Leveraging the CARE Methodology to Enhance Pedagogical and Institutional Support for Blind or Low-Vision (BLV) Learners in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)

Aya Mouallem; Trisha Kulkarni; Sheri D. Sheppard

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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: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Innovative Strategies for Enhancing Engineering Education Across Diverse Learning Environments
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47746

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Paper Authors

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Aya Mouallem Stanford University orcid.org/0000-0001-9360-9971

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Aya Mouallem (she/her) is a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering, minoring in Education, at Stanford University. She received a BEng in Computer and Communications Engineering from the American University of Beirut. Aya is a graduate research assistant with the Designing Education Lab at Stanford, led by Professor Sheri Sheppard, and her research explores the accessibility of introductory engineering education to learners with disabilities. She is supported by the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship and the RAISE Doctoral Fellowship.

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Trisha Kulkarni Stanford University

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Sheri D. Sheppard Stanford University

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Sheri D. Sheppard teaches both undergraduate and graduate design-related classes, conducts research on fracture mechanics and finite element analysis, and on how people become engineers. From 1999 to 2008, she was a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, leading its engineering study. Sheppard has contributed to significant educational projects, including the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education and the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter). Her industry experience spans Detroit’s Big Three: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. At Stanford, she has served as faculty senate chair, associate vice provost for graduate education, founder of and adviser to MEwomen, and leads the Designing Education Lab (DEL), which aims to revolutionize engineering education. Her achievements have earned her numerous honors, such as Stanford’s Walter J. Gores Award and the American Society for Engineering Education’s Chester F. Carlson and Ralph Coats Roe Awards. She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan.

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Abstract

There is a growing, yet relatively limited body of research exploring the experiences of learners with disabilities in introductory electrical and computer engineering (ECE) education. With the proven importance of introductory ECE education in influencing students’ undergraduate interests and future career prospects in technology, the inaccessibility of the field to learners with disabilities poses an inequitable access barrier that further marginalizes these learners, often preventing them from exploring the field in the first place. In particular, as ECE largely relies on visual cues for designing, building, testing, and debugging hardware systems, ECE education is significantly inaccessible to learners who are blind or have low vision (BLV). Thus, it is imperative that we assess and evaluate any accounts of blind ECE learners to critically redesign ECE pedagogy to meet their preferences and needs and prioritize their inclusion. The Challenging and Rewarding Experiences (CARE) methodology is a recent framework that promotes an in-depth assessment of student-centric perspectives on ECE course offerings, with the intention of informing instructors of necessary change to be introduced to the course offerings to improve students’ experiences and align their expectations with the planned course objectives. In this paper, we apply the CARE methodology to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the autoethnographic account of the first blind student to complete the introductory ECE course at our institution, Stanford University. This work also expands the role of the blind student to become a co-researcher, actively guiding the direction of this work while receiving mentorship from research team members on qualitative research methods.

In this work, we begin with the analysis of seven reflection journal entries written by the blind student and relevant discussion session notes recorded by the lead researcher. These data were generated and collected via the autoethnography method and analyzed by applying the CARE methodology, using a grounded theory approach, during which we completed open and focused coding. We then identify intersecting Challenging And Rewarding Experiences (CARE) areas that the blind learner faced in the introductory ECE course. Next, we compare these CARE areas to those that emerged from studying a group of 42 sighted students taking the same course with the same resources, as published in prior work. This comparison leads us to identify a new, fourth lens for the CARE methodology– namely, inequitable challenges, faced by the blind learner due to the inherent ableism of ECE education and the inaccessibility of its available resources (this is in addition to the original three lenses of the methodology: rewarding experiences, unproductive struggle, and healthy challenges). Consequently, based on the newly identified CARE lens in this work, we propose a preliminary list of good practices for inclusive institutional and pedagogical support for BLV learners pursuing introductory ECE education. We also believe that the CARE methodology can be used to amplify the voices of other ECE students with different disabilities to inform systemic change for inclusive ECE education.

Citation
Format

Mouallem, A., & Kulkarni, T., & Sheppard, S. D. (2024, June), Leveraging the CARE Methodology to Enhance Pedagogical and Institutional Support for Blind or Low-Vision (BLV) Learners in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47746

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - There is a growing, yet relatively limited body of research exploring the experiences of learners with disabilities in introductory electrical and computer engineering (ECE) education. With the proven importance of introductory ECE education in influencing students’ undergraduate interests and future career prospects in technology, the inaccessibility of the field to learners with disabilities poses an inequitable access barrier that further marginalizes these learners, often preventing them from exploring the field in the first place. In particular, as ECE largely relies on visual cues for designing, building, testing, and debugging hardware systems, ECE education is significantly inaccessible to learners who are blind or have low vision (BLV). Thus, it is imperative that we assess and evaluate any accounts of blind ECE learners to critically redesign ECE pedagogy to meet their preferences and needs and prioritize their inclusion. The Challenging and Rewarding Experiences (CARE) methodology is a recent framework that promotes an in-depth assessment of student-centric perspectives on ECE course offerings, with the intention of informing instructors of necessary change to be introduced to the course offerings to improve students’ experiences and align their expectations with the planned course objectives. In this paper, we apply the CARE methodology to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the autoethnographic account of the first blind student to complete the introductory ECE course at our institution, Stanford University. This work also expands the role of the blind student to become a co-researcher, actively guiding the direction of this work while receiving mentorship from research team members on qualitative research methods.

In this work, we begin with the analysis of seven reflection journal entries written by the blind student and relevant discussion session notes recorded by the lead researcher. These data were generated and collected via the autoethnography method and analyzed by applying the CARE methodology, using a grounded theory approach, during which we completed open and focused coding. We then identify intersecting Challenging And Rewarding Experiences (CARE) areas that the blind learner faced in the introductory ECE course. Next, we compare these CARE areas to those that emerged from studying a group of 42 sighted students taking the same course with the same resources, as published in prior work. This comparison leads us to identify a new, fourth lens for the CARE methodology– namely, inequitable challenges, faced by the blind learner due to the inherent ableism of ECE education and the inaccessibility of its available resources (this is in addition to the original three lenses of the methodology: rewarding experiences, unproductive struggle, and healthy challenges). Consequently, based on the newly identified CARE lens in this work, we propose a preliminary list of good practices for inclusive institutional and pedagogical support for BLV learners pursuing introductory ECE education. We also believe that the CARE methodology can be used to amplify the voices of other ECE students with different disabilities to inform systemic change for inclusive ECE education.
AU  - Aya Mouallem
AU  - Trisha Kulkarni
AU  - Sheri D. Sheppard
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Leveraging the CARE Methodology to Enhance Pedagogical and Institutional Support for Blind or Low-Vision (BLV) Learners in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47746
ER  -