Collaborative Research: PEEC Phase II: 2+2+2+Infinity: Pipeline for Tribal Preengineering to Society

Cankdeska Cikana Community College, Fort Totten ND

Investigators

Abstract

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. The PEEC-II track provides support for studies or educational research conducted by institutions that have had earlier Pre-Engineering Education Collaborative (PEEC) awards. The intent of PEEC-II is to capture, analyze, and disseminate the impact of these awards on the participating institutions, faculty, or students, and their communities. PEEC and PEEC-II are partnerships between TCUP and the Directorate for Engineering. This collaboration among TCUP colleges Sitting Bull College (SBC), Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC), Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College (NHSC), and Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC), and North Dakota State University (NDSU), is the culmination of more than 15 years of active engagement in STEM education on North Dakota reservations. It builds on the foundation of their PEEC award which created formal partnerships, implemented student support structures at NDSU, and developed means to support pre-engineering coursework at remote tribal college locations through distance learning and support of tribal college faculty. The goals of this project are to 1) investigate and document the relationship between a new hybrid distance learning model applied to engineering education and its impact on recruitment, persistence and graduation of American Indian students, and 2) investigate and document the critical elements of the learning and support environments that can improve student success within engineering majors. Along with creating sustainable and supportive pathways to engineering degrees for American Indian students, the broader impact of this project will come from the value of the distance learning model and its assessment, disseminated broadly, which can support STEM learning at the participating institutions as well as at other institution partnerships that are trying to improve pathways between rural or isolated schools and four-year institutions.