Asee peer logo

Encountering Axiology: Engineering Graduate Students' Experiences with Values in an Engineering Research Center

Download Paper |

Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Student Division Technical Session 3: Student Experiences and Support

Tagged Division

Student Division (STDT)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47256

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Herman Ronald Clements III Purdue University

visit author page

H. Ronald Clements is an engineering graduate student at Purdue University.

visit author page

biography

Alexander V Struck Jannini Purdue University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-8661-7962

visit author page

Alex is a Ph.D. Candidate in Engineering Education at Purdue University. He is interested in furthering the use of motivational theory in engineering education research, and investigating how departmental culture can affect students' persistence.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

This research paper examines research axiology and value transfer by examining engineering graduate students’ research experiences in an Engineering Research Center (ERC). Students constantly encounter cultural behaviors, norms, and espoused values, and are taught “this is how we do things around here,” and “this is why we do those things.” For individuals established within a field, many of these cultural realities become invisible, as they have already been incorporated into the field and play a major role in perpetuating the culture encountered by new members. By focusing on students’ experiences, there is an opportunity for rich depth in the description of engineering research values through the natural salience afforded by introduction into a new community and profession. To begin to answer these questions, we interviewed five engineering graduate students engaged in research in a Gen-4 ERC. We found that on the surface, students communicated a good understanding of the overall values and goal of the ERC, aligned with them, and felt as though they were making a difference in the world. However, for some, there were experiences of tension and friction with their own personal and long-term goals and values. Additionally, discussion of certain values seemed performative for some students (namely topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion), and potential internalization of certain values over others.

Clements, H. R., & Struck Jannini, A. V. (2024, June), Encountering Axiology: Engineering Graduate Students' Experiences with Values in an Engineering Research Center Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47256

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2024 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015