Sociocultural and Place-Aware Civil and Environmental Engineering Scholars

University Of Wisconsin-Platteville, Platteville WI

Investigators

Abstract

This project will contribute to the national need for well-educated engineers by supporting the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low-income students with demonstrated financial need at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, a regional-serving predominately undergraduate public institution with a tradition for strong engineering programs. Over its 5-year duration, this project will fund scholarships to 24 unique full-time students who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in civil and/or environmental engineering. First-year students will receive up to four years of scholarship support. In support of the overall S-STEM program goal of enabling low-income students with academic ability to pursue successful careers in STEM fields, this project aims to support student growth into community-minded, socially responsible civil and environmental engineers. The project features a three-pronged, place-based approach including a seminar and general education course, local field trips, and an extended regional field trip. The project centers on the importance of increasing participation of professionals from a low economic background in the civil and environmental engineering industry, developing engineers who have a holistic community and place-based perspective, and influencing the future civil and environmental engineering workforce to produce solutions that appropriately address justice, equity, and inclusion. The project will contribute to the body of knowledge by helping to identify and advance best practices for socio-culturally aware place-based engineering education. The overall goal of this project is to increase STEM degree completion of low-income, high-achieving undergraduates with demonstrated financial need. The need for infrastructure engineers goes beyond graduating civil and environmental engineers who are technically proficient. As society moves forward into an age in need of increased equity and accountability, engineers must increasingly account for the current and future people for whom and the places in which their infrastructure will exist. Thus, this project has two specific aims: 1) Expand scholars’ sense of identity and confidence in themselves as civil and environmental engineers and 2) Cultivate a community and place-based perspective in the scholars. The project has the potential to identify and advance understanding of best practices for socio-culturally aware place-based engineering education. This project will investigate the effects of place-based engineering education on students’ professional identity development in civil and environmental engineering. In addition, this project will look at the effect of high-impact practices in promoting student retention and success. This project will investigate the possibility that scholars develop a stronger sense of identity and confidence as well as a community-based perspective from participating in place-based engineering education activities. This project will be evaluated using academic performance metrics, retention and graduation rates, post-graduation placement data, surveys and focus groups, analysis of ABET student learning outcomes, and analysis of scholar capstone reflections. Results of this project will be made available at regular UW-Platteville Engineering Advisory Board meetings, via conference presentations, and through submission to journals. 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.