Cultivating a Culture to Foster Engineering Identity
- Conference
- Location
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Minneapolis, MN
- Publication Date
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August 23, 2022
- Start Date
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June 26, 2022
- End Date
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June 29, 2022
- Conference Session
- Page Count
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16
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--41950
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/41950
- Download Count
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497
Paper Authors
Yen-Lin Han Seattle University
Yen-Lin Han is an Associate Professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Seattle University. Dr. Han received her BS degree in Material Science and Engineering from National Tsing-Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan, her MS degree in Electrical Engineering and her PhD degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California. Her research interests include micro-scale molecular gas dynamics, micro fluidics, and heat transfer applications in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and medical devices as well as autonomous vehicles and robotics. She also holds the patent for the continuous trace gas separator and several pending patents in autonomous vehicles and robotic testing apparatus. She is passionate about Engineering Education and experienced in developing inverted classroom lectures and facilitating students’ learning through authentic engineering problems. She is currently the Co-PI for the NSF Revolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments grant awarded to the Mechanical Engineering department at Seattle University to study how the department culture changes can foster students' engineering identity with the long-term goal of increasing the representation of women and minority in the field of engineering.
Kathleen Cook Seattle University
Kathleen Cook received her degree in music and education (B.M.E.) from the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY in 1988 and her doctorate in social and personality psychology (Ph.D.) from the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) with emphases in cognitive and educational psychology and a minor in quantitative methods in 2002.
In 2002, she also started as an Assistant Professor in Psychology at Seattle University (Seattle, WA) and now is Professor and Chair. She publishes in such engineering journals as ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, the International Journal of Engineering Education, and the Journal of Applied Engineering Science. Her research interests include self and identity, person perception, and educational approaches in psychology, nursing, and STEM/engineering.
Dr. Cook is currently the Co- PI for the NSF Revolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments grant awarded to the Mechanical Engineering department at Seattle University. She is a member of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Society of Engineering Education.
Gregory Mason Seattle University
Teodora Shuman Seattle University
Teodora Rutar Shuman is a Professor and Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Seattle University. She is the PI on the NEF RED grant titled “IUSE/PFE:RED: Revolutionizing Engineering Education through Industry Immersion and a Focus on Identity.” Her research also includes NOx formation in lean-premixed combustion and electro-mechanical systems for sustainable processing of microalgae. Her work is published in venues including the Journal of Engineering Education, IEEE Transactions on Education, International Journal of Engineering Education, Transactions of ASME, Chemical Engineering Journal, Bioresource Technology, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, and Combustion and Flame. She is a member of the ASEE, ASME, and the Algae Biomass Organization. Dr. Shuman served as Chair for the ASEE Energy Conversion and Conservation Division.
She received a Dipl. Ing. degree in mechanical engineering from Belgrade University and an M.S.M.E. and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She has held the title of Paccar Professor and is an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington.
Jennifer Turns University of Washington
Abstract
The Mechanical Engineering Department at a private, mid-sized university was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Revolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments (RED) grant in July 2017 to support the development of a program that fosters students’ engineering identities in a culture of doing engineering with industry engineers. The Department is cultivating this culture of “engineering with engineers” through a strong connection to industry, and through changes in the four essential areas of, a shared department vision, faculty, curriculum and supportive policies.
This paper reports our continued efforts in these four areas and our measurement of their impact. Shared department vision: During the first year of the project, the department worked together to revise its mission to reflect the goal of fostering engineering identity. From this shared vision, the department aims to build a culture to promote inclusive practices. In the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic, this shared vision continued to guide many acts of care and community building for the department.
Faculty: The pandemic prompted faculty to reflect on how they delivered their courses and cared for students. To promote inclusive practice, faculty utilized recorded lectures, online collaboration tools and instant messaging apps to provide multiple ways of communication for students. Although faculty summer immersion had to be postponed due to pandemic, interactions with industry continued in design courses, and via virtual seminars and socials. Efforts were also extended to strengthen connections between the department and recent graduates who just began working in industry and could become mentors for current students.
Curriculum: A new curriculum to support the goals of this project was rolled out in the 2019-20 academic year. The pandemic hit right in the middle of the initial implementation of this new curriculum. Therefore, to maintain the essence of the new curriculum that emphasizes hands-on, doing engineering and experiential learning in the remote setting, many adjustments and modifications were made. Although initial evidence indicates the effectiveness of the new courses/curriculum even under remote teaching and learning, there are also many lessons-learned that can be examined for future implementations and modifications of the curriculum.
Supportive policies: The department agreed to celebrate various acts of care for students and cares for teaching and learning in Annual Performance Reviews. Faculty also worked with other departments, the college, and the university to develop supportive policies beyond the department. For example, based on the recommendation from the department, the college set up a Student Advocate role who would assist students navigate through any incident that make they feel excluded. The new university tenure and promotion guidelines have just been approved with the support from the faculty in the department. Additionally, the department’s effort of building an inclusive culture is aligned with the university initiative for a reform to emphasize anti-racism curriculum.
Details of the action items in each area of change that the department has taken to build this inclusive culture to foster engineering identity are shared in this paper. In addition, research gauging the impact of our efforts are discussed.
This project was funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) IUSE/PFE: RED grant through NSF.
Han, Y., & Cook, K., & Mason, G., & Shuman, T., & Turns, J. (2022, August), Cultivating a Culture to Foster Engineering Identity Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41950
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