Invitational Teams in Civil Engineering for Self-efficacy Increase and Effective Workforce Development

The NSF ECR Building Capacity of STEM Education Research (BCSER) program contributes to the NSF mission 42 U.S. Code Chapter 16 by building the US workforce undertaking STEM education research. The BCSER Individual Investigator Development in STEM Education Research (IID) track supports individual investigators who are new to STEM education research to develop foundational skills and gain practical experience to advance STEM education knowledge through mentored professional development and pilot research activities. STEM education research generates the knowledge, theories, and understandings on which viable strategies for improving STEM education and workforce outcomes are based. This project will investigate the change of self-efficacy in students enrolled in the Cal Poly Pomona Civil Engineering culminating senior design course, which is a team-based, two-semester long experience. The framework of this study applies Purkey's (1992) invitational theory to enhance the impact of the engineering teamwork and support the development of invitational teams. The design uses Farrington's (2012) proposed structure and Astin's (1984) model of involvement to incorporate student demographics, other existing characteristics, and self-efficacy as inputs, with the environment narrowed to the classroom where teamwork is the primary pedagogical strategy. It is expected that increases in self-efficacy will enhance the learning experience and the development of professional skills that are required from new engineers when they enter the workforce. This will bridge the gap between industry expectations and academic preparation. This BCSER IID project will allow the principal investigator (PI) to develop foundational skills and gain practical experience in designing and implementing cutting edge STEM education research using innovative methods and tools. The project will help the PI to develop new expertise in applied knowledge and skills to plan, design, conduct, conduct, evaluate, and report mixed methods research. With guidance from expert mentors, the PI will develop skills on research design, social data management, interview protocol development, and framework development grounded in theoretical models. These competencies will directly support the advancement of the PI's STEM education research agenda. 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.