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2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 104: Asset-based Practices in Engineering Design (APRENDE): Development of a Funds-of-Knowledge Approach for the Formation of Engineers

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

Funds of knowledge are historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of cultural, social, historical and cognitive knowledge and skills that are essential for household and individual functioning and well-being. Using funds of knowledge in the classroom has been noted as an asset-based approach because students’ assets are explored while deficit notions of students’ abilities are challenged. The Asset-based Practices in Engineering Design (APRENDE) project focuses on both middle school students and their teachers. It offers the opportunity to have an early impact on students’ engineering interest while also providing teachers with a broader perspective of how to develop students’ engineering habits of mind and dispositions using funds of knowledge. The goal of this three-year project is (1) to provide opportunities for teachers to develop an understanding of and appreciation for funds of knowledge, (2) to support them in integrating funds of knowledge into their engineering design class, and (3) to examine how such integration of funds of knowledge can impact Latinx students’ and English Language Learners’ interest in and knowledge of engineering. We posit that effective engineering learning happens when teachers blend funds of knowledge with the engineering design process.

The overarching goal of this mixed methods study is to generate knowledge on how and to what extent the integration of funds of knowledge and engineering design can serve as a pathway to and through engineering for Latinx students while helping teachers and students recognize funds of knowledge as assets in solving engineering problems. The first year of this study is guided by the following research question: What strategies are most helpful in developing teachers' understanding and elicitation of students' funds of knowledge? Data collected from interviews, focus groups, classroom observations, and digital reflective logs will be used to identify how participation in the APRENDE Project impact teachers' understanding of funds of knowledge and how these can be aligned to engineering design processes, habits of mind, and dispositions. The data will be collected as the teachers work with the research team in co-constructing engineering activities and subsequent implementation in their classrooms. This poster and associated paper will report on the initial findings of this exploratory study during the first year.

Authors
  1. Dr. Joel Alejandro Mejia Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3908-9930 University of San Diego [biography]

    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 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.

  2. Damian Ruiz University of San Diego/San Diego State University [biography]

    Damian Ruiz is Assistant Director of the Cultural Proficiency Institute for Educators at San Diego State University's College of Extended Studies, where he designs and implements culturally responsive curriculum for current educators, institutions, and graduates. Damian is also Assistant Director of the Cultural Proficiency Minor at San Diego State University's College of Education, where he designs strengths-based, culturally responsive curriculum and counseling services for undergraduate students. Additionally, Damian is a Lecturer at San Diego State University for various Multicultural Education courses. His work is grounded in a social justice perspective to support equity-and inclusion-oriented initiatives in education.
    Damian is currently a graduate student participating in San Diego State University's Master's in Education Program specializing in Critical Literacy and Social Justice.

  3. Dr. Vitaliy Popov Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2348-5285 University of Michigan [biography]

    Vitaliy Popov is an Assistant Professor of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School. His research focuses on understanding, designing, and evaluating learning technologies and environments that foster collaborative problem solving, spatial reasoning, engineering design thinking and agency. He is currently serving as a co-principal investigator on three projects funded by the National Science Foundation ranging from studying visuospatial skills development through origami to applying multimodal learning analytics in teamwork and understanding the mechanisms of an A-ha! moment. Dr. Popov completed his Ph.D. on computer-supported collaborative learning at Wageningen University & Research Center, in the Netherlands. His background allows him to utilize evidence in education science, simulation-based training and learning analytics to understand how people become expert health professionals, how they can better work in teams and how we can support these processes to foster health care delivery and health outcomes.

  4. Dr. Alberto Esquinca San Diego State University [biography]

    Alberto Esquinca is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dual Language and English Learner Education at San Diego State University.

  5. Danielle Gadbois
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