This NSF project focuses on the development of a new, required energy course that considers ways to best include, represent, and honor students from all backgrounds using a collection of teaching practices known as culturally sustaining pedagogies (CSPs). It is sponsored through the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR) program. Energy is a modern and foundational concept across engineering disciplines, but it is typically introduced to students in notoriously disengaging Thermodynamics courses. Many of these courses have roots in the Industrial Revolution and are characterized by particularly ethnocentric (White), masculine, and colonial knowledge. CSPs have been used successfully in K-12 settings, yielding particular benefits for traditionally underserved students, but have yet to be explored in undergraduate engineering. CSPs encourage students to connect their lived experiences to course topics, broaden what is accepted as engineering knowledge, and help individuals acknowledge the differing values and perspectives of others.
This research seeks to (1) identify energy examples outside of those traditionally used in thermodynamics; (2) develop and teach a course that integrates these non-traditional examples using CSPs; and (3) deepen educators understanding of how CSPs impact student learning, mindsets, and attitudes. These materials are being disseminated so that other faculty may use CSPs to engage their students. An overarching goal of this work is promoting inclusion within engineering to support broader participation and thus increased diversity. CSPs may be a key tool in changing the dominant discourse of engineering education, improving the experience for those students already here and making it more welcoming to those who are not. In the first year of this project, the PIs are focused on identifying non-canonical examples of energy that will form the basis of the new class. This poster and associated paper will report on the new examples of energy identified by the PIs.
Dr. Gordon D. Hoople is an assistant professor and one of the founding faculty members of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. He is passionate about creating engaging experiences for his students. His work is primarily focused on two areas: engineering education and design. Professor Hoople’s engineering education research examines the ways in which novel approaches can lead to better student outcomes. He is the principal investigator on the National Science Foundation Grant “Reimagining Energy: Exploring Inclusive Practices for Teaching Energy Concepts to Undergraduate Engineering Majors.” He has also co-developed a unique interdisciplinary course, Drones for Good, where engineering students partner with peace studies students to design a quadcopter that will have a positive impact on society.
Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is an assistant professor of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. His current research investigates how the integration of the historically and culturally accumulated wealth of knowledge, skills, and practices - also known as funds of knowledge - and engineering design can serve as a pathway to and through engineering. Dr. Mejia is particularly interested in how Latinx adolescents bring forth unique ways of knowing, doing, and being that provide them with particular ways of framing, approaching, and solving engineering problems. Dr. Mejia’s primary research interests lie at the intersection of engineering education and social justice. He is particularly interested in the integration of Chicanx Cultural Studies frameworks and pedagogies in engineering education, and critical consciousness in engineering through social justice.
Diana A. Chen, PhD is an Associate Professor and one of the founding faculty members of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. She earned her BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, and MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from Clemson University. In collaboration with colleagues, Dr. Chen is designing a new engineering curriculum to educate changemakers who understand that engineering is an inherently socio-technical activity. Her passion is studying and encouraging culture change in engineering curricula and spaces to shift engineering to be a field more inclusive of diversity in all forms. Her scholarly interests include engineering education that contextualizes engineering sciences and design, exploring engineering boundaries for inclusive pedagogy, and sustainability and bio-inspired design in the built environment.
Susan Lord is Professor and Chair of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. She received a BS from Cornell University in Materials Science and Electrical Engineering (EE) and MS and PhD in EE from Stanford University. Her research focuses on the study and promotion of equity in engineering including student pathways and inclusive teaching. She has won best paper awards from the Journal of Engineering Education, IEEE Transactions on Education, and Education Sciences. Dr. Lord is a Fellow of the IEEE and ASEE and received the 2018 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award. She is a coauthor of The Borderlands of Education: Latinas in Engineering. She is a co-Director of the National Effective Teaching Institute (NETI).
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