Exploring Undergraduate Engineering Students' Changing Beliefs About Smartness in Engineering

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Developing Smartness: Considering Motivation and Learning in STEM (Table 7)

Abstract

We explore the changing beliefs that undergraduate engineering students hold about what it means to be a “smart” engineer. Operationalizing smartness as a cultural practice and drawing on cognitive dissonance theory, we analyzed parts of two rounds of interviews with undergraduate engineering students approximately one year apart. We found that half of our participants experienced notable changes in their beliefs. The changes were centered around students' beliefs about the relationship between smartness, academic achievement, and innate ability. Students tended to shift or expand their definitions of smart away from achievement and instead emphasized working efficiently. Our investigation indicates that these beliefs are being informed, at least in part, by engineering classrooms and thus have implications for classroom instruction and practices.

Authors

• Amy Kramer, The Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cassie Wallwey, Virginia Tech
  Presenting Author

• Rachel Louis Kajfez, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Emily Dringenberg, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author