Bulls-Eye Mentoring: Developing a Program Intervention in the College of Engineering

Abstract

Abstract A Service-learning Mentor Program’s influence on Retention in the College of Engineering The University of South Florida Foundation, Inc. is developing a Science, Technology,Engineering and Math (STEM) mentoring program called Bulls-Engineering Youth Experience(Bulls-EYE Mentoring) in accordance with a received 2014 Motorola Solutions InnovationGeneration award. In partnership with student chapters of the National Society of BlackEngineers (NSBE) and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Bulls-EYEMentoring targets underrepresented students to serve as mentors. Mentors are trained and thenhired to facilitate a summer program for local black and Hispanic middle school aged youth.The technical curriculum focuses on robotic systems but uniquely provides opportunities forrapport building, personal development, understanding of community, and life skills. Theprogram also relies on reciprocity between mentors and mentees to effectively establishmeaningful relationships. The primary goal of the program is to improve the likelihood ofsuccess in STEM for both mentors and mentees. The program has two components: mentor training, which is completed during theacademic year, and the five-week Robotics Summer Academy. One hypothesis for this researchis engineering students’ involvement in a service learning mentor program (Bulls-EYE) willpositively influence retention rates in the college of engineering, retaining students until theyobtain their degrees. Furthermore, Bulls-EYE will positively influence retention of historicallyunderrepresented students in engineering disciplines. Undergraduate engineering students willparticipate in the mentor training and 12 of these students will be hired as mentors for theRobotics Summer Academy. Also, 24 rising 5th and 6th graders in transition into an establishedEngineering magnet program at Bartels K-8 STEM Academy, will be selected as menteesparticipating in the Robotics Summer Academy. The Mentor Training will be implementedduring the Fall of 2014 and Spring of 2015 school years. The Robotics Summer Academy will beimplemented in the Summer of 2015, providing an opportunity for undergraduate engineeringstudents to mentor in a technical discipline, while improving their life and technical skills.Training has begun for the first cohort of Bulls-EYE mentors in preparation for the first RoboticSummer Academy in July 2015. This mixed methods inquiry will quantitatively assess the programs effect on mentorsmotivation, self-efficacy, attitudes toward engineering and perceptions of engineering. Thefollowing instruments will be adapted to assess these measures: perceptions of instrumentality(PI) scale, Student Perceptions of Classroom Knowledge-Building (SPOCK) survey, motivationstrategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990; Pintrich, Smith, Garcia& McKeachie, 1991), self-efficacy scale (Chen, Gully & Eden, 2001), and the PittsburghFreshman Engineering Attitudes Survey (Besterfield-Sacre, Atman & Shuman, 1997). A mixedmethods approach of summative and formative evaluation measures is used to assess theinfluence of Bulls-EYE on mentors knowledge and understanding of engineering. Finally, wewill assess mentor participation as members of the mentor cohort and reciprocal relationshipsbuilt between mentors and mentees. We will use qualitative methods including interviews, pre-and post-surveys, mentor self-assessments, mentor/mentee/staff reflections, and mentor onlineweekly reports to assess how these relationships influence mentor identity.