Praxis in Preventing Depression through Classroom Activity by Prioritizing Authentic Interaction: A Theory of Change

David Bruce

Download Paper | Permalink

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: LEES 3: Assessing/Addressing Mental Health
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--41528
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/41528
Download Count: 294

Paper Authors

biography

David Bruce University of Ottawa

visit author page

Professor David Bruce has a multidisciplinary engineering background with extensive experience in clean energy technologies, in particular fuel cells and energy storage. From a technological standpoint Dr. Bruce believes that many of the environmental challenges facing society stem not from a technological constraint but from a gap in societal penetration.

Assessing how technology integrates with society and asking questions about how people are intrinsically motivated forms his foundation for examining how engineering education is evolving. As a practicing artist Dr. Bruce is looking to incorporate methodologies used in the arts to explore engineering education.

Providing questions that are open-ended without answers can be difficult for engineers to comprehend. Exploring engineering through STEAM-based approaches it is possible to approach these questions from a different light. Dr. Bruce's research aims to examine the multiple perspectives offered by the arts in shaping how we understand and interpret an engineer's service to society.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Depression among students studying for professional degrees such as engineering is an underassessed element of our society. Assessing the degree and dichotomy of depression may be difficult for educators to describe due to lack of background in this area and as such will not be the focus of the present study. What we can enable however, is to provide opportunities for enhancing the social network of our programming, to build community, and to allow students to find focal points to enrich their sense of belonging. The study will focus on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and propose revolution in our programming in order to explore how if we open the classroom up to social interaction on difficult topics, we can promote internalized individual reflection of social behaviors.

Authenticity in relationships and loneliness play a large factor in depression. In this study an inventory of teaching practices and scholastic activities are reviewed and reflected upon, with suggestions regarding activities that could enhance genuine social connectivity in our student bodies. Through the analysis of where our practice is lacking regarding situating how people find their identity in engineering, we can begin to design for prevention rather than try to further analyze the disease called depression. The main analysis examines how classroom activities are associated to and can address an inventory of authenticity in our curriculum. A follow-up study describes application of an authenticity inventory for students in a 1st year undergraduate engineering course on sustainability, and measures self-awareness, biases in processing, behavior, and relationship orientation. The survey is built into a module examining how human systems are also complex sustainable systems in themselves, allowing for metacognition of psychosocial sustainable practice in our students.

This article will present an analysis of strategies developed for building community within curricular programming, while the presentation will be designed to foster reflection from shared experiences from the audience to formulate immediate community action. By making space in our annual meeting to talk about our shared experiences with depression in our communities it is hoped that we can start to break the stigma of discomfort around this sensitive topic.

Citation
Format

Bruce, D. (2022, August), Praxis in Preventing Depression through Classroom Activity by Prioritizing Authentic Interaction: A Theory of Change Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41528

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Depression among students studying for professional degrees such as engineering is an underassessed element of our society. Assessing the degree and dichotomy of depression may be difficult for educators to describe due to lack of background in this area and as such will not be the focus of the present study. What we can enable however, is to provide opportunities for enhancing the social network of our programming, to build community, and to allow students to find focal points to enrich their sense of belonging. The study will focus on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and propose revolution in our programming in order to explore how if we open the classroom up to social interaction on difficult topics, we can promote internalized individual reflection of social behaviors.

Authenticity in relationships and loneliness play a large factor in depression. In this study an inventory of teaching practices and scholastic activities are reviewed and reflected upon, with suggestions regarding activities that could enhance genuine social connectivity in our student bodies. Through the analysis of where our practice is lacking regarding situating how people find their identity in engineering, we can begin to design for prevention rather than try to further analyze the disease called depression. The main analysis examines how classroom activities are associated to and can address an inventory of authenticity in our curriculum. A follow-up study describes application of an authenticity inventory for students in a 1st year undergraduate engineering course on sustainability, and measures self-awareness, biases in processing, behavior, and relationship orientation. The survey is built into a module examining how human systems are also complex sustainable systems in themselves, allowing for metacognition of psychosocial sustainable practice in our students.

This article will present an analysis of strategies developed for building community within curricular programming, while the presentation will be designed to foster reflection from shared experiences from the audience to formulate immediate community action. By making space in our annual meeting to talk about our shared experiences with depression in our communities it is hoped that we can start to break the stigma of discomfort around this sensitive topic.
AU  - David Bruce
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Praxis in Preventing Depression through Classroom Activity by Prioritizing Authentic Interaction: A Theory of Change
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41528
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41528
ER  -