This project aims to serve the national interest by improving the two-year to four-year transfer process for students who aim to earn a bachelor of engineering degree. Recent research indicates that it is becoming atypical for students to complete a four year baccalaureate STEM degree directly from high school. For example, nearly half of all STEM bachelor’s degree recipients attend a community college at some point in their college career. After they transfer to a four-year degree program, these students are often required to repeat courses they successfully completed at community college. Such challenges can be amplified by complex university admission requirements that may be difficult for transfer students to navigate. This project seeks to build capacity to address four goals: 1) Improve transfer efficiency in engineering disciplines; 2) Improve curricula that result in improved student retention; 3) Improve participation and persistence among students of color and students from low-income backgrounds in STEM; and 4) Increase the numbers of engineering graduates to contribute to the economy.
The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and New Mexico State University (NMSU), in collaboration with NMSU’s four community colleges, plan to address the goals by testing the feasibility of using sets of lower-division student learning outcomes (SLOs) as the basis for block transfer into engineering programs. This approach contrasts with most institutions’ practice of accepting transfer credit based on specific courses completed. Project partners hope to demonstrate that students who transfer can complete an engineering degree without substantially extending their time to graduation. SLO-based block transfer is the foundation of the project’s long-term goal of supporting institutions in reforming and generalizing their transfer practices within the STEM disciplines. These changes are intended to have direct benefits for students from underrepresented groups and students from low-income backgrounds. To accomplish this work, NMSU will identify the student learning outcomes that are critical for students to complete a four-year electrical engineering degree and map those SLOs to visually depict their prerequisite course relationships and preferable course sequencing. The resulting SLO map will inform identification of a lower-division SLO block to simplify curricula, potentially improving degree progress and persistence for all students, not just transfer students. WICHE will conduct a literature review to further identify factors that inhibit transfers within STEM and engineering disciplines; articulate a theory of change; and recruit leaders of national organizations and two-year and four-year institutions representing at least four states to analyze and refine NMSU’s proof of concept and assess the feasibility of scaling NMSU’s work to additional institutions. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.
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.
