A Description and Evaluation of the Effects of a Preengineering Program for Underrepresented, Low-Income, and/or First Generation College Students at the University of Akron

Exploring the Role of Sense of Community in the Undergraduate Transfer Student Experience

“…Transfer students can benefit from a supportive university environment that facilitates opportunities for their participation in activities that are customized to their needs and designed to promote their positive adjustment (Davies & Casey, ). Transfer students’ acclimation can be improved by their participation in activities such as bridge programs (Lam, Srlvatsan, Doversplke, Vesalo, & Mawasha, ), research internships (Russell, Hancock, & McCullough ), learning communities (Nestor‐Baker & Kerkor, ), supportive mentorship (Gatta & Trigg, ), and online forums intended to increase identification with the institution (McKenna & Bargh, ).…”

Increasing Achievement and Higher-Education Representation of Under-Represented Groups in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields: A Review of Current K-12 Intervention Programs

“…First, only one of the STEM-specific programs we found in the literature was included in either review (Lam et al, 2000). This was partly because some of these STEM programs were published after those reviews, but mainly because these initial reviews concerned K-12 intervention programs for groups under-represented in postsecondary education in general.…”

“…In practice and in the literature, programs range from after-school clubs (e.g., Mawasha et al, 2001; Richardson et al, 2003; Thompson, 2002) and summer camps (e.g., Kort, 1996; McShea and Yarnevich, 1999; Lam et al, 2000; O’Brien et al, 1999; Rea-Poteat and Martin, 1991) to residential plans (e.g., Atwater et al , 1999; Jayaratne et al, 2003). Approaches vary from providing positive experiences in science and math (e.g., Bartsch et al, 1998; Kort, 1996; Marshall and Buckingham, 1995; Richardson et al, 2003; Kahle and Damnjanovic, 1994) and exposing students to STEM role models and career possibilities (Benore-Parsons et al, 1995; Campbell et al, 1998; Jayaratne et al, 2003; O’Brien et al, 1999; Rea-Poteat and Martin, 1991), to assisting students in early STEM “gateway” courses (Atwater et al, 1999; McShea and Yarnevich, 1999).…”

“…The Upward Bound program for ethnic minorities at The University of Akron (Lam et al, 2000) also targets high school math and science gateway course achievement and matriculation in STEM undergraduate majors. This program includes a six-week summer residential program during which students take classes in English composition, math, physics, biology, and a foreign language, and spend time with faculty and staff in engineering laboratories; a school-year program including career workshops at local companies and research facilities, and weekly tutorials from mentors and tutors; and a freshman year transition program that takes place after high school graduation, which includes lectures and academic workshops in college algebra, precalculus, and calculus.…”

Effects of a college access program for youth underrepresented in higher education: A randomized experiment

“…Evaluation showed positive program effects such as university retention after two years that was comparable to the general student body and better than a matched comparison group (Newman, Myers, Newman, Lohman, and Smith, 2000;Newman and Newman, 1999). • A University of Akron pre-engineering program targeted low income 9th-to 12th-graders in Upward Bound and provided a 6-week on-campus summer program as well as academic year support; 100% of the students graduated from high school and 97% entered college, but no comparison group was used (Lam, Mawasha, Doverspike, McClain, and Vesalo, 2000).…”