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Eco-STEM: Transforming STEM Education using an Asset-based Ecosystem Model

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Conference

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Publication Date

August 23, 2022

Start Date

June 26, 2022

End Date

June 29, 2022

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42067

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/42067

Download Count

498

Paper Authors

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Gustavo Menezes California State University, Los Angeles

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Nancy Warter-Perez California State University, Los Angeles

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Nancy Warter-Perez is the chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department and a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at California State University, Los Angeles. For more than twenty-five years, Nancy has been dedicated to improving STEM education and outreach, particularly for minoritized students.

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Jianyu Dong California State University, Los Angeles

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Corin Bowen California State University, Los Angeles

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Corin (Corey) Bowen (she/her/hers) is a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles, where she is working on the NSF-funded Eco-STEM project. Her engineering education research focuses on structural oppression in engineering systems, organizing for equitable change, and developing an agenda of Engineering for the Common Good. She conferred her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in April 2021. Her doctoral research included both technical and educational research. She also holds an M.S.E. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and a B.S.E. in civil engineering from Case Western Reserve University, both in the areas of structural engineering and solid mechanics.

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Jose Mijares California State University, Los Angeles

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Silvia Heubach California State University, Los Angeles

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Professor of Mathematics, Cal State LA

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Emily Allen California State University, Los Angeles

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Dr. Emily Allen has served the California State University system for over thirty years as faculty, chair, and administrator on two campuses. As Dean at Cal State Los Angeles she serves a primarily underrepresented minority, first-generation, and low-income student body.
Dr. Allen served ASEE as a reviewer, conference contributor, member of the Engineering Deans Council Executive Board and Chair of the EDC Diversity Committee, where she operationalized the Deans Diversity Recognition Program. She has served ABET as an evaluator and commissioner, chaired the ABET Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, and sits on the SHPE Board of Directors.

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Christina Nazar California State University, Los Angeles

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Lizabeth Thompson California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

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Dr. Lizabeth Thompson is the Director of General Engineering and a professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. She holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, SLO, a MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering and an MBA from University of Southern California, and a PhD in Education from University of California, Santa Barbara. She has been at Cal Poly for nearly 30 years and has held various positions on campus including Co-Director of LAES, Director of Women’s Engineering Programs, and CENG Interim Associate Dean. Although she has taught over 25 different courses she current teaches Financial decision making, First year engineering, Senior project, and Change management. Her research is in Engineering Education where she has received $9.8 million of funding from NSF as either PI or Co-PI. She researches equitable classroom practices, integrated learning, and institutional change. She spent the 2019-2020 academic year at Cal State LA where she taught and collaborated on research related to equity and social justice. With her colleagues at Cal State LA she recently received an NSF grant called Eco-STEM which aims to transform STEM education using an asset-based ecosystem model. She is also a Co-PI on an NSF S-STEM grant called ENGAGE which is working to make a more robust transfer pathway for local Community college students. Dr. Thompson is a Co-PI on an NSF ADVANCE grant called KIND with other universities within the CSU. She is a co-advisor to Engineers without Borders, Critical Global Engagement, and oSTEM at Cal Poly.

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Daniel Galvan California State University, Los Angeles

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Eva Schiorring

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Abstract

A 2019 report from the National Academies on Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) concluded that MSIs need to change their culture to successfully serve students with marginalized racial and/or ethnic identities. The report recommends institutional responsiveness to meet students “where they are,” metaphorically, creating supportive campus environments and providing tailored academic and social support structures. In recent years, the faculty, staff, and administrators at California State University, Los Angeles have made significant efforts to enhance student success through multiple initiatives including a summer bridge program, first-year in engineering program, etc. However, it has become clear that more profound changes are needed to create a culture that meets students “where they are.”

In 2020, we were awarded NSF support for Eco-STEM, an initiative designed to change a system that demands "college-ready" students into one that is "student-ready." Aimed at shifting the deficit mindset prevailing in engineering education, the Eco-STEM project embraces an asset-based ecosystem model that thinks of education as cultivation, and ideas as seeds we are planting, rather than a system of standards and quality checks. This significant paradigm and culture transformation is accomplished through:

1) The Eco-STEM Faculty Fellows’ Community of Practice (CoP), which employs critically reflective dialogue[ ][ ] to enhance the learning environment using asset-based learner-centered instructional approaches; 2) A Leadership CoP with department chairs and program directors that guides cultural change at the department/program level; 3) A Facilitators’ CoP that prepares facilitators to lead, sustain, update, and expand the Faculty and Leadership CoPs; 4) Reform of the teaching evaluation system to sustain the cultural changes.

This paper presents the progress and preliminary findings of the Eco-STEM project. During the first project year, the project team formulated the curriculum for the Faculty CoP with a focus on inclusive pedagogy, community cultural wealth, and community building, developed a classroom peer observation tool to provide formative data for teaching reflection, and designed research inquiry tools. The latter investigates the following research questions:

1) To what extent do the Eco-STEM CoPs effectively shift the mental models of participants from a factory-like model to an ecosystem model of education? 2) To what extent does this shift support an emphasis on the assets of our students, faculty, and staff members and, in turn, allow for enhanced motivation, excellence and success? 3) To what extent do new faculty assessment tools designed to provide feedback that reflects ecosystem-centric principles and values allow for individuals within the system to thrive?

In Fall 2021, the first cohort of Eco-STEM Faculty Fellows were recruited, and rich conversations and in-depth reflections in our CoP meetings indicated Fellows’ positive responses to both the CoP curriculum and facilitation practices. This paper offers a work-in-progress introduction to the

Eco-STEM project, including the Faculty CoP, the classroom peer observation tool, and the proposed research instruments. We hope this work will cultivate broader conversations within the engineering education research community about cultural change in engineering education and methods towards its implementation.

Menezes, G., & Warter-Perez, N., & Dong, J., & Bowen, C., & Mijares, J., & Heubach, S., & Allen, E., & Nazar, C., & Thompson, L., & Galvan, D., & Schiorring, E. (2022, August), Eco-STEM: Transforming STEM Education using an Asset-based Ecosystem Model Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--42067

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