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The necessity for a steady STEM workforce has prompted academia to develop strategies to encourage people of diverse backgrounds to enter the STEM fields. A bridge program, also known as a conversion program, offers alternative pathways for individuals who have no prior computing education to receive the education that can help in developing their careers or acquiring a graduate-level degree in the computer science fields. This mixed-methods study consisted of two parts. First, an online post-baccalaureate bridge program was evaluated, with a focus on students’ performance. Factors for analysis included gender, prior major, and the length of the program, any or all of which might play a role in students’ unsuccessful attempts to complete the program. The results indicated that female students have a higher tendency to not complete the program. However, female students who completed the program and enrolled in a graduate school have as much potential to do well in the MS program as their male cohorts do. The second part of the study comprised a survey of students who completed or did not complete the program and interviews with women students. Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), the results showed that strategies are needed to enhance women students’ perceived competence and relatedness in the program.

The rise of online courses has created an ongoing demand for instructional designers in higher education. Collaboration between faculty and instructional designers in developing online engineering courses has therefore increased. Potential challenges during the collaboration can be addressed when faculty and instructional designers have a mutual understanding of instructional design principles. This article provides a resource kit that contains a synthesis of online learning theories and examples collected from online engineering courses. These examples can help create a course design that recognizes students’ cognitive load and provides meaningful interactions.

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