Lift-Off: Curriculum Improvement for Engineering Minority Engineering Education
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and San Antonio College (SAC) are partnering to infuse/enrich their engineering and earth science curricula with NASA-related technology and research, to give students from both institutions research and education experiences at NASA, and to improve the 2+2 pipeline for engineering students between the community college and the university
Objectives/Method of Approach
- Each summer of the grant, three UTSA/SAC faculty and six students will visit a NASA center to gain experience in research/curriculum improvement aligned with NASA’s mission
- Faculty and students will revise/infuse 12 engineering courses at UTSA and six engineering/earth science courses at SAC with NASA-related technology/methods/content
- UTSA will create a new course related to the use of technology in Earth observation for UTSA and SAC students
- 15 SAC and UTSA engineering students will obtain/participate in summer internships at NASA
- 45 SAC students will have received course credit and a research experience during a summer program at UTSA
Outcomes by December 31, 2012
- The new course on Technology and Earth Observation will be added to UTSA’s course catalogue as a regular course
- At least 36 SAC/UTSA students each semester will be enrolled in the new Technology and Earth Observation course
- SAC will increase the numbers of minority students graduating from SAC with an Associate’s Degree in Engineering by at least 200%
- The numbers of minority Engineering majors at SAC who transfer to Engineering programs at UTSA will increase by at least 200% from 2008
- 40 SAC transfer students will have completed all junior-year requirements toward a bachelor’s degree in Engineering or another science career at UTSA
- The numbers of minority engineering students graduating from UTSA will have increased by 50% from a 2008 Calendar Year baseline