Youth as Engineering Community Ethnographers as an Approach to Equitable Engineering Education

• In Event: 68.017 - Equity-Focused Implementation of Next Generation Science Standards: Exploring Models of Hope and Possibility

Abstract

Objectives
Racial and gender achievement and interest gaps remain in engineering despite decades of school reform. Studies show that identifying with engineering is critical in promoting learning and the career pursuit of engineering (Danielak et al, 2014). Whether one sees oneself as capable and welcomed in engineering, and how one is recognized for engineering expertise impacts learning opportunities (Eliot & Turns, 2011).
Our study examines one approach to addressing these equity-driven challenges of learning and identity. Using an “engineering for sustainable communities” framework to teach the engineering practices of defining problems and designing solutions (NGSS Lead States. 2013), we developed teaching tools focused on youth as “engineering community ethnographers” – people capable of making sense of, balancing, and incorporating multiple perspectives in establishing criteria/constraints towards design problems and solutions. This aligns with the recommendation that engineering for sustainable communities utilize community-based forms of research in design (NRC, 2010).
How do the community ethnography tools support students in developing expertise in the engineering practices of defining problems and designing solutions?
How does integrating community ethnography into engineering design shape youth’s identity work as engineers?
Theoretical Perspective
Social practice theory reminds us that identity takes shape dynamically in-the-moment as one enacts practices in interaction with activities, people and resources (Holland & Lave, 2009). Power dynamics play a crucial role: How one is positioned by and reacts to a range of people and institutional/cultural structures shapes opportunities to be recognized by others (Nasir, 2011). We focus on identity development in-the-moment through three observable dimensions: 1) developing knowledge and practice within a community-of-practice, 2) recognition by others, and 3) positioning.
Methods
We used critical ethnography to study an engineering unit focused on “Sustainable School Communities” with the youth (ages 11-13) in a summer program. Qualitative data sources include: participant observations, field notes, videos of lessons, youth-produced video reflections and surveys, reflective conversation and youth interviews, and student work. Data analysis was guided by our conceptual framework and member-checked by participants.
Findings
Community ethnography supported students in developing specificity on their design’s technical aspects as they sought to communicate effectively their design ideas to community members. Consider the girls who designed “Robby the Talking Recycling Bin.” As they learned the needs of the cafeteria staff they realized they needed to further consider adequate lighting for the solar panel, leading them to further investigate their energy/circuit design. Integrating technical and community knowledge supported deeper engagement in engineering. Evidence of the students’ identity work is evident in how they leveraged their technical knowledge (knowledge/practices) in community-accessible ways as they sought input with community across perspectives (positioning/agency). Youth described community input as crucial because they learned “what others cared about” and saw “why people thought our designs were important” (recognition).
Significance
This study provides insight into how ethnographic tools can facilitate learning and identity in engineering by a) positioning students as community experts, and b) providing launching points for delving deeper into design problems/solutions in ways salient to themselves and their community.

Authors

• Kathleen Schenkel, Michigan State University

• Angela Calabrese Barton, Michigan State University

• Christina Restrepo Nazar, Michigan State University

• Marcos D. González Flores, Michigan State University

• Edna Tan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro