Anti-racism, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Database Curriculum Through Group Research Projects on Historical, Social and Ethical Database Related Topics

Ioulia Rytikova; Mihai Boicu

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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: Innovating Inclusivity: Rethinking Access and Empowerment in STEM Education
Tagged Divisions: Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46582

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Paper Authors

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Ioulia Rytikova George Mason University

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Ioulia Rytikova is a Professor and an Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology at George Mason University. She received a B.S./M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Automated Control Systems Engineering and Information Processing. Her research interests lie at the intersection of Data Science and Big Data Analytics, Cognitive and Learning Sciences, Educational Data Mining, Personalized Learning, and STEM Education.

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Mihai Boicu George Mason University orcid.org/0000-0002-6644-059X

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Mihai Boicu, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Information Technology at George Mason University, Associate Director of the Learning Agents Center (http://lac.gmu.edu), Co-Director of IT Entrepreneurship Laboratory (http://lite.gmu.edu) and Co-Director of

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Abstract

The purpose of this WIP research paper is to present a redesign of a sequence of four courses in order to provide scaffolded learning experiences for undergraduate students in an information technology program to help them develop skills related to anti-racism, inclusion, and equity (ARIE) in engineering disciplines. The American Society for Engineering Education and the European Society for Engineering Education issued a Joint Statement emphasizing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education and practice [1]. In this line, the performed redesign has a synergic goal: introducing research methods to undergraduate students through personal engagement with issues related to the course domain from one of the perspectives: historical, ethical, or social. The students incrementally learn how to identify relevant publications, how to summarize and synthesize information, how to create new hypotheses about topics of interest, and support them through cogent argumentations. The revision introduces a sequence of research group assignments, class discussions, and presentations that explore historical, ethical, or social issues related to the course topics with a focus on anti-racism, diversity, inclusion, and equity in the discipline. At the same time, they learn about ARIE related topics in databases. The students pick an ARIE topic of interest with respect to the course and synthesize information from a variety of sources to express a new argument or explore a new direction. While the topics proposed are domain specific, the learning methods, activities, and assignments are designed to fit a large spectrum of engineering and computing courses, with the goal of being easily customizable to other engineering domains. The redesign is implemented in a sequence of courses starting with a required core course and continuing with main courses in the Database and Programming Concentration of the BS in Information Technology program, consistently the largest program in the university with over 2,000 students enrolled. A unique aspect of this redesign is that six diverse adjunct faculty are involved in the project, including Hispanic, Black, Asian and Women bringing their own unique perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the project. Also, from a professional diversity perspective, which is very important for the students, the redesign team includes instructors with experience in academia (instructional, tenure line, instructional 2-year college), industry, and government.

Citation
Format

Rytikova, I., & Boicu, M. (2024, June), Anti-racism, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Database Curriculum Through Group Research Projects on Historical, Social and Ethical Database Related Topics Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46582

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The purpose of this WIP research paper is to present a redesign of a sequence of four courses in order to provide scaffolded learning experiences for undergraduate students in an information technology program to help them develop skills related to anti-racism, inclusion, and equity (ARIE) in engineering disciplines. The American Society for Engineering Education and the European Society for Engineering Education issued a Joint Statement emphasizing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education and practice [1]. In this line, the performed redesign has a synergic goal: introducing research methods to undergraduate students through personal engagement with issues related to the course domain from one of the perspectives: historical, ethical, or social. The students incrementally learn how to identify relevant publications, how to summarize and synthesize information, how to create new hypotheses about topics of interest, and support them through cogent argumentations. The revision introduces a sequence of research group assignments, class discussions, and presentations that explore historical, ethical, or social issues related to the course topics with a focus on anti-racism, diversity, inclusion, and equity in the discipline. At the same time, they learn about ARIE related topics in databases. The students pick an ARIE topic of interest with respect to the course and synthesize information from a variety of sources to express a new argument or explore a new direction. While the topics proposed are domain specific, the learning methods, activities, and assignments are designed to fit a large spectrum of engineering and computing courses, with the goal of being easily customizable to other engineering domains. The redesign is implemented in a sequence of courses starting with a required core course and continuing with main courses in the Database and Programming Concentration of the BS in Information Technology program, consistently the largest program in the university with over 2,000 students enrolled. A unique aspect of this redesign is that six diverse adjunct faculty are involved in the project, including Hispanic, Black, Asian and Women bringing their own unique perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the project. Also, from a professional diversity perspective, which is very important for the students, the redesign team includes instructors with experience in academia (instructional, tenure line, instructional 2-year college), industry, and government. 
AU  - Ioulia Rytikova
AU  - Mihai Boicu
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Anti-racism, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Database Curriculum Through Group Research Projects on Historical, Social and Ethical Database Related Topics 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/46582
ER  -