A Comprehensive ASAP Framework that uses Career-Steering/Shaping Projects to Train Engineering Students & Develop Critical Life/Professional Skills : Part II – Case Studies from Students Working on Funded Projects

This Research to Practice Full Paper (Part II) describes how students, working on paid projects, have benefited from a comprehensive engineering Academic Success and Professional Development (ASAP) mentoring-scholarship project-centric program at Arizona State University (ASU) – and the associated community of practice (consisting of learners and faculty-industry-peer mentors) – described within Part I. The program, while focusing on upper-division transfer students, serves upper-division non-transfers and some graduate students as well. Central to the program is that scholars must participate in career-steering/shaping projects in an area of national importance. In this paper, 14 scholars are considered. All 14 scholars were mentored by the main author (professor and director of the NSF-funded program). For each scholar, we describe the impact of key program activities/instruments/constructs/projects on the scholar and the group of 14 scholars considered. All were selected to pursue funded projects - 11 for Spring 2018, 8 renewed for Fall 2018, 3 for new Fall projects and 11 for summer 2018 projects. For each scholar, their projects and future plans are described. The group of 14 scholars is also compared to the larger cohort of 74 scholars described in Part I in terms of key program activities/outcomes.