Employing “Funds of Knowledge” and Remedial Math Skills for Civil Engineering Students at an HSI

This BCSER Individual Investigator Development (IID) project will build the PIs expertise in STEM education research study design, research methods, and data analysis techniques to complement their Civil Engineering expertise. In addition, to planned professional development the project will support a pilot STEM education research project. The pilot is designed to result in new knowledge about remedial math training for civil engineering undergraduate students. This research is important because retention and success in undergraduate engineering programs is heavily influenced by students' math skills. The PI will acquire expertise in study design, research methods & data analysis techniques, and gain familiarity with advances in computational, quantitative, qualitative, and evaluative research methodologies. Through a pilot research project embedded into this proposal, the PI aims to increase the number of civil engineering graduates from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and beyond. The research builds on aspects of the "Funds of Knowledge" framework which is an asset-based method with connections to familial integration and student knowledge. Research on teaching remedial math skills as part of an engineering curriculum will contribute to the body of STEM Education research, increase the PI's capacity to carry out STEM Education research, and, in turn, will enhance the nation's STEM education enterprise. Project findings will be shared through publications and presentations. The success of this project will be assessed through regular meetings with the advisory board. The project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators' capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research. 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.