This Research-to-Practice paper, a work-in-progress, describes work supported by the First in the World program at three different universities in California. A consortium of three California State Universities (CSUs)- San Jose´ State University, California State University- Los Angeles, and Cal Poly Pomona - have a four-year grant from the U.S…

Background: Upward trends in data-oriented careers threaten to further increase the underrepresentation of both females and individuals from racial minority groups in programs focused on data analysis and applied statistics. To begin to develop the necessary skills for a data-oriented career, project-based learning seems the most promising given…

Efforts to retain underrepresented minority (URM) students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have shown only limited success in higher education, due in part to a persistent achievement gap between students from historically underrepresented and well-represented backgrounds. To test the hypothesis that active learning…

First-generation, low-income, underrepresented minority (URM) and female undergraduates are matriculating into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors at unprecedented levels. However, a disproportionate number of these students end up graduating in non-STEM disciplines. Attrition rates have been observed to spike in conjunction…

Introductory statistics needs innovative, evidence-based teaching practices that support and engage diverse students. To evaluate the success of a multidisciplinary, project-based course, we compared experiences of under-represented (URM) and non-underrepresented students in 4 years of the course. While URM students considered the material more…

In this paper a novel outreach approach to high school students to familiarize them with engineering functions and methods is explained. In this approach students participated in a seven days research camp and learned many engineering skills and tools such as CAD solid modeling, finite element analysis, rapid prototyping, mechanical tests, team…