Pathways for the Successful Transfer And Retention of Engineering Students from Two-to Four-Year Colleges in New Mexico

Dona Ana Branch Community College, Las Cruces NM

Investigators

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need. Over its five-year duration, this project will provide scholarships to 90 students who transfer from Dona Ana Community College to engineering programs at New Mexico State University, both Hispanic-serving Institutions. Students at Dona Ana Community College are 86% Hispanic, 58.2% female, and 67% Pell- eligible. About 36% have high-school grade point averages greater than 2.75 and are therefore eligible for admission into New Mexico State University engineering but instead chose to attend Dona Ana Community College. The objectives of this project are to: enhance the existing Community College-University transfer pathway; provide need-based financial assistance to academically talented engineering students; enhance transfer engineering students' math proficiency through a Summer Math Boot Camp; enhance students self-efficacy, growth mindset, and engineering identity through metacognition- and cohort-based activities; and assess students' academic performance using data analytics; and utilize near-peer mentors and tutors for academic interventions. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving engineering undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The project will contribute to increasing the success of a two- to four-year pathway between Dona Ana Community College and New Mexico State University College of Engineering, both Hispanic-serving Institutions. Participating faculty and near-peer student mentors will receive training to support their mentoring efforts and to inform their teaching and mentoring practices. The program aims to enhance the current transfer pathway, initiate concurrent enrollment opportunities, and use data analytics to identify students' academic performance in near real time. The project will also add to the STEM education literature through measuring: the impact of metacognition-based study practices on grade point average; the impact of engineering identity, math grades, and near-peer mentoring on retention and graduation in engineering; and the impact of the summer boot camp and other program activities on math grades. The demographics of Dona Ana Community College students suggest that many are likely to also be historically underrepresented minorities and/or first-generation college students. As a result, this project has the potential to broaden participation in STEM education and careers for students in these groups. The project aims to enhance the partnership between Dona Ana Community College and New Mexico State University, with specific focus on students' cognitive and noncognitive development; collective mentoring by PIs, faculty, and near-peers; and internships and co-ops in industry, national laboratories, and universities. Workshops will be available to Scholars and other students, thereby broadening the impact of these interventions. Findings about the relationships among student study habits, learning performance, retention, metacognition, engineering identity, and self-efficacy for transfer engineering students will be of value to the STEM education field. Further, successful completion of the Project can serve as a model for supporting the success of STEM transfer students from two-year into four-year institutions. This project is funded by NSF's Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics program, which seeks to increase the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation, and academic/career pathways of low-income students. 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.