Career: Investigating co-curricular participation of students underrepresented in engineering

Career: Investigating co-curricular participation of students underrepresented in engineering

The objective of this research initiative is to investigate how engineering students decide to participate or not participate in out-of-class activities and how these students perceive the impact of various types of out-of-class activities on their persistence, learning and entry into the workforce (or career) and what interventions encourage out-of-class involvement.

This project advances the understanding of engineering students’ pathways to include those traditionally underrepresented in engineering; methodologically contributes to informal learning of engineering students; shapes future research and development related to these populations; and informs research communities, policymakers, and institution leaders. Research on the student experience is essential to transforming engineering education, which will result in broader participation of underrepresented groups in engineering. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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  1. Chau, A. D., & Simmons, D. R. (2020). The impact of fraternity and sorority participation on NAE’s engineer of 2020 outcomes for civil engineering undergraduates. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics and the Affiliated Conferences.
  2. Simmons, D. R., & Lord, S. M. (2019). Removing invisible barriers and changing mindsets to improve and diversify pathways in engineering. Advances in Engineering Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1220293
  3. Simmons, D. R., Hunsu, N. J., & Adesope, O. O. (2019). Enabling multi-dimensional measurement of engagement in engineering learning environments. International Journal of Engineering Education, 35 (6), 1827-1838.
  4. Simmons, D. R., & Lord, S. M. (2019). Call It By Its Name.. PRISM. 28 (8), https://www.asee.org/documents/publications/prism/PrismSummer2019%20(Revised).pdf
  5. Simmons, D. R., Kirn, A., Valdes-Vasquez, R., & Pearson, N. (2019). Are constructors experiencing a warm climate? A study of generation in college, citizenship status and affective engagement. Proceedings of the 2019 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, Tampa Convention Center, 2019. Tampa, Florida.
  6. Hunsu, N., Simmons, D. R., Brown, S., & Adesope, O. O. (2018). Developing an instrument of classroom social engagement. Proceedings of the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, 2018. Salt Lake City, UT.
  7. Simmons, D. R., Mullekom, J. V., & Ohland, M. W. (2018). The popularity and intensity of undergraduate out-of-class activities. Journal of Engineering Education, 107(4), 611-635.
  8. Simmons, D. R., & Groen, C. J. (2018). Increasing impact of the hidden curriculum: Exploring student outcomes from out-of-class activities. Proceedings of the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, 2018. Salt Lake City, UT.
  9. Simmons, D. R., Ye, Y., Ohland, M. W., & Garahan, K. (2018). Understanding students’ incentives for and barriers to out-of-class participation: Profile of civil engineering student engagement. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 144(2): 04017015.
  10. Simmons, D. R., Ye, Y., Hunsu, N. J., & Adesope, O. O. (2017). Development of a survey to explore out-of-class engagement of engineering students. International Journal of Engineering Education, 33(4), 1213-1221.
  11. Simmons, D. R. (2017). Reflecting on out-of-class involvement of engineering students as a path to retain underrepresented students. 7th International Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES2017), 2017. Bogota, Colombia.
  12. Simmons, D. R. (2017). What should your students join? Pathways for African American engineering students’ development of 21st century competencies. National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA). Blacksburg, Virginia.
  13. Simmons, D. R., Creamer, E. G., & Yu, R. (2017). Involvement in out-of-class activities: A mixed research synthesis examining outcomes with a focus on engineering students. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 18(2), 10-16.
  14. Purchase, J. M., & Simmons, D. R. (2017). Exploring the meaning of fun: A missed opportunity to retain underrepresented groups in engineering? Proceedings of the 2017 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, 2017. Columbus, OH.
  15. Simmons, D. R. (2017). Developing T-shaped civil engineers through involvement in out-of-class activities. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE 2017) and the Affiliated Conferences, 2017. Los Angeles, CA.
  16. Simmons, D. R., Tendhar, C., Yu, R., Vance, E., & Amelink, C. (2015). Developing the Postsecondary Student Engagement Survey (PosSES) to measure undergraduate engineering students’ out of class involvement. Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, 2015. Seattle, WA.
  17. Simmons, D. R., & Yu, R. (2015). Conducting a Q study to refine and develop new measures of engineering student co-curricular involvement. Proceedings of the 2015 Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES 2015): Translating Research into Practice, 2015. Dublin, Ireland.
  18. Yu, R., & Simmons, D. R. (2015). Synthesis of engineering undergraduate students’ out of class involvement. Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, 2015. Seattle, WA.