From Good Pedagogy to Racial Equity: Experimenting with what works in Engineering Classrooms

Atota Halkiyo; Stephen Secules

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Faculty Development: Broad Impact
Tagged Division: Faculty Development Division (FDD)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 17
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56609

Paper Authors

biography

Atota Halkiyo Florida International University

visit author page

Dr. Halkiyo is a Postdoctoral Associate at the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education at Florida International University. Dr. Halkiyo graduated in Education Policy and Evaluation from Arizona State University and uses mixed methods but largely qualitative inquiry to study his primary research interest: enhancing higher education equity for all students, particularly those from international and/or underrepresented backgrounds (e.g., women and/or Black students in engineering). He envisions researching and removing possible systemic learning barriers from the curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and learning environment to make education more responsive to all learners. Halkiyo taught and worked at a university in Ethiopia, where he was also a principal investigator of the “Engendering Higher Education Curricula” research project. Dr. Halkiyo is a Fulbright-Hays Fellow, where he conducted his dissertation research on global education policy transfer from the global West/North to the global South/East, specifically Ethiopia, Africa.

visit author page

biography

Stephen Secules Florida International University orcid.org/0000-0002-3149-2306

visit author page

Dr. Stephen Secules is an Assistant Professor in the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education at Florida International University. Secules holds a joint appointment in the STEM Transformation Institute and a secondary appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. He has bachelor degrees in engineering from Dartmouth College, a master’s in Architectural Acoustics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a PhD in Education (Curriculum and Instruction) from the University of Maryland. Prior to his academic career, Stephen was an acoustical consultant for 5 years in both London, UK and Silicon Valley, CA. His research has focused on culture and equity in engineering education, particularly undergraduate contexts, pedagogy, and student support. Through his work he aims to use critical qualitative, video-based, participatory, and ethnographic methods to look at everyday educational settings in engineering and shift them towards equity and inclusion. He also leads the Equity Research Group where he mentors graduate and undergraduate students in pursuing critical and action-oriented research.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

This research presents insights from the collaborative ethnographic faculty-engaged research study of three engineering faculty members who strive to incorporate racially-equitable pedagogy into their teaching. The issue of race-based disparities in higher education, particularly in engineering, is a pressing concern in the United States. Many faculty developers are actively seeking ways to bridge this gap and foster racial equity, including workshops for culturally responsive pedagogy. Faculty development workshops and seminars are inherently constrained by limited time, limited connection to and responsiveness to each faculty’s context, and limited ability to explore effective interventions. This paper presents insights from a semester-long collaborative classroom ethnography that embedded in specific faculty classrooms and allowed for exploration of what worked to help them learn.

This paper draws on a broader project with multiple data sources including an embedded classroom ethnography, student survey responses, faculty weekly reflective meetings, and faculty pre-post interviews; we used the project as an intervention to guide engineering faculty in transforming their pedagogy and creating racially-equitable learning environments. Our three faculty participants exhibited varying degrees of engagement with good pedagogy, each with corresponding implications for racial equity. In this paper we reflect on the insights we can draw from iteratively experimenting with that intervention. In reflecting on the project, we draw on a few conceptual frameworks, including good pedagogy (e.g., Ladson-Billing's 1995 "good teaching"), learner-oriented pedagogies, equity pedagogy, dimensions of classroom practice, and pragmatism.

Our two key arguments are (1) Good pedagogy can pave the way for equity, including racial equity, and (2) An improvement in general pedagogy and efforts to improve racially-equitable pedagogy can happen concomitantly. While good pedagogy may not guarantee (racial) equity, bad pedagogy is more likely to perpetuate (racial) inequity. Effective pedagogy involves all students, including marginalized and students of color, and prioritizes “how much [all] students learn.” On the other hand, ineffective pedagogy tends to cater to privileged and academically-prepared students. We saw that when faculty members actively engage in good pedagogy that encourages student participation, e.g., even utilizing simple active learning techniques like "think-pair-share" (as seen with Faculty 1) and involving students in class activities (as a group and as individuals, as demonstrated by Faculty 2), they are more likely to promote racially-equitable pedagogy compared to those who rely on traditional slides and lecturing only. In addition, we consider the ways that faculty seniority, years of pedagogical experience, identity / positionality, and classroom context can influence the faculty learning trajectory and most likely strategy for promoting equity.

Therefore, to foster the transformation of engineering faculty and their classrooms towards racially-equitable, we advocate for simultaneous exposure of general and racially-equitable pedagogies or the initial emphasis on a good pedagogy. We recognize the complexity of learning and embrace multiple, subjective, and simultaneous pathways for improvement, and we note the challenge this may present for faculty developers who need to make workshop structures that fit larger populations. Thus, we advocate and call for simultaneous exposure (understanding good pedagogy while also engaging in praxis on racial equity), while noting that for some professors’ lessons on pedagogy will still come before a full understanding of racially equitable pedagogy.

Citation
Format

Halkiyo, A., & Secules, S. (2025, June), From Good Pedagogy to Racial Equity: Experimenting with what works in Engineering Classrooms Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56609

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This research presents insights from the collaborative ethnographic faculty-engaged research study of three engineering faculty members who strive to incorporate racially-equitable pedagogy into their teaching. The issue of race-based disparities in higher education, particularly in engineering, is a pressing concern in the United States. Many faculty developers are actively seeking ways to bridge this gap and foster racial equity, including workshops for culturally responsive pedagogy. Faculty development workshops and seminars are inherently constrained by limited time, limited connection to and responsiveness to each faculty’s context, and limited ability to explore effective interventions. This paper presents insights from a semester-long collaborative classroom ethnography that embedded in specific faculty classrooms and allowed for exploration of what worked to help them learn.  

This paper draws on a broader project with multiple data sources including an embedded classroom ethnography, student survey responses, faculty weekly reflective meetings, and faculty pre-post interviews; we used the project as an intervention to guide engineering faculty in transforming their pedagogy and creating racially-equitable learning environments. Our three faculty participants exhibited varying degrees of engagement with good pedagogy, each with corresponding implications for racial equity. In this paper we reflect on the insights we can draw from iteratively experimenting with that intervention. In reflecting on the project, we draw on a few conceptual frameworks, including good pedagogy (e.g., Ladson-Billing&#39;s 1995 &quot;good teaching&quot;), learner-oriented pedagogies, equity pedagogy, dimensions of classroom practice, and pragmatism.  

Our two key arguments are (1) Good pedagogy can pave the way for equity, including racial equity, and (2) An improvement in general pedagogy and efforts to improve racially-equitable pedagogy can happen concomitantly. While good pedagogy may not guarantee (racial) equity, bad pedagogy is more likely to perpetuate (racial) inequity. Effective pedagogy involves all students, including marginalized and students of color, and prioritizes “how much [all] students learn.” On the other hand, ineffective pedagogy tends to cater to privileged and academically-prepared students. We saw that when faculty members actively engage in good pedagogy that encourages student participation, e.g., even utilizing simple active learning techniques like &quot;think-pair-share&quot; (as seen with Faculty 1) and involving students in class activities (as a group and as individuals, as demonstrated by Faculty 2), they are more likely to promote racially-equitable pedagogy compared to those who rely on traditional  slides and lecturing only. In addition, we consider the ways that faculty seniority, years of pedagogical experience, identity / positionality, and classroom context can influence the faculty learning trajectory and most likely strategy for promoting equity. 

Therefore, to foster the transformation of engineering faculty and their classrooms towards racially-equitable, we advocate for simultaneous exposure of general and racially-equitable pedagogies or the initial emphasis on a good pedagogy. We recognize the complexity of learning and embrace multiple, subjective, and simultaneous pathways for improvement, and we note the challenge this may present for faculty developers who need to make workshop structures that fit larger populations. Thus, we advocate and call for simultaneous exposure (understanding good pedagogy while also engaging in praxis on racial equity), while noting that for some professors’ lessons on pedagogy will still come before a full understanding of racially equitable pedagogy. 
AU  - Atota Halkiyo
AU  - Stephen Secules
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - From Good Pedagogy to Racial Equity: Experimenting with what works in Engineering Classrooms 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/56609
ER  -