2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As it has been reported in many research reports, increased participation by the underrepresented minority sector of our population can substantially address the workforce needs if proportionate numbers of minority, and college bound STEM majors can be recruited, retained and graduated. Although Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) represent only 3% of the academic institutions in the U.S., they enroll 12% of all students, and produce 23% of all African American college graduates. This paper describes the progress to date of an NSF TUES grant aiming at retaining more and graduating better prepared electrical and computer engineers from 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) . The project consists of two components:
1. The implementation and expansion of Experimental Centered Pedagogy with H and On Learning Tool among the 13 HBCUs.
2. The establishment of an HBCU Engineering Network (HBCU-EngNet) with a strong Industrial Affiliate Board support that will be maintained and sustained even after the end of the grant period.
This paper presents the results of the first two years of the project. The paper is mainly about the first component which focuses on the development, implementation, and expansion of an "Experimental Centric Pedagogy" (ECP) that is adaptive to a wide variety of fields and that will engage and stimulate interest by a large population of under-served minority students enrolled in 13 engineering programs that formed a newly HBCU Engineering Network (HBCU-EngNet). The ECP is being implemented at the various HBCUs to allow students of varying learning styles the opportunity to learn at their own pace and in their own environments, by providing them an alternative way to acquire technical skills and knowledge both in the classroom and outside. The various learning modules used in the ECP have already been developed, evaluated, and adopted at two HBCU universities. They cover the following Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) courses in the first two years: Intro to Electrical Engineering, Electric Circuits and Lab, Electronic Circuits and Lab. In the third year, the ECP learning modules will also be expanded to non-engineering courses such as Circuits and Electronic for non-majors etc…The paper will also describe both the internal and external assessment findings including lessons learned and ideas for improvement