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Board 311: Increasing Representation in Engineering Through Makerspace Technologies

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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

June 26, 2024

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topics

Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

6

DOI

10.18260/1-2--46890

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/46890

Download Count

87

Paper Authors

biography

Shama Rajan Iyer Marymount University

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I am as Assistant Professor of Engineering, and my background and experience span biomechanics, tissue engineering, muscle physiology, biomaterials, STEM education and outreach. I have been studying the mechanisms of injury and regeneration in skeletal muscle using a cross-disciplinary approach (engineering, biomechanics, molecular biology, and muscle physiology).

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biography

Eric J Bubar Marymount University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-0043-5728

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I am the founding faculty of the Marymount engineering program in mechanical and biomedical engineering. I also run a 3d printing and design lab researching the creation of assistive tools for individuals with disabilities. In addition I compose grants to

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Abstract

The recruitment and retention of diverse students in engineering professions remains a significant challenge in the United States. With support from an Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) NSF grant, Marymount University (MU) is currently addressing this challenge through Project DREAM (Diversity Recruited into Engineering through Advanced Making). We report here on the first results from Project DREAM. MU has developed and piloted 1) a two-week, immersive summer program on "Maker-Neering" targeting teaching 3D printing, design, arduino programming and VR design to recruit students into a new engineering program and 2) piloted the first year of an innovative year-long introductory engineering course using low-cost makerspace technologies (including 3D printers, arduino, python programming) using evidence-based pedagogical methods to improve foundational engineering skills and develop solutions to problems impacting community members. We have successfully implemented both the two-week summer program and the year-long introductory engineering course, and we have seen students complete projects directly impacting community needs (i.e. developing a submersible for ecological research), faculty developing courses with best practice for diverse students and student projects presented at scientific conferences. Through successful completion of this project, MU aims to provide our curriculum materials as an effective, accessible and practical solution for increasing student success rates and improving representation of historically under-represented in STEM students in the engineering workforce. In addition, we believe this project will provide provide a low-cost, practical and accessible model for any educational institution to provide in-demand engineering skills, improve engagement, provide foundational engineering skills to underprepared students, increase STEM opportunities for UR in STEM students, increase collaborations between students, universities and their communities, and improve engagement and retention in STEM for students upon graduation.

Iyer, S. R., & Bubar, E. J. (2024, June), Board 311: Increasing Representation in Engineering Through Makerspace Technologies Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--46890

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