Built Environment Scholars Program

Pennsylvania College Of Technology, Williamsport PA

Investigators

Abstract

This NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM) project at the Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT) will support forty (40) low-income students with high ability through the Built Environment Scholars Program (BE Scholars Program). There is an established need in the United States to increase the number of STEM technology specialists in the workforce, and this project will help address that need. The BE Scholars project will implement new strategies for increasing recruitment and retention of engineering technology majors and will provide innovative support for them to graduation. The student Scholars will pursue an Associates of Applied Sciences (AAS) Degree within PCT's School of Construction & Design Technologies. Their engineering technology majors will include Architectural Technology, Civil Engineering Technology, Surveying Technology, Building Construction Technology, and a new major to be launched in Fall 2018 - Concrete Science. Starting with a first-semester First Year Experience course and continuing through the first four semesters of the associate degree program, students will be informed about career pathways in these STEM fields. These efforts will increase employment opportunities and raise the overall enrollment in these areas. The project will generate new knowledge built around how to improve success for technology students, and especially for rural students enrolled in two year programs. Project research questions to be investigated include: (1) How does exposure to industry site visits and job shadowing in First Year Experience seminars increase the retention and graduation of rural, AAS degree seeking students? (2) How does the incorporation of career seminars, site visits, industry-led workshops, and career readiness sessions into AAS curricula promote student success for these students? (3) What factors influence the decision of the BE Scholars to enter the workforce or continue to pursue a baccalaureate degree? The project team will use a mixed methods approach to collect and analyze data. A variety of response formats will be used to collect this data, including dichotomous, nominal, and interval-level response. The research approach will allow the investigators to measure the success of their career-focused strategies, especially for low-income technical AAS students. Formative and summative evaluation will be implemented to help investigate both academic and non-cognitive project components that contribute to recruiting, retention, and AAS degree completion. Challenging and feasible benchmarks are in place and are aimed at significant improvements in retention and graduation rates for engineering technology majors at PCT. The successful activities and components will be sustained and institutionalized at PCT, and the research and evaluation will generate evidence that can be used to guide and inform transferability and sustainability, especially to other two year programs.