Resumen de Impacts of industry seminars and a student design competition in an engineering education scholarship program
Ning Fang, Robert E. Spall, Laurie Mcneill, Paul J. Barr
The National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States of America has established a Scholarships in Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program to provide scholarships (financial aid) and increaseacademic success of low-income, academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who are pursuingassociate, baccalaureate, or graduate degrees in STEM. This paper describes the overall framework of the NSF-funded S-STEM program at Utah State University, including program goals and student recruitment and selection. Over the pastthree-year project period, 31 students were awarded S-STEM scholarships. Students could renew their scholarships for upto 4 years. A detailed description of two co-curricular activities that were particularly designed and implemented for S-STEM students is provided. These activities include S-STEM industry seminars and a student design competition. Theimpacts of these activities are assessed through analysis of student comments and responses to questionnaire surveys. Theassessment results show that both activities have a positive impact on S-STEM students. Four lessons learned from theprogram implementation are described to help engineering educators adopt these activities in their respective institutions.
