. In this study, we outline the process of introducing nudge interventions in application CourseMIRROR. In this paper, we describe the method to introduce the application in three sections of STEM course at Midwestern University. Furthermore, this study describe a quasiexperimental approach to understand the effectiveness of nudging strategies on students' app engagement. We suggest the methodology by dividing the sections of the course into three groups, where two groups will be nudged with two different nudge interventions, and third group is suggested to be a control group with no intervention. As the use of nudging strategies is new to educational applications and engineering education, the approach and effectiveness of nudging may help the future educators to use the educational apps in more effective ways to keep students engaged and eventually help students for their performance in large courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pursuit of deepening ones understanding of physics and its implications on biological functions, Biophysics presents itself as the forerunner in useful courses serving in this capacity. As a modern, interdisciplinary field of science weaving concepts of Physics, Biology, Math, and Chemistry, Biophysics provides the space for novel approaches and discoveries answering the questions of many scientists and engineers. Due to the broad reach of its purposes, Biophysics requires a multidisciplinary education. Students working towards degrees in any science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree can benefit from taking a Biophysics course. In this paper, course design and types of instruction are presented and discussed, as well as student outcomes and feedback for the first iteration of this biophysics course. This course will offer undergraduate students a look into a multitude of techniques, based on physical principles and laws, which are used to explore biological functions. In addition, students will be challenged to improve their understanding of molecular structures in biological contexts and will explore the thermodynamic and kinetic regulation of biological systems as well as the bioenergetics of molecular and environmental interactions. Due to the level of coursework expected, students will have the opportunity to participate in active and passive learning activities, will be given learning assessments utilizing all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, and will be assigned a project involving Research as Inquiry. Check points will be built into the course to monitor students' progress on projects, at which time feedback and guidance will be offered. Upon completion of this course, STEM students will be able to clearly express their scientific thinking in both written and verbal form while successfully connecting concepts across their undergraduate curriculum. Students will be required to sharpen their skills as researchers as they learn how to focus their questions of inquiry and will then present their findings. Through developing an undergraduate course in Biophysics, a roadmap is presented helping STEM students to make necessary connections among their foundational undergraduate education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The REU (research experience for undergraduates) can be a formative and beneficial experience for students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) majors. These programs most often select the top undergraduate students to perform research at prestigious universities. The REU that is the topic of this paper takes another approach in order to broaden the participation of community college students in STEM majors and careers. The Nanotechnology REU with a Focus on Community Colleges brings the top students from local two year campuses to a top-tier university for a 10-week research internship. Students traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields including minorities, females, first generation to attend college, and economically disadvantaged are targeted for participation in this REU program. Each REU intern is matched with a nanotechnology research laboratory and a postdoc or graduate student mentor. The REU intern group meets weekly to share experiences as well as to receive guidance on navigating the campus, managing the demands of research, working with their mentors and faculty, and acquiring the skills and experience to assimilate in a four-year university. Throughout the program, participants deepen their understanding of the scientific concepts of their research and practice sharing their research projects. Each student creates a presentation and poster of their research and results to disseminate at a campus-wide symposium to an audience that includes students, faculty, and the community. Beyond the REU program, past participants are tracked to follow up on their achievements and academic and career path such as transition to four-year universities and STEM degree acquisition. The program has been offered most summers since 2010 for up to 10 students each summer. Area community colleges work with the university to publicize the REU program and bring in a high number of applicants. Using a rubric to rank the applications, the top applicants are interviewed to probe students' motivations and interests and final participants are selected. The program is evaluated by an external assessor via surveys, focus groups, interviews, and attendance at the poster presentation and review of the students' posters. This paper addresses the details of the program, the findings of the evaluation to date, and the program's successes and sustained impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of new university engineering degree programs at an HBCU (Jackson State University) revealed that graduation rates (15%) were considerably lower than desired. An aggressive amelioration strategy centered around a ten week (expenses paid) resident summer bridge program for the student population of first time freshman (ftf) engineering majors with ACT Math scores from 17-25 (70% of ftf) was developed and started in summer 2009. Program assessment was accomplished using a control group of all other ftf engineering majors that began the same fall semester with identical ACT Math scores (17-25). The data indicate that there are two distinct populations (relative to graduation performance) within the 17-25 ACT Math score group. They are groups with ACT Math scores of 17-19 and 20-25. Analyses are made using these two subgroups. Summer bridge students (20-25) have a 4 year engineering graduation rate of 41% relative to 17% for the control group (71 and 107 students respectively). Summer bridge students (17-19) have a 4 year engineering graduation rate of 12% relative to 4% for the control group (50 and 119 students respectively). The six year engineering graduation rate for the 20-25 bridge students was 50% relative to 37% for the control group (32 and 54 students respectively). The six year engineering graduation rate for the 17-19 bridge students was 14% relative to 24% for the control group (29 and 49 students respectively). The paper contains comprehensive analyses of the seven summer cohorts (2009 through 2015) of ftf engineering majors including engineering, STEM and university graduation rates, times to graduate and retention rates. The unique parts of this summer bridge program are its 10 week resident length, enrolling students for six semester hours of mathematics college credit, making it cost free for the students and sustainment for eight summers. This paper clearly demonstrates that the program can more than double the engineering graduation rate for the student population with 17-25 ACT Math scores and the majority graduate in four years. To date, 100% of the 232 students in the bridge program are African Americans (not required). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For over 10 years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been funding S-STEM proposals. The S-STEM program "makes grants to institutions of higher education to support scholarships for academically talented students demonstrating financial need, enabling them to enter the STEM workforce or STEM graduate school following completion of an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate-level degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics disciplines1." Currently, there are 1,148 active S-STEM grants at over 580 institutions of higher education in the United States2. At the authors' institution, three separate NSF S-STEM proposals have been funded since 2011. In this paper, the authors provide specific information on the approaches they used to write and implement successful NSF S-STEM proposals. The paper also provides details on the impact these programs are having at this institution, including strategies that have been successful in engaging students, enhancing student learning, and increasing self-efficacy and retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging minority and underrepresented students in STEM fields in high school is not difficult, but providing the student with long-term outlooks in STEM fields in which the students can see themselves is very difficult. Most students do not know anyone who is currently in a STEM career. STEM professionals volunteer at a good rate, but do not serve as mentors as frequently as those in other professions. A definite key to closing the STEM graduate gap is enabling youth to view themselves in a STEM career. Mentoring helps the student bridge the gap between where they are in high school and the where they see themselves in the future. The guidance provided by a mentor through a student's secondary academic career and transition into a post-secondary setting is critical to minority and underrepresented students due to the lack of this guidance in their social circle. High impact STEM mentoring is needed for mentors to have a lasting impact on our nation. This paper will focus on converting STEM professional volunteers into roles as mentors. This paper will describe efforts to increase the number of mentors in a mid-sized urban community. The paper will discuss the levels of commitment and the level of intensity of desired by the mentors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the ongoing development of a new Bachelor of Science in Networking Information Technology (NIT) program. The balanced curriculum and laboratory of the program not only provides students with foundation and principles of networking and information technology (IT) systems but also exposes students extensively to new emerging technologies and equipment. In addition, the paper introduces the continuous upgrade of the laboratory that uses innovative ideas to provide student-centered, cost effective real hands-on education with flexibility and high adaptability to various education and learning approaches such as face-to-face, hybrid and online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to enhance student learning is a critical issue in academia. Throughout the author's academic career, teaching effectiveness has always been an on-going challenge. Consequently, he has experimented with different teaching techniques and approaches. The author's experience as a teacher, industry trainer and presenter to various community and professional groups helped him to recognize that humor can enhance interest and learning in a given topic. As a result, he has been using humor to promote a positive learning environment in the courses he teaches. In the paper the author will describe how he uses humor to create a positive classroom learning environment. The paper will identify the benefits derived from using humor as a classroom teaching technique. Also, the paper will provide ideas for technology and engineering faculty on how they can integrate humor into their courses to develop a positive learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a facilitated discussion series designed to build community among graduate students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) at Michigan State University. Discussion topics were based on themes from "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead" by Sheryl Sandberg. Six, two-hour discussion sessions were held in Spring, 2014, and 60 individuals registered for the program. Students completed pre- and post-experience surveys, as well as brief evaluations after each session. In the pre-experience survey, respondents were asked about their motivation for participating in this program. The most common responses included interest in reading the book (83%) or to "think purposefully about goal setting." Less common motivators were expanding one's network (39%), free food (57%), or being invited or encouraged by a peer (43%). The most common concern or question expressed on pre-experience survey was: how can successful women achieve work/life balance and have success in both family and career? Other common concerns expressed by participants on the pre-program surveys included: overcoming feelings of 1 "inadequacy" or the imposter syndrome; how to speak up when silenced, interrupted, or ignored; and how to negotiate for what participants need to be successful. The qualitative responses, both on the pre-program survey and from observations of discussion in the first session, suggest a deeper motivation for participating: many participants feel isolated in their work. For the participants in this project, the presence of a structured and facilitated program offered certain advantages over less formal activities that are primarily focused around social activities. Further, these kinds of activities can address social-support needs of graduate 2 students in powerful ways that are designed to challenge and support students as they undergo different kinds of transformation in their academic careers. This paper describes the design, implementation and results of this project, and offers important lessons and resources for those interested in implementing similar activities to engage graduate students at their own institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering teaching strategies that engage students are desperately needed to recruit, retain, and prepare students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields to address challenges facing the 21st Century. This paper describes a method for integrating behavioral instinct learning modules into freshman engineering classes. The method includes an online instinct assessment, in-class activities created to illustrate instinctive behavior related to engineering tasks, practicing awareness through class projects, and reflective writing to encourage students to critically think about this awareness for future classes, activities, and careers. The effectiveness of the methods described herein will be evaluated through the use of surveys, reflective essays, and interviews with faculty and students. The assessments have not yet been completed; we are in the midst of collecting data for the semester. Our initial results show that conative understanding increases satisfaction and confidence, which we hypothesize will lead to improved retention. This paper summarizes the conative interventions in engineering, the research methods, and preliminary results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have been investing significantly in the past two decades to promote and attract young and upcoming talent to pursue professions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This paper summarizes some of the recent projects implemented by Texas A&M University at its Qatar campus to promote STEM disciplines among the next generation to realize the Qatar's national development strategy for transforming from a hydrocarbon-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. The paper further documents some of the primary findings about messaging and marketing strategies designed to stimulate interest in STEM disciplines among young generations in the MENA region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growth of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs in the United States, stakeholders are investing more resources to expand participation in these fields in terms of overall numbers as well as representation across demographics. Although there has been a steady stream of federal and corporate investments in STEM programs, reaching and engaging youth from underrepresented communities remains a challenge. Attempting to disrupt this trend, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is leveraging over ten years of experience to further develop and expand the nation-wide Summer Engineering Experiences for Kids (SEEK) program. In partnership with education researchers from Virginia Tech and Purdue University, NSBE aims to expand participation in SEEK using the research-to-practice cycle to identify and develop best practices moving forward. This paper summarizes preliminary results from the first year of the three-year project, Strengthening the STEM Pipeline for Elementary School African Americans, Hispanics, and Girls by Scaling Up Summer Engineering Experiences. Findings from this research suggest that over the course of the SEEK program students showed increases in their conceptual knowledge (i.e., math, science, and engineering) as well as their attitudes towards these disciplines and their overall perceptions of engineering, but there is certainly room for improvement from this baseline year as the research begins to inform practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Physics is a subject area that, like many others, requires a specific and rather well-defined skillset. This skillset includes the ability to solve problems which involve, at minimum, an understanding of basic algebra. The level of mathematics required often depends upon the population of students a particular physics class is geared for. Non-majors studying physics typically need to have a working knowledge of basic algebra, while science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors need to have some basic calculus under their belts. To promote deeper learning in physics, educators and researchers have developed a variety of active-learning strategies that have one primary goal; namely, to enhance student learning. In addition, many research studies in physics education have looked at factors that affect learning in physics. Oftentimes these studies have focused on specific subsets of populations of students in classes such as introductory courses for non-majors or for specific non-STEM populations such as music or elementary education majors. Additional studies have focused on student learning in courses designed for physics and other STEM-related disciplines. Several studies, for example, have focused on the conceptual and reasoning difficulties novice students often encounter in an introductory physics course. Physics educators know that students don't enter the classroom with a tabula rasa - rather they bring with them a minimum of about 18 years of life experiences that directly and indirectly impede or enhance their ability to learn physics. Within the introductory physics course, one might argue that there are more similarities than differences in terms of factors that impede or enhance student learning across various subsets of student populations. For example, studies have shown that an alarmingly large number of students across the entire introductory spectrum of courses have similar difficulties in terms of the preconceptions and misconceptions they bring with them into the classroom. In the roughly 50 years that formal research in physics education has been conducted, we have uncovered, time and time again, that our students come into our classes with issues that have a direct or indirect bearing on their ability to learn physics. One central question this paper aims to address is: Are the factors that impede or enhance student learning in physics any different in the millennial age? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is currently on the verge of the next industrial revolution, the Internet-of-Things, the movement towards embedding everyday objects with intelligence and the ability to wirelessly communicate information to the cloud. The Internet-of-Things promises to drastically change several aspects of our lives, from the way business is conducted to how we go about otherwise routine day to day activities. This oncoming revolution will create a workforce need that those in STEM education fields must work now to fill via efforts to broaden participation in electrical and computer engineering. In particular, this specialized future workforce will have to be bolstered through K-12 outreach and recruitment of students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering. In this paper, we present our University's efforts to contribute to this need by way of a hands-on activity designed for high school students. The workshop was devised to achieve three primary goals: 1) Encourage consideration of a career in electrical and computer engineering 2) Build excitement about the Internet-of-Things and provide students with a future technical focus and 3) Introduce students to the fundamental building blocks that make up the Internet-of-Things. During this activity, students complete a project in which they first construct a circuit to read data from a temperature sensor using a microcontroller platform. The students then write software to transmit that data over a short-range wireless network and then eventually to an Internet-connected device. Finally, that information is used to actuate a DC motor, thereby emulating the same loop carried out by many Internet-of-Things devices, creating data that originates from a sensor, goes to the cloud and then comes back to perform action. We report on two offerings of this workshop and present results in various forms. In addition to student surveys, an observation protocol was used to collect information on the level of activity and student engagement. Finally, samples of student work were directly assessed in terms of their quality and completeness. The results show that the activity is engaging and is successful in meeting its three stated goals. We also provide lessons learned, suggestions for educators who wish to deploy similar activities and propose ideas to improve future offerings. [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]

Although women make up a significant portion of the college educated population, there remains a sizable gap between the number of men and women pursuing degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. The gender gap begins at middle school and widens considerably in later high school years. One major factor for this gap is the lack of belonging women can feel towards engineering. As one approach to developing and improving this sense of belonging, we focused on improving students' comprehension of engineering topics during a weeklong materials science and engineering summer camp for high school girls. We took a two-prong approach: a unifying paradigm and a design project. The purpose of this was to allow for transfer of learning throughout the week, allowing the students to build and showcase their own comprehension. The paradigm, the materials science tetrahedron, provided cohesion throughout an otherwise broad and seemingly disconnected field, while the design project allowed for students to implement what they learned during the week in a group setting. This approach concomitantly enhances confidence and their sense of belonging within engineering. In this paper we highlight lessons learned from incorporating this approach into our program, including our perception of its effectiveness and feedback from the girls. The preliminary results show that our summer camp is a unique and well-suited opportunity to study how comprehension can engender a sense of belonging amongst female students with the ultimate goal of closing the gender gap in engineering fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents implementation and evaluation of an engineering-focused outreach program geared towards exposing the middle and high school student population, especially underrepresented and underserved groups, to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and careers. The STEM Academy project is a partnership between NASA, Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), school districts, state agencies, and other STEM enrichment programs. The program adopted a well-established NASA STEM curriculum with problem-based learning at its core and integrated 3D design and printing technology, sensorbased measurement systems, and engineering design activities such as roller coaster design and mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) design to enhance authentic and experiential learning experiences. Curriculum was delivered through the combination of summer and academic year hands-on activities complemented by guest speakers and field trips. The program targeted rural counties of the state and served 523 students (middle and high school) who received 36-40hours of hands-on STEM experience. Evaluation data and results were gathered through STEM Career Interest Surveys (STEM-CIS), student interviews, teacher interviews/focus group, and students' evaluation of the hands-on sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NSF STEP grant program was initiated by the US Congress with the goal of implementing best practices that would lead to an increase in the number of students obtaining STEM degrees at institutions with baccalaureate degree programs. Our university's Colleges of Science and Engineering were fortunate to receive a STEP grant in 2009 to improve freshmen retention and graduation rates by working on notoriously high-loss courses in chemistry and mathematics and facilitating undergraduate research opportunities in science and engineering. This paper describes the path taken in the implementation of these plans, and a major shift when institutional priorities necessitated a change in focus. After developing a demonstrably successful program in the first few years of the grant, focus in the later years was strictly on initiatives which would be sustainable in our institution. We highlight three initiatives which grew out of the STEP grant efforts and are now institutionalized and thriving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impetus for the Sustainable Bridges from Campus to Campus study is to address the urgent need to expand the pool of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) graduates, especially African American, Native American, and Hispanic students. Long-term improvements in the pipeline of a diverse STEM workforce start with sustaining effective bridge programs that can produce more Engineering baccalaureates. To improve retention in Engineering, this study will conduct academic enrichment programs for racially underrepresented Engineering students at three points in their career at the Penn State--entering freshmen, rising sophomores, and rising juniors. The goals of the study are to (a) increase retention in Engineering among racially underrepresented students in the Penn State system, (b) develop long-term sustainability plans for these enrichment programs, and (c) compare retention rates in Engineering depending on whether students attended a summer academic enhancement program at their local campus or at a different campus and whether they transfer between campuses within the University system. The guiding framework for the summer bridge programs is the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) Model. The study started in January 2016. During summer 2016, we conducted 5 summer bridge programs with the first cohort of freshmen across 4 campuses in the Penn State system. The students in Cohort 1 are currently in the fall semester of their freshmen year. At this early point in the study, our paper can present an overview of the project as well as reporting preliminary data on Cohort 1 after their first semester (Fall 2016). Academic performance data after the first semester include grade point average, math course grades, academic social support, and whether they are retained at the University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study abroad participation has exploded in higher education institutions with the percent of students in the United States who study abroad rising by just over five percent in a single academic year (NAFSA, 2016). American students majoring in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields represent the largest proportion of students studying abroad at nearly 23 percent (IIE, 2016). As popularity for study abroad programs has grown, the evidence for study abroad success has been questioned. Previous success metrics of study abroad programs focused on the number of students participating and students' self-reports of being "transformed". Today's metrics require successful study abroad programs to demonstrate students' development of intercultural agility and competence (Vande Berg et al, 2012). Intercultural knowledge and competence is "a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts" (Bennett, 2008). As civil engineering graduates increasingly participate in the international engineering work force, competencies outlined in the Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century (ASCE, 2008), such as globalization (analyzing engineering works and services in order to function at a basic level in a global context) and ABET Student Outcomes (ABET, 2014) requiring students to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental and societal context, may be significantly optimized by study abroad experiences. How courses are structured is key to providing intercultural knowledge and competence. An engineering instructor's experience creating courses balancing intercultural knowledge and engineering content has only recently entered the body of knowledge on intercultural learning. This paper explores an engineering study abroad course as a case study in furthering the discussion. The research approach taken involves mixed methods with a nod to quantitative cultural competence measures and qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology, with qualitative results to follow. To delve into understanding the experience of the study abroad engineering student, the research question explored is, "To what extent may a short-term study abroad engineering course influence student intercultural competence?" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate student retention is dependent not only on academic aptitude, but also on nonacademic factors, which include the ability to integrate fully into their academic environments. Non-academic factors are likely to more significantly impact the success of students with disabilities compared to their peers who do not have disabilities, especially within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and engineering in particular. These include systemic as well as personal barriers. An institution's culture and climate are among several systemic barriers that exist to impede successful matriculation of students with disabilities, particularly in engineering. Researchers have found engineering and law faculty members "were significantly less willing to provide accommodations" than their counterparts in other academic units. Reluctance and negative attitudes serve to foster environments that are counter to diversity and inclusion. Studies have shown that incorrect estimates of self-efficacy are among personal barriers that hinder student success. Some students with disabilities tend to have lower academic selfefficacy than students without a disability, and those with the highest IQs appear to have the lowest perceptions of academic self-efficacy, perhaps because they are more aware of their weaknesses. Other students with disabilities appear instead to have unrealistically positive beliefs about their own capabilities. In some cases this may result in students not requesting needed accommodations, though this may result from other factors such as fear of stigmas associated with disability as well. In this paper, we present a review of literature pertaining to systemic and personal barriers to success for students with disabilities in engineering. We conclude with a summary of promising practices for overcoming those barriers and needs for additional research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this work in progress is to design a virtual environment that integrates experiential learning with assessment and teaching. The proposed FLATLAB is a Focused Learning, Assessment, and Teaching Laboratory with a visuo-haptic interface. Its design embodies ASK (Assessment, Student, and Knowledge) centered learning. This paper focuses on a FLATLAB module for kinematics and dynamics of mechanisms, which lets students learn experientially by building and manipulating virtual planar mechanisms. The platform is initially being developed on a touch screen interface. The realism will be further enhanced by adding a haptic cursor that provides force feedback to the user's fingertips. Experiential learning in this virtual environment will be integrated with theoretical concepts so that learners will analyze mechanisms to solve for variables of interest, such as displacements, velocities, accelerations, and forces, and use FLATLAB to verify their answers. The FLATLAB platform may be used to create dynamic exams and textbooks in which students can physically interact with exam questions and instructional examples. This work in progress describes the educational requirements of the system and the technical challenges involved in the initial development of the first FLATLAB module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary results of a collaborative project, Creating Alternative Learning Strategies for Transfer Engineering Programs (CALSTEP). The project aims to strengthen community college engineering programs using distance education and other alternative delivery strategies that will enable small-to-medium community college engineering programs to support lower-division engineering courses that students need to be competitive for transfer to four-year engineering programs. Funded by a three-year grant through the National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (NSF IUSE) program, CALSTEP will leverage existing educational resources and develop new ones for online lecture courses, as well as core engineering laboratory courses that are delivered either completely online, or with limited face-to-face interactions. The initial areas of focus for laboratory course development are: Introduction to Engineering, Engineering Graphics, Materials Science, and Circuit Analysis. CALSTEP will also develop alternative models of flipped classroom instruction to improve student success and enhance student access to engineering courses that otherwise could not be supported in traditional delivery modes due to low enrollment. The project will also evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and train other community college engineering faculty in the effective use of the curriculum and resources developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey of 19 Biomedical Engineering (BME) senior projects, over a period of five years at Lawrence Technological University, shows a range of projects from applied research to design based. To provide uniformity in course instruction and assessment of these different types of projects, the process of taking an idea from inception to implementation is emphasized. All student teams follow a similar process of opportunity recognition, customer interaction, market analysis and design proposal. Direct and indirect assessments are used for a variety of individual and team based assignments and provide the statistical data for analysis of student performance and progress. Teams are required to remain in contact with project advisors who provide guidance in the discovery phase and help with resource gathering during the implementation of proposed ideas. The distributed course model, described in this paper, can be implemented in any project-based course to provide the necessary flexibility in dealing with different types of projects while adhering to a uniform method of course instruction and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel educational gamification approach that employs and reinforces otherwise-abstract concepts currently taught in graduate-level courses to become a standard part of under-graduate communications courses in the future. In particular, we develop software tools that visually demonstrate relevant wireless communications parameters and processes, including those already taught in undergraduate communications courses (e.g., power, coding rate, modulation type, data rate and bandwidth) to students in an interactive way. We exploit our Internet- accessible wireless communication testbed CORNET to enable students to experience wireless communication challenges and learn different solutions in realistic environments via an ordinary web browser. This paper presents our approach to authentic STEM learning and compares it with other past and ongoing initiatives. We conclude that there is a gap of practical teaching tools and methods for educating students as well as radio engineers and researchers about new trends in wireless communications with a focus on spectrum sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the development, implementation, and analysis of a program for fifth grade students that tightly integrates STEM concepts with musical performance by an acclaimed percussion ensemble. The WAVES program was offered as a half-day event during the spring of 2014 attended by over 350 fifth graders from 3 local schools and comprised three main activities: (1) hands-on, museum-style exhibits and demonstrations in the engineering building, (2) small group sessions facilitated by undergraduates with discussion and hands-on activities, (3) a concert where all 350 fifth graders accompanied the artists-in-residence on custom instruments designed and built by undergraduates for the performance of a classical music work composed by the artists specifically for this educational event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to 1997, ABET evaluators focused on inputs to engineering education. Responding to a four decade trend in quality management systems used in manufacturing and service industries, ABET began measuring outputs instead, and focused on continuous improvement. Students, professors, program coordinators, and department chairs must answer three questions: [1] what are we doing well, [2] what are we not doing well, and [3] how do we improve? In some cases, we can use graphical data presentation techniques to answer these questions. Scatter graphs show relationships between variables that are not evident in tables, and they show changes in variables with respect to time. A student may ask "why is my grade lower than I would like?" We can use graphs to show the student's progress in real time as the semester advances, then predict the final course grade based on alternate hypotheses (e.g., "I will earn 90% on all remaining assignments"; "I will barely pass the remaining assignments"). As a professor, I asked why the failure rate in Strength of Materials is so high, then used a variety of graphs and tables to determine the indicators for success and failure. As a consequence, my department made a curriculum change in Fall 2014; we should see results starting in Fall 2015. This paper shows how I used graphical data presentation techniques in undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Technology classes such as Materials & Processes, to improve student success, teaching effectiveness, and curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Energy Engineering and Education Outreach model evolved from two programs that have been successful at North Carolina State University. This paper shows some need for promoting ST(EE) 2 M [Science, Technology, Energy Engineering, Engineering Education, and Math] 2 and suggests that the model can be a useful tool to do so. Through the model, grades 13-16 students in traditional engineering curriculums would be exposed to energy engineering and engineering education while having the opportunity to disseminate their intellectual knowledge to K-12 students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies showed that embedding engineering at K-12 level has a positive impact on stimulating interest in- and improving learning outcomes of science and mathematics, and development of 21st Century skills. Engineering activities are used as a way for displaying an authentic applicability of taught math and science in K-12 students in real applications. In this context, an outreach activity, namely Life is Engineering Program (LIEP) was launched in 2009 by the College of Engineering at Qatar University with particular focus on Qatari male students. In LIEP, K-12 students in the 10th and 11th grade work on assembling racing cars over a period of six months throughout an accompanying program of activities, engineering workshops and seminars, and finally a race is conducted in an international racing circuit located in Qatar. The methodology of the assessment included analysis of 2 surveys each of 16 questions (including demographics, open-ended, and Likert scale up type of questions). Surveys were delivered to both LIEP participating students (Sample no. N= 57) and LIEP non-participating Qatari students (sample no. N= 51). Experimental group outcomes against Control group outcomes were analyzed; findings indicate statistical significance in perceptions towards development of significant set of 21st century competencies. Perceptions towards STEM fields were more positive for the experimental group than the control group for the majority of measuring items, however statistical significance was detected in fewer items. The paper provides further details on the LIEP outreach program, as well as the assessment, its methodology and initial findings and planned actions. [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]

According to a 2012 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, "60% of students who enter college with the goal of majoring in a STEM subject end up graduating in a non-STEM field". This exodus is a long-standing problem. For several decades students have been saying that they feel that getting a STEM degree is too "hard". Engineering students indicate that they are working constantly and still struggle to understand basic STEM concepts. In order to address the first-year exodus, higher education must shift its attention to providing educational mechanisms that focus on helping students enhance their understanding of basic STEM concepts. By understanding we mean a deep-seated knowledge that has become deep-rooted in a student's way of thinking and that they can comfortably use when solving problems. The focus of our paper is to provide a new set of fundamental ideas from which one can re-direct the conversation about the educational needs of first-year STEM students. We are proposing a bold new direction that embraces a rich empirical theory from the field of cognitive development called, dynamic skill theory. Our objective is to transform the current status quo in first-year engineering education where students say, "It's too hard," to where they say, "I get it." [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]

This paper describes the development of a first-year seminar focused on the discussion of ethical issues in engineering for STEM students. The seminar course is intended to provide a broad introduction to ethics through discussions and writing assignments focused on case studies of engineering catastrophes, meeting once a week for ninety minutes, as well as encourage students in college level critical thinking skills. Involving first year students with both technical and philosophical discussions, showing the broader reach of engineering, can be critical in the retention of students to engineering as well as the translation of engineering ethics to other STEM majors. The main goal of the seminar is to engage first year STEM students to discuss ethics from an engineering perspective, give them tools beyond their intuition, and assist them in their transition into collegiate level academic work. Students are introduced to a risk assessment based approach to ethical decision making. This approach attempts to incorporate the basic questions of risk-benefit analysis with information on the decision makers, constraints and context, and implementation of the system. This simplified framework is employed to allow students to more easily explore complex catastrophes from multiple points of view and draw parallels with current technological issues, with these skills significantly improving over the course of the semester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategies for improving student success are particularly important in high-demand fields like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). As the U.S. experiences a decline in skilled STEM workers and a growing number of racial/ethnic minorities, it is critical that more attention be paid to the college success of underrepresented populations majoring in STEM. While some strategies for increasing STEM student success have focused on social-psychological factors such as academic self-efficacy and resilience, little attention has been given to these factors among specific minority groups in STEM such as Black men. To extend the current literature, interviews with 27 Black male collegians majoring in engineering or engineering-related fields were analyzed through the lens of the 'buoyant believers' framework. Based on the model, individuals can be described across four typologies as: (a) students who are confident and resilient, (b) students who are confident but lack resilience, (c) students who lack confidence but exhibit resilience, and (d) students who are neither resilient nor confident. Using the 'buoyant believers' framework, we highlight excerpts from interviews to depict students who fit in each category of the matrix. We describe the framework as a useful identification tool to assist college educators looking for clues when identifying strategies to build confident and resilient Black male students in engineering and engineering-related fields. This paper includes strategies related to mentoring, modeling, enrichment activities, and curriculum mastery recommended for the success of each respective student "type" that will prove useful to faculty, staff, and practitioners who work with Black male students in STEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the final phase of a mixed-methods study that explored the impacts of intensive project work on alumni of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), a technology-focused university featuring a project-based curriculum, an external party conducted in-depth interviews with ten employers of engineering alumni to determine how a project-based curriculum prepares students for the engineering workplace. The employers interviewed ranged from a Fortune 500 multinational conglomerate to a not-for-profit organization and a branch of the U.S. military. This paper discusses qualitative findings from these interviews. All employers interviewed indicated that they regularly and actively seek out graduates from WPI to hire as employees. While employers noted that graduates from WPI possessed especially strong skills in the areas of communication and collaboration--qualities that earlier phases of the study showed were strengthened through participation in project-based learning--not all of the employers were aware that the graduates had participated in project-based learning. Employers who were aware that a project-based curriculum featured prominently at WPI identified experience doing project work--in and of itself--as a reason to hire graduates. They further indicated that a project-based curriculum makes recruitment, training, integration, and advancement of employees easier for employers. Findings of the study overall indicate that a project-based learning curriculum is beneficial not only to the students who participate in it but to the engineering employers who hire them, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attracting any group to a particular discipline requires providing opportunities for that group to participate as well as making the experience engaging enough that the participants are eager to learn more. TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) is a three-year project designed to spark interest in engineering technology in middle school students, especially minority students. TECHFIT teaches participants about electricity, wiring, safety, programming, and fitness. Each participant team creates their own functional, prototype exergame using a provided technology toolkit. The primary goal of this intervention is to increase student interest in pursuing science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) study, but a related secondary goal is to encourage a healthy lifestyle related to physical activity. This paper will share the design of the TECHFIT program and provide recommendations regarding the approach used to attract all groups, including minorities, to engineering technology. [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]