Board 149: Advancing Participation in Engineering via Interdisciplinary Curricular Collaborations (Work in Progress)

Evelyn Hanna; Carey Gates; Michelle Stevenson

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Pre-College Engineering Education Division (PCEE)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44626
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44626

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Paper Authors

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Evelyn Hanna Kent Place School

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Dr. Evelyn Hanna currently serves as the Director of Curricular Innovation and STEM at Kent Place School. She also teaches computer science, engineering, and mathematics courses. Prior to joining Kent Place in 2018, Dr. Hanna worked at Princeton University and Rutgers School of Engineering to advance in- and out-of-classroom STEM opportunities for all students. She has received over $3M in support of her work from the National Science Foundation and other non-profit organizations. Dr. Hanna is the author of numerous peer-reviewed papers and a book, Teacher Discourse Community: What it reveals about knowledge of teaching mathematics. She is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she earned her doctorate in mathematics education and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Dr. Hanna’s research and teaching explore the intersection of STEM content knowledge, affect, and identity with the goal of ensuring excellence and equity in STEM.

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Carey Gates

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Michelle Stevenson The Kent Place School

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Department Chair of Student Health & Wellness and Physical Education at the Kent Place School in Summit, NJ.

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Abstract

As part of a larger initiative to transform the K-12 STEM curriculum at a small-sized school for girls, a Computer Science and Engineering (CS&E) Department was formed to support the growth of course offerings and increase students’ participation in STEM. At the Upper School level (grades 9th - 12th), the pre-transformed curriculum offered three computer programming courses designed to introduce students to the Python, Java Script, and Java languages. Building on this strength, the goal of the transformed program was to develop mission-aligned engineering electives to increase students’ participation in and awareness of engineering. If accepted, we will report on student enrollment and feedback, as well as an analysis of student artifacts to answer the question: To what extent do interdisciplinary engineering courses enhance students’ participation in and awareness of the diverse field of engineering?

The mission of the school is to empower girls to be confident, intellectual, and ethical leaders who advance the world. Aligned with the mission, three trimester-long engineering electives were developed. This paper will report on two of the courses: Engineering & the Arts (EA) and Engineering & the Lived Experience (ELE). The curricular design of both courses was informed by a theoretical framework that leaned on research that described and evaluated innovative, pre-college engineering courses (e.g. Farmer et. al., 2012). While EA was originally designed and taught in partnership with the Visual Arts Department, ELE was not originally offered in partnership with another academic department. After an unsuccessful first offering of ELE, we learned that students wanted another interdisciplinary experience. As such, we revamped the ELE curriculum in partnership with the Physical Education (PE) Department to offer a mission-aligned interdisciplinary course.

The EA course is co-taught by CS&E and Visual Arts faculty members. The purpose of the course is to have students live at the intersection of engineering and the arts by exploring principles of structural engineering and elements of art. Students learn the criteria, content, and skills needed to critique structures through scientific, symbolic, and social lenses. Students design, prototype, iterate and communicate pieces of structural art that represent the structural engineering and elements of art taught throughout the course. They are trained on various tools in the Innovation and Fabrication Labs; such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and power tools. The overarching goal of the course is to enhance students’ STEM literacy, engineering habits of mind, and awareness of various engineering fields.

The ELE course is co-taught by CS&E and PE faculty members. The course engages students in exploring and critiquing innovations through a human-centered lens. Specifically, students embark on a journey to answer the question: To what extent are biofeedback devices designed to serve me and people like me? Following this question, students learn hardware and software design as they design, build, and program their own personal biofeedback device (e.g., a heart rate monitor). From a PE perspective, students learn about FIIT principles and deepen their understanding as they design workouts and test their heart rates.

Citation
Format

Hanna, E., & Gates, C., & Stevenson, M. (2023, June), Board 149: Advancing Participation in Engineering via Interdisciplinary Curricular Collaborations (Work in Progress) Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44626

TY - CPAPER
AB - As part of a larger initiative to transform the K-12 STEM curriculum at a small-sized school for girls, a Computer Science and Engineering (CS&amp;amp;E) Department was formed to support the growth of course offerings and increase students’ participation in STEM. At the Upper School level (grades 9th - 12th), the pre-transformed curriculum offered three computer programming courses designed to introduce students to the Python, Java Script, and Java languages. Building on this strength, the goal of the transformed program was to develop mission-aligned engineering electives to increase students’ participation in and awareness of engineering. If accepted, we will report on student enrollment and feedback, as well as an analysis of student artifacts to answer the question: To what extent do interdisciplinary engineering courses enhance students’ participation in and awareness of the diverse field of engineering?

The mission of the school is to empower girls to be confident, intellectual, and ethical leaders who advance the world. Aligned with the mission, three trimester-long engineering electives were developed. This paper will report on two of the courses: Engineering &amp;amp; the Arts (EA) and Engineering &amp;amp; the Lived Experience (ELE). The curricular design of both courses was informed by a theoretical framework that leaned on research that described and evaluated innovative, pre-college engineering courses (e.g. Farmer et. al., 2012). While EA was originally designed and taught in partnership with the Visual Arts Department, ELE was not originally offered in partnership with another academic department. After an unsuccessful first offering of ELE, we learned that students wanted another interdisciplinary experience. As such, we revamped the ELE curriculum in partnership with the Physical Education (PE) Department to offer a mission-aligned interdisciplinary course.

The EA course is co-taught by CS&amp;amp;E and Visual Arts faculty members. The purpose of the course is to have students live at the intersection of engineering and the arts by exploring principles of structural engineering and elements of art. Students learn the criteria, content, and skills needed to critique structures through scientific, symbolic, and social lenses. Students design, prototype, iterate and communicate pieces of structural art that represent the structural engineering and elements of art taught throughout the course. They are trained on various tools in the Innovation and Fabrication Labs; such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and power tools. The overarching goal of the course is to enhance students’ STEM literacy, engineering habits of mind, and awareness of various engineering fields.

The ELE course is co-taught by CS&amp;amp;E and PE faculty members. The course engages students in exploring and critiquing innovations through a human-centered lens. Specifically, students embark on a journey to answer the question: To what extent are biofeedback devices designed to serve me and people like me? Following this question, students learn hardware and software design as they design, build, and program their own personal biofeedback device (e.g., a heart rate monitor). From a PE perspective, students learn about FIIT principles and deepen their understanding as they design workouts and test their heart rates.

AU - Evelyn Hanna
AU - Carey Gates
AU - Michelle Stevenson
CY - Baltimore , Maryland
DA - 2023/06/25
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Board 149: Advancing Participation in Engineering via Interdisciplinary Curricular Collaborations (Work in Progress)
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44626
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44626
ER -