BOARD # 266: Leveraging Institutional and Community Capacities in Implementing Community-Engaged STEM PBL
- Conference
- Location
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Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Publication Date
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June 22, 2025
- Start Date
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June 22, 2025
- End Date
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August 15, 2025
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
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NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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6
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/55628
Paper Authors
Danielle Wood University of Notre Dame
Associate Director for Research, Center for Civic Innovation
Dr. Wood received her M.S.and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds her B.S. from Purdue University. She is a transdisciplinary researcher, with research interests including community engagement, evaluation in complex settings, and translational work at the socio-technical nexus.
Faisal Aqlan
University of Louisville
orcid.org/0000-0002-0695-5364
Dr. Faisal Aqlan is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at The University of Louisville. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering form The State University of New York at Binghamton.
Jay B. Brockman University of Notre Dame
Dr. Jay Brockman is the Associate Dean of Engineering for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and previously worked for Intel Corporation. He is also a founder of
Hazel Marie Youngstown State University - Rayen School of Engineering
Hazel Marie, Ph.D., P.E. received her B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas in Austin, her M.S. from Youngstown State University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Akron. She is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Abstract
With higher and faster growing wages, STEM-related employment is key to rebuilding thriving communities. In the deindustrialized Midwest, the urban demographics often show higher percentages of those underrepresented in STEM, such as low socio-economic status (LSES) and underrepresented minorities (URM). These cities often have poverty rates double the national average, lower educational attainment, and the ‘brain drain’ problem. This creates barriers to developing and retaining a STEM workforce.
Funded through an NSF IUSE replication grant, the Community-Engaged Educational Ecosystem model (C-EEEM) targets deficits with which many deindustrialized cities struggle – engagement, knowledge, skill, capacity, and economic - while using an asset-based lens. Following the third replication year for the Community-Engaged Educational Ecosystem model (C-EEEM) in two other Midwestern regions, researchers have found that the C-EEEM demonstrated similar student and community outcomes in new contexts (self-efficacy, STEM-identity, place attachment). 1-5 Broadly, C-EEEM engages students in problem-based learning (PBL),6 with the community-issue becoming part of the curriculum and the community as the classroom; it delivers high-impact educational practices, 7-12 particularly for LSES and URM, while showing broader impacts in neighborhoods, industry, and attraction to the region.13 Despite fidelity to the implementation of the core elements of the C-EEEM, contextual differences at the institutional and community level meant differences in the learning environment. This paper provides a description of the distinctions of the C-EEEM delivery at the institutional level and the community level based on the implementation context, identifying asset-based adaptations. Using survey and reflection data, we explored contextual differences against student experiences and outcomes. Implications for adapting and sustaining the C-EEEM to different institutional and community contexts are then discussed.
Wood, D., & Aqlan, F., & Brockman, J. B., & Marie, H. (2025, June), BOARD # 266: Leveraging Institutional and Community Capacities in Implementing Community-Engaged STEM PBL Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55628
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