Project-ACE: Active-learning (A) based Engineering Curriculum-transformation (C) for Excellence in Equity (E)

University Enterprises, Incorporated, Sacramento CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by significantly enhancing students’ engineering identity, self-efficacy and sense of belonging in engineering through implementation of active-learning pedagogy in Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering programs. Engineering curricula have long, highly regimented chains of pre-requisite courses called “critical paths” that often represent bottlenecks to student’s timely graduation. The novel approach taken in this project is to target selected required courses along these critical paths for conversion to active learning pedagogy in which students are engaged in authentic, active learning experiences, and solving open-ended, real-world problems that employ professional research practices used in the field. Project implementation in an institution designated as both an Hispanic Serving Institution and an Asian American, Native American, Pacific Island Serving Institution will ensure direct impact on large numbers of students from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM fields of study. Specifically, it will help historically minoritized students at a primarily undergraduate institution bridge the gap between theory and industrial application, thereby improving their content knowledge, self-efficacy, graduation rates and career readiness. The project plans to redesign six engineering courses along critical paths to engage students in authentic, active learning experiences, including course-based undergraduate research experiences and project-based learning. By shifting the focus from a single course redesign to strategic redesign along the critical path of engineering courses, the project will fill an important knowledge gap in the engineering education literature. The active learning-based course redesign will be carried out by trained faculty and will have the theme of "design and optimization of electronic circuits in modern smart-devices." Three research questions, posited to guide the investigations, will measure the change in i) sense of belonging, (ii) failure rates, and (iii) intention to persist. Survey as well as institutional data on failure rates will be collected and analyzed. Undergraduate and graduate students will be recruited to provide mentoring and other support. The learning experiences developed for this project will be disseminated through publications and a public website. The insights gleaned from this project will have broad relevance for improving STEM education, reducing equity gaps, and helping to strengthen and diversify the nation’s STEM workforce. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. 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.