Exploring Enculturation in the First-Year Engineering Program
Culture is defined as the set of beliefs, customs, and or arts of a particular group. Engineering enculturation can be defined as the process by which an engineering student learns the traditional content of an engineering culture and assimilates its engineering practices and values. Examples of content, practices and values in the engineering culture are, among others, algorithmic thinking, teamwork, problem solving, or engineering design.
Enculturation and acculturation have been investigated in the humanities with little connections to the engineering profession. Enculturation can be understood as the acquisition of a culture, or in this case, the assimilation to the engineering culture. This funded research can help in the understanding of the engineering academic programs, seen from a perspective of “enculturation process into the engineering profession”. It can also shed light to the first year engineering programs, as a first step into this cultural assimilation process.
The assimilation process to the engineering culture can be associated to engineering outcomes as defined by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and through common outcomes among engineering programs, including first year engineering programs. A group of professors at a university located in the southwestern region of the United States are conducting engineering enculturation research based on self- reported student’s perceptions as well as performance indicators (i.e. grades) of at least 400 first year engineering students. In this work in progress, a Likert-based survey is administered to students followed by targeted focus groups. Results of these perceptions are compared to performance indicators. Given the importance of representation in engineering, underrepresented groups are specially considered and researched.
Since publications and reports show that attrition is high during the first year engineering program, this inquiry seeks to explore the enculturation of individuals new to the profession. This paper contains the initial results from this work in progress to investigate enculturation of first year engineering students.
Dr. Mendoza Diaz is Instructional Assistant Professor at the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. She obtained her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in Educational Administration and Human Resource Development and worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Institute for P-12 Engineering Research and Learning-INSPIRE at the School of Engineering Education-Purdue University. She was a recipient of the Apprentice Faculty Grant from the Educational Research Methods ASEE Division in 2009. She also has been an Electrical Engineering Professor. Dr. Mendoza is interested in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Engineering Students, Latino Studies in Engineering, and Entrepreneurship in Engineering Education.
Dr. So Yoon Yoon is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. Dr. Yoon received her Ph.D. in Gifted Education, and an M.S.Ed. in Research Methods and Measurement with a specialization in Educational Psychology, both from Purdue University, IN, USA. She also holds an M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics and a B.S. in Astronomy and Meteorology from Kyungpook National University, South Korea. Her work centers on elementary, secondary, and postsecondary engineering education research as a psychometrician, data analyst, and program evaluator with research interests in spatial ability, STEAM education, workplace climate, and research synthesis with a particular focus on meta-analysis. She has developed, validated, revised, and copyrighted several instruments beneficial for STEM education research and practice. Dr. Yoon has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and served as a journal reviewer in engineering education, STEM education, and educational psychology. She has also served as a PI, co-PI, advisory board member, or external evaluator on several NSF-funded projects.
Dr. Richard got his Ph. D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1989 & a B. S. at Boston University, 1984. He was at NASA Glenn, 1989-1995, taught at Northwestern for Fall 1995, worked at Argonne National Lab, 1996-1997, Chicago State, 1997-2002. Dr. Richard is a Sr. Lecturer & Research Associate in Aerospace Engineering @ Texas A&M since 1/03. His research is focused on computational plasma modeling using spectral and lattice Boltzmann methods for studying plasma turbulence and plasma jets. His research has also included fluid physics and electric propulsion using Lattice-Boltzmann methods, spectral element methods, Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (WENO), etc.
Past research includes modeling single and multi-species plasma flows through ion thruster optics and the discharge cathode assembly; computer simulations of blood flow interacting with blood vessels; modeling ocean-air interaction; reacting flow systems; modeling jet engine turbomachinery going unstable at NASA for 6 years (received NASA Performance Cash awards). Dr. Richard is involved in many outreach activities: e.g., tutoring, mentoring, directing related grants (for example, a grant for an NSF REU site). Dr, Richard is active in professional societies (American Physical Society (APS), American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), etc.), ASEE, ASME. Dr. Richard has authored or co-authored about 25 technical articles (19 of which are refereed publications). Dr. Richard teaches courses ranging from first-year introductory engineering design, fluid mechanics, to space plasma propulsion.
Delivering significant results in pivotal roles such as Sr. Consultant to high-profile clients, Sr. Project Manager directing teams, and Executive Leader of initiatives and programs that boost organizational effectiveness and optimize operations have been
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