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A Revolution in Engineering Education Motivated by Needs and Design

Tue, April 17, 10:35am to 12:05pm, Millennium Broadway New York Times Square, Floor: Seventh Floor, Room 7.04

Abstract

Purpose
Women and African Americans are underrepresented in engineering. Only 19.9% of all engineering bachelor’s degrees were awarded to women in 2015, and only 3.5% to African Americans in 2014. The university where this NSF RED project is being conducted is the largest producer of African American engineers and uniquely positioned to continue working toward the elimination of disparities within the profession and improving recruitment and retention across all demographics. The purpose of REEMND is to affect positive change within engineering education by developing engineers with an inclusive mindset, expanded knowledge, skills, and values related to the profession, and increased self-efficacy in both needs finding and design. By nurturing these foundational aspects of a strong engineering identity, students will increasingly see themselves as professional engineers and better understand the vital role they play in broader society. This is accomplished through curricular and pedagogical changes that embed the student-as-innovator process (Yock et al., 2015) within the program and flip the typical order of identifying needs and designing solutions.

Theoretical framework
The REEMND project is grounded in an integrated theoretical framework that draws upon Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development (see Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006), Bandura’s social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 1989, 1998), and sociological and psychological theories of identity (Burke & Stets, 2009; McCall & Simmons, 1978; Stryker, 1980;Tajfel & Turner, 1986). The overall framework posits that human development and change is a product of interactions within and between complex systems of relational processes, person-based characteristics, social and environmental contexts, and time. Within this broad socio-ecological system, individuals are presumed to have varying capacities for agential behavior rooted in processes of self-reflection, reciprocal feedback, and interdependent links between the self, others, and the external environment. By impacting different aspects within the socio-ecological systems surrounding engineering education, REEMND will provide powerful scaffolding that will enhance students’ motivational values and persistence toward becoming engineers (cf. Matusovich, Streveler, & Miller, 2010), self-efficacy in both needs finding and design, and engineering identities.

Methods & data sources
Mixed-methods designs that incorporate focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires are used each academic year to assess and evaluate key constructs (values, self-efficacy, identity, motivation) within the theoretical framework and the perceptions that students, faculty, and other stakeholders have regarding the REEMND program.

Results & Scholarly significance
Year 1 baseline data on the key constructs within the theoretical framework will be presented. Attention will also be given to stakeholder perceptions of the change process, specifically “bridges and barriers” to the implementation and success of REEMND.
In this project, the BS engineering program curricula in bioengineering, chemical engineering, and biological engineering will be developed, incorporating a continual innovation process that emphasizes needs-finding and design in all four years of the BS programs. This research tests whether student experiences of needs-finding and design add value to the knowledge and skills learned in coursework, enhance student self-efficacy in producing designed solutions, and motivate further learning through the internalization of an engineering identity.

Authors