Asee peer logo

WIP: A Layered Mentorship Program (LMP) for Engineering Student Success and Retention

Download Paper |

Conference

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual Conference

Publication Date

July 26, 2021

Start Date

July 26, 2021

End Date

July 19, 2022

Conference Session

First-Year Programs Division Poster Session

Tagged Division

First-Year Programs

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--38066

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/38066

Download Count

321

Request a correction

Paper Authors

author page

Gregory Edward Simon University of Colorado Denver Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-0325-9010

biography

Maryam Darbeheshti University of Colorado Denver Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-7988-0906

visit author page

Dr. Maryam Darbeheshti is Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado, Denver. She is the PI of a recent NSF award that focuses on STEM identity at Urban Universities.

Darbeheshti's primary research is in the area of Multi-phase viscous flows in Fluid Mechanics. She also studies the factors that improve the First-Year Engineering Program. Darbeheshti created the Engineering Learning Community for First-year students at CU-Denver. She is a member of ASME: Society of Mechanical Engineers. She serves as the faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers in the College of Engineering, Design and Computing.

visit author page

biography

Miriam Howland Cummings University of Colorado Denver Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-8653-4489

visit author page

Miriam Howland Cummings is a PhD candidate in the Education Research Methods program at the University of Colorado Denver. Her work focuses on applying a wide variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods to education contexts, including both K-12 education and higher education.

visit author page

author page

William Taylor Schupbach University of Colorado Denver

biography

Tom Altman University of Colorado Denver

visit author page

Tom Altman received his B.S. degrees in Computer Science and in Mathematics, and M.S. and Ph.D. (1984) in Computer Science, all from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Altman specializes in optimization algorithms, formal language theory, and complex system simulation. He has published over 75 journal, conference, and technical papers. Presently, Dr. Altman is a Professor of Computer Science at CU Denver and has been an active ABET Program Evaluator (CAC) since 2008. His current research focus is on STEM and more specifically, Engineering Education.

visit author page

biography

Michael S. Jacobson University of Colorado Denver

visit author page

Professor of Mathematics for over 40 years, with a keen interest in STEM Education and improving student success.

visit author page

biography

Katherine Goodman University of Colorado Denver Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-5235-3372

visit author page

Katherine Goodman is assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver, and curriculum lead at Inworks, an interdisciplinary innovation lab. Her research focuses on transformative experiences in engineering education. She is currently division chair of the Technological and Engineering Literacy - Philosophy of Engineering Division (TELPhE).

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

Abstract: The impact of a layered mentorship Program (LMP) on the retention of first-year engineering students is studied. The College of Engineering at an urban research university is acutely aware of the increased need for retention programs in engineering colleges across the US. To respond to this need, a unique mentorship program, LMP, is established as one of the main components of an Engineering Learning Community (ELC) for first-year engineering students. Students self-select into the ELC program and, upon being registered, are assigned a peer mentor. The peer mentors are sophomore through senior-level undergraduate engineering students in the college who hold loosely structured meetings with the mentee students. The peer mentors are in turn supported by multiple “layers”, including senior mentors, graduate students, and faculty. We are studying this peer mentorship component of the ELC program as a critical and catalyzing peer relationship that promotes STEM identity. The focus on relationship and identity building hinges on connectivity, which is emerging as a particularly critical challenge in the remote learning context resulting from the global pandemic. This makes the research particularly relevant to a contemporary, global problem. Our preliminary data suggests that mentoring discussions are generally focused on achieving high academic performance through time management and collaboration with learning community peers. We are endeavoring to understand if and how these themes can be leveraged to promote STEM Identity, academic success, and ultimately student retention when compared to non-participating students. Our research involves triangulating interview (n= 3?), survey (n = 17?), and retention data to provide evidence that the mentoring program supplies extra support for the students being mentored. The discussion will include how the pandemic has impacted our mentoring program, as they transitioned from in-person to online mentoring.

Simon, G. E., & Darbeheshti, M., & Howland Cummings, M., & Schupbach, W. T., & Altman, T., & Jacobson, M. S., & Goodman, K. (2021, July), WIP: A Layered Mentorship Program (LMP) for Engineering Student Success and Retention Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--38066

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2021 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015