mainly involved in identifying the research questions for the projectsand making decisions about how the results of the research-focused projects will beimplemented. This paper presents a replication of a model focused on university-communitycollaboration, student engagement and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)attraction and retention using three research-focused projects addressing community needs. Thethree projects are (1) empathic design project aimed at improving quality greenspaces andpedestrian streetscape experience, (2) food justice project to study the disparities in food accessbetween local regions, and (3) analyzing water quality in a local creek. The projects provided aunique opportunity for students to directly
-University Relationships in Environmental Engineering Service-Learning Courses: Social Network Vectors and Modalities of CommunicationIntroduction This work offers an initial and essential exploration of the ways in which universities andcommunities become connected in service-learning programs. Since numerous studies havefound that service learning offers an array of benefits to undergraduate students [1], [2], it isequally important to consider perspectives of the partnering communities. Specifically, in somecontexts, university-community partnerships, both generally and service-learning programs inparticular, are exploitative due to the power imbalance caused by the “concentration of powerand knowledge” of universities [3]. In this
research experience and benefit for community membersaddressing their water quality concerns.BackgroundCommunity-university-partnershipsCommunity-university partnerships are collaborations between communities and universities toachieve shared goals through community-engaged scholarship [1] [2, pp. 463–469]. Key tenantsof community-university partnerships and community-based research involve genuinereciprocity, mutual benefit for communities and participating students [1], building connectionswithin and between organizations [3, Vol. 4], generation of knowledge to meet a communityidentified need, involving the community throughout, from problem definition to resultsdissemination [4, pp. 412–428] and funding [3, Vol. 4].Community-university
data were collected throughwritten responses to questions on specific positive or negative student experiences and attitudes.Four main outreach trends emerged: 1) Students enjoy attending outreach events and find ithelpful to themselves and to society; 2) Attending events leads students to want to participate inmore; 3) Lack of time is by far the top hinderance; 4) Students are motivated by mentor support.Study findings suggest three possible steps to implementing a targeted strategy for broaderimpact student outreach that aligns with student desires at university research centers: 1) Choiceof outreach events should emphasize the contribution to society; 2) Outreach recruitment shouldemphasize skills students will gain; 3) Faculty mentors
Environmental Health Literacy to Raise Awareness of Antibiotic Resistance Daniel B, Oerther Missouri University of Science and Technology, 1401 North Pine Street, Rolla, MO 65409AbstractThe process of how to engage with communities (i.e., community engagement) is animportant skill for engineers to acquire, and the skill is well suited to experientiallearning (i.e., learning through doing). To educate engineers to perform communityengagement, a module was developed and incorporated as part of three differentengineering courses, namely: 1) science, technology, engineering, art, and math(STEAM) diplomacy (dual-level graduate and undergraduate, elective); 2) public
construction, engineering,manufacturing, etc. by 2030 [1]. However, as clean energy job opportunities increase, the gapbetween available jobs and qualified workers grows. Education in the U.S. does not emphasizethe clean energy or environmentally friendly behavior, so many students do not see these jobs asa potential career path or even know they exist.Education plays a critical role in helping the United Nations reach its Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) [2]. Environmental education begins with giving children access and opportunitiesto build a relationship with nature, learn about environmental issues and the need for cleanenergy, develop important skills for the clean energy workforce, and inform them of the jobs andcareer paths in clean energy
future goals, and experiencing developmentally relevant role confusion [5]. The first set of tasks-identifying a place-based challenge- engages students’ values and beliefs by encouraging them to reflect onwhat they care about. The second set of tasks exposes students to basic computer science concepts throughthe enactment and development of scenarios they developed around place-based challenges. In terms of moral and interpersonal development, we were interested in how youth aged 12-15 in agame jam program expressed 1) moral sensitivity, the ability to read a moral situation and determine what rolethey might play; 2) moral judgment, the ability to solve complex moral problems using reason about duty andconsequences; 3) moral motivation
competent enough for the job market. The pedagogicalapproaches that universities adopted evolved over the years to demonstrate an interestingevolution to the education system, some of these approaches include: • Active Learning: This approach emphasizes student engagement and participation in the learning process through activities such as group discussions, debates, and analyzing different case studies. This approach is based on the idea that students learn best through hands-on activities and interactive experiences [1, 2]. • Project-Based Learning: This approach focuses on a real-world or simulated set of problems and challenges as the starting point for learning to promote critical thinking, problem-solving, and
. Partnerships may develop betweencommunities, academia, organizations, or with any combination of these. Reciprocity incollaborative partnerships implies mutual respect, trust, benefit-sharing, and growth [1].Traditionally, groups that are considered to have more resources are allotted a higher degree ofpower, leading to non-reciprocal collaborations. Often driven by historical colonial relations, thesedisparities can have harmful results such as uneven stakeholder benefits, unidirectionality, andperpetuating oversimplified stereotypes, and can continue without critique due to hiddenassumptions of prestige in resources despite evidence to the contrary. Partnership imbalances canyield inequities, despite good intentions. To achieve mutual benefits, it’s
students to attend the engineering program, as well as creating anenvironment that is welcoming and supportive of diversity, has caused our numbers to shiftgreatly from women accounting for only 14% of our engineering program population in 2020 towomen making up 21% in 2022 [1]. With over 50% of our engineering students identifying asnon-white, there is a lot to celebrate but there is still more work to do. When considering theintersectionality with race, we discovered that African American women engineering studentscomprised only 4% of the college and Hispanic women engineering students comprised just 3%.Further analysis revealed that out of the nearly 800 degrees awarded in 2022, not even 50 wereawarded to these demographics. Women accounted for
applied after recruitment emails were sent to localschool district contacts. In July 2022, a one-day workshop was held at UIUC with a group of fifteenK–12 educators from twelve different local schools, ranging from pre-K to high school. After theinitial introduction, workshop participants were divided into five groups based on their teachingrole and grade level. A human-centered design approach was then used to guide a series of groupactivities, which focused mainly on connecting all stakeholders to create better support betweenservice-learning project developers (university students) and receivers (K–12 students). Lessonslearned from the summer workshop include: (1) having a long-term (3–5 years) commitment forpartnership between local schools
University, a liberal artsuniversity on the East coast. A once-a-month asynchronous format (four hours) was used at thisinstitution, versus the two-day, six-hour format used at James Madison. Programming impacted12% of engineering students. This paper presents the framework for offering asynchronouswellness programing within a department, as well as best practices and lessons learned.1. IntroductionDuring the pandemic, reports from academic-focused sources [1-3] emphasized the importanceof providing services that address student well-being. A need to help students in the area ofmental health and wellness within an undergraduate only department of engineering wasrecognized.To address this need, two engineering programs housed at East coast, liberal
past two years and what the strategy is moving forward.1.0. Introduction Approximately two years ago, three students under the direction of a faculty mentor and withthe aid of two outside experts created an app to replace the school’s Red Folder. The originalRed Folder was designed as a resource for faculty to address mental health situations that mayoccur in the classroom and was based off what came out of the University of California [1]. Thisfolder while beneficial had a few shortcomings including: 1. Only being distributed to select groups on campus (faculty and staff) 2. It could be easily misplaced or damaged 3. Not being in a form that was always available Given these shortcomings it was obvious there was room
: Association of International Educators, and funded by ExxonMobil Corporation. The100,000 Strong in the Americas program is an education initiative created “to increase the annualnumber of U.S. students studying in Latin America and the Caribbean to 100,000 and bring100,000 students to the United States by 2020.” [1]. It does this by fostering new partnershipsamong higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United States and the rest of the WesternHemisphere in student exchange and training programs with focus given to “buildinginstitutional capacity, increasing student mobility, and enhancing regional educationcooperation” [1].The objective of the initial partnership activities was to offer an innovative study abroadopportunity to American students
across the sub-groups. Data from two students who participatedin the questionnaire before and after participating in a humanitarian engineering project is alsopresented. From these results, the authors conclude that the sampling methods may have had animpact on the mixed significance and that further qualitative methods may be appropriate fordeeper study. For future work, the project team will conduct interviews with selected participantstoward building a model for creating inclusive engineers through humanitarian engineeringprojects.Background:This paper details part of the work of an ongoing project previously described in [1] and [2]. Theproject’s objective is to study the impact of humanitarian engineering projects (HEPs) onprofessional
and implement practices that develop Community of Practice (CoP), Professional Identity, and Self-Efficacy to increase diversity in Engineering and Computer Science and to streamline transfer from community colleges to 4-year institutions ©American Society for Engineering Education, 2023 Engagement in Practice: Strengthening Student’s STEM Identity Through ServiceI. INTRODUCTIONVolunteering offers participants the opportunity to develop their social network and connectionwith the local community. Volunteering can make adolescents more adept at connecting withsocial groups outside of their norm [1], increase their civic engagement [1], and increase theiracademic
, and examined a community-engaged STEM learning environment in adeindustrialized city in Indiana. Drawing on principles from academic engaged learning andinnovation ecosystems [1-5], the pilot integrated partners across a diversity of higher educationinstitutions, high schools, local government, and community organizations to developcommunity-identified, authentic projects and tailored programming to implement internships thatsupport STEM attraction and retention for underrepresented groups in engineering and science aswell as improving the quality of life in these communities. As such, it applied what weunderstand about persistence in STEM [6-8] by providing opportunities for early research andactive learning in the community. The original
planning area in Texas, the Canadian – Upper RedRiver Basin Regional Flood Planning Area, or Region 1. The student participants interviewedrural residents in portions of Western and Central Texas, using both phone and in-personinterviews. The survey provided data that defined the nature of observed flooding in rural areasand needed mitigation efforts for future flooding risks. The students who conducted the publicoutreach study were from several different majors (Geoscience, Environmental Science, andEngineering) and cultural backgrounds.The students who conducted the flood research interview were surveyed for a post-studyassessment using two research instruments – a Qualtrics survey and personal interviews. Alleighteen students were solicited for
to adapt to shock quickly to wherecapacity is recovered efficiently. The Natural Resource Council (NRC) defines resilience as “theability [of individuals, groups, communities] to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, ormore successfully adapt to [actual or potential] adverse events” (Amadei, 2020; NRC, 2012). Avisual depiction of resilience and its relationship to capacity is shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1. Resilience after a disaster or crisis or viewing resilience as variations in community capacity over time following a disaster or crisis (Amadei, 2020).Engineers such as Amadei (2020) and Bouabid & Louis (2015) (henceforth referred to as theABL model) have formed models to assess the capacity of communities to
and success unique to this cross-disciplinary robotics mentorship program in fostering engineering soft skill development as itentered the third phase in Fall 2022. Results of survey and interview data from participatingmentors are reported regarding the soft skill development outcomes over the first two years,along with opportunities for broader impact in the future.1. Introduction It has been recognized that the acquisition of only technical knowledge and engineeringjudgment by graduating engineering students is oftentimes insufficient. In the workplace,interpersonal relations and soft skills are also necessary to work between disciplines and betweenfunctional groups in today’s competitive global market [1, 2]. Despite the increasing
with the community as acontribution to their professional identity. Findings offer implications for engineering educatorsinterested in applying service-learning experiences to promote professional learning andcommunity engagement.IntroductionChile is located in the circum-Pacific seismic belt, a zone where most of the largest earthquakesoccur. Its coast is frequently affected by earthquakes and tsunamis, including the biggestearthquake and tsunami ever recorded, the M9.5 Valdivia Earthquake (1960) [1]. Chile’spropensity for earthquakes and tsunamis makes it essential to advance educational proposals toincrease its inhabitants’ risk awareness and resilience. After the tragic loss of lives in the tsunamithat followed the Maule Earthquake—an M8.8
].We previously reported on 1) the ExSJ framework, 2) the infrastructure, mechanisms, andactivities we are using to apply this framework, and 3) the challenges and complexities we arefacing as we apply it [13]. At its core, the framework is meant to support the connection betweenengineering and social justice, and it operationalizes this effort through multiple mechanisms thatfit within the university context. For example, the ExSJ, “provides a system wherebycommunities are encouraged and supported to submit project ideas, which are developed andchanneled through a panel of professionals and academics to create suitable projects for studentsin a wide variety of programs inside engineering disciplines and across campus” [14]. One suchmechanism
projectsIntroductionEngineering students will often complete design projects to solve a problem for an identifiedpopulation in need, resulting in an engineered product such as a novel medical device or newassistive technology [1]. However, adequately addressing major societal problems (e.g., opioidaddiction, mental health disorders, physical disability, etc.) will require more than just anengineered product or device, it will require solutions that span individual, community, andsocietal systems across many different disciplines [2]. The next generation of leaders chargedwith addressing these complex challenges must know how to work across traditional academicdisciplinary boundaries and meaningfully engage with stakeholder individuals, communities, andpolicymakers [3
community engagement programs for understanding the value propositionfor each stakeholder group. Such investigations can help researchers and practitioners betteroptimize programs to more closely meet their full potential.IntroductionLeading institutions in engineering education have been focusing on integrating experientiallearning into the undergraduate experience in recent years [1], which is a pedagogy that involveseducators purposefully engaging learners in direct experience and focused reflection [2]. Onesubset of the experiential learning approach is community-engaged learning, which is intended toincorporate the five elements of engagement, academic connection, reciprocal partnerships, mutuallearning, and reflection [3]. In engineering
potential funding is important incase one source of funding ends.K-12 Outreach Program ExamplesThis paper highlights six K-12 outreach programs that educate students about STEM disciplines.The outreach programs are facilitated by undergraduate programs at three higher educationinstitutions and one STEM related employer. Institutional context, an overview of each program,a description of the program’s curriculum and learning goals, program outcomes, and challengesencountered are discussed for each outreach program.Programs #1 and #2Institutional ContextElon University is a selective, mid-sized private university known for engaged undergraduateinstruction and experiential learning. The curriculum is grounded in the traditional liberal artsand
differentinstitutions.As described in [1], US graduate engineering research remains focused on preparing students fora shrinking pool of academic jobs and most students are dissatisfied by the lack of socialrelevance of their research. An article detailing the state of graduate education points out, “mostgraduate programs will, in fact, fail to deliver the training that students desire and societydesperately needs. Graduate training remains focused on preparing students to addressdisciplinary knowledge gaps valued in a shrinking pool of faculty positions. While we invitestudents to apply for degrees based on their motivations to change the world, once they arrive,we do not prepare them to be successful change-makers. Current students report beingdiscouraged from
redlinedcommunities today.Redlining occurred in most American citiesincluding Omaha, Nebraska. The 1935 OmahaHome Owner Loan Corporation map (Figure 1)designated neighborhoods in North and SouthOmaha as yellow and red, while neighborhoodsin West Omaha are designated green.The topic of redlining was introduced in a seriesof introductory courses to help studentsunderstand from of the beginning of theireducation as a civil engineer about both positiveand negative consequences to society that civil Figure 1. Redlined map of Omaha, Nebraskaengineers can have. We believed this was an (Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, 1935)important topic to introduce early in
scholarly disciplines to participate in a dialogue on ethical considerations for Artemis and theMoon to Mars initiative. At this event, participants identified a set of challenges in engaging theethical and social implications of these missions. This paper seeks to further explore thoseconcepts from the workshop report and provide insights on how to discuss the designimplications of engineering leadership decisions and to elicit meaningful engagement on thesetopics. This analysis can inform future research and educational approaches and help ethics andsocial science researchers to engage engineering and project leaders in constructive dialogue. 1. IntroductionThe engineering education research community has developed a broad swathe of case
engineer within society byupholding an alignment of industry over engineering reflective of a hegemonic adherence tobusiness professionalism [1, 2, 3]. The ideology of business professionalism, described in moredetail to follow, advances beliefs that engineers are, and should be, unshakably beholden tocapitalist corporate owners and the industries they extract profit through [3]. In this paper, weexamine the historically anti-union attitudes and actions of the National Society of ProfessionalEngineers (NSPE), and their adherence to the ideology of business professionalism, throughanalysis of ethics case studies published by their Board of Ethical Review (BER). As an advocateof professional engineering licensure and as leaders in engineering ethics
were given the chance to participate. All interns were paid and worked between 10-20hours/week for 10 weeks. The teams consisted of students from all major areas: manufacturingengineering, industrial design, and polymer materials engineering. All students who participatedMotivation The faculty advisors working with DCOF were motivated to use this collaboration togenerate enthusiasm and build engineering skills in students who are in the early stages of theirstudies. Similar community engagement projects [1] have identified that “service learning”,where students learn skills through projects based on community engagement, is attractive tostudents who are drawn to the prospect of engineering as a real-world practice and achieves ameaningful