HSI Pilot Project: Enhancing Undergraduate Engineering Education Using an Integrated Additive Manufacturing Approach

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 project aims to develop a variety of educational resources based on additive manufacturing (AM), which is the process of using 3D printers and related technologies to create objects layer-by-layer. This project aims to engage students at Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (PUPR) in new AM courses and experiences and address the growing need for a skilled AM workforce.

Like many institutions, PUPR looks to: (1) increase persistence rates among its engineering students; (2) develop capacity for teaching in emerging technologies to enhance the quality of engineering education; (3) incorporate engaging and student-centered pedagogies; and (4) foster a culture of interdisciplinary education on campus. In order to address these challenging goals, PUPR will develop new curricular content that integrates project-based learning (PBL) to enhance student engagement and promote important workforce skills.

The resources to be developed through this project are: (1) AM modules integrated into engineering fundamental courses; (2) faculty professional development in PBL pedagogy and AM; and (3) a new, interdisciplinary AM course. As part of the project activities, students will be tasked with interdisciplinary team projects to be developed in a hybrid working environment that combines remote and in-person manufacturing tasks.

The anticipated outcomes of this project include increases in positive student outcomes, enhanced student preparation for AM-infused careers, engaging new courses, and and expanded community of PBL practitioners at PUPR.

The main goal of this pilot project is to expand high impact practices and on campus opportunities based on AM to promote student’s persistence and success. The objectives of this project are to: (1) increase faculty capacity for incorporating AM and PBL; (2) foster an interdisciplinary culture on campus; and (3) expand participation of students in AM experiences in order to strengthen student engagement, self-efficacy, identity, and engineering skills.

It is expected that the project's activities will increase the persistence and success of students participating in the project. The project team will deploy multiple quantitative and qualitative assessment tools (pre- and post-surveys, interviews, student tests and rubrics) that will allow the project to explore the impacts and effectiveness of the proposed activities.

It is expected that the resources developed through this project will help promote AM education in Puerto Rico, since there is no local higher education institution offering specialized courses in this field. Also, materials and generated evidence will be disseminated broadly, through social media, websites, educational journals, and conferences. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs.

Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity, more generally, at HSIs.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.