Studying the Formation of Engineers in the Learning Ecologies of Energy Engineering Education and Energy Engineering Practice

Russell Korte; Saniya Leblanc

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Formation and Development of Engineers
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44353
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/44353
Download Count: 99

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Paper Authors

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Russell Korte The George Washington University

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Russell Korte, PhD. studies the social, cultural, and professional systems in organizations and higher education, along with their effects on learning and performance. This work focuses on the professional education and socialization of engineering students, the work of practicing engineers, as well as the preparation of professionals for their future careers.

Dr. Korte is an Associate Professor of Human and Organizational Learning at The George Washington University where he combines his practical experiences of work in education, business, and industry with his research and teaching in professional education, professional practice, and the social foundations of work. He has published on topics ranging from organizational socialization (onboarding), workplace learning, organization studies, social science, and philosophy. He also works on a variety of topics supporting his students’ work on decision-making, the meaning of work, and social connectedness in school and the workplace. Korte received his Ph.D. in Work and Human Resource Education from the University of Minnesota.

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Saniya Leblanc The George Washington University orcid.org/0000-0002-6975-6776

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Saniya LeBlanc is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at The George Washington University. Her research goals are to create next-generation energy conversion technologies with advanced materials and manufacturing techniques. Previously, she was a research scientist at a startup company where she created research, development, and manufacturing characterization solutions for thermoelectric technologies and evaluated the potential of new power generation materials. Dr. LeBlanc also served in Teach for America and taught high school math and physics in Washington, DC. Dr. LeBlanc obtained a PhD in mechanical engineering with a minor in materials science at Stanford University where she was a Diversifying Academia Recruiting Excellence fellow, a Sandia Campus Executive fellow, and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research fellow. She was a Churchill Scholar at University of Cambridge where she received an MPhil in engineering, and she has a BS in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2018, the American Society of Engineering Education named Dr. LeBlanc one of its “20 Under 40 High-achieving Researchers and Educators,” and she received the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2020.

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Abstract

This Research Paper reports on the nature of learning to practice engineering from the perspectives of two institutions that are key contributors to the professional formation of engineers -- education and industry. We consider each one to be a somewhat unique site for learning how to practice engineering. Each site is envisioned as a different kind of learning ecology having its own standards, experiences, and methods for learning and performing engineering. Yet, the two are loosely coupled environments that foster different ways of learning in the development of engineers. We conceptualize these two as opposite sides of the same coin and frame them as a bilateral learning ecosystem.

This work integrates and elaborates two earlier Work-in-Progress papers presented at ASEE 2020 and 2021 – one presented initial findings of the learning experiences of newly hired engineers in an energy company and the second presented the initial findings of the learning experiences of faculty and students in an energy engineering program in a school of engineering. Both were basic qualitative designs using semi-structured interviews and qualitative data analysis. This paper proposes a larger bilateral learning ecosystem to identify the ways the two environments (school and work) relate to each other.

Our ecological perspective builds upon Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory that conceptualized a structure of interrelated systems as concentric circles nested, or networked, one interrelated to another -- from the micro-level of the individual learner to their immediate environments to the macro-levels of socio-cultural institutions. This framework is useful for examining the various learning processes and experiences at multiple levels that make up the formation of professional engineers.

This study indicates the importance of broad interdisciplinary experiences mediating the learning of students in their studies and the importance of high-quality work relationships as a significant mediator of learning in the workplace. In the higher educational ecosystem, faculty and industry representatives provided key experiences for students that challenged the students’ perceptions of engineering and energy. In the business ecosystem, participants elaborated on and sometimes challenged what was learned in school by focusing on the practical and commercial norms of practice in the energy industry.

In further analysis, we have found that the ongoing discourse about the gap between engineering education and practice is more complicated and varied than typically conceived. For some kinds of knowledge and experience the gap is wide, for other kinds it is moderate, and for some it is narrow or non-existent. How students transfer different kinds of knowledge and experience from one ecology to the other is a complex interpretive and developmental process that we present in this paper.

Citation
Format

Korte, R., & Leblanc, S. (2023, June), Studying the Formation of Engineers in the Learning Ecologies of Energy Engineering Education and Energy Engineering Practice Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44353

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This Research Paper reports on the nature of learning to practice engineering from the perspectives of two institutions that are key contributors to the professional formation of engineers -- education and industry. We consider each one to be a somewhat unique site for learning how to practice engineering. Each site is envisioned as a different kind of learning ecology having its own standards, experiences, and methods for learning and performing engineering. Yet, the two are loosely coupled environments that foster different ways of learning in the development of engineers. We conceptualize these two as opposite sides of the same coin and frame them as a bilateral learning ecosystem. 

This work integrates and elaborates two earlier Work-in-Progress papers presented at ASEE 2020 and 2021 – one presented initial findings of the learning experiences of newly hired engineers in an energy company and the second presented the initial findings of the learning experiences of faculty and students in an energy engineering program in a school of engineering. Both were basic qualitative designs using semi-structured interviews and qualitative data analysis. This paper proposes a larger bilateral learning ecosystem to identify the ways the two environments (school and work) relate to each other. 

Our ecological perspective builds upon Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory that conceptualized a structure of interrelated systems as concentric circles nested, or networked, one interrelated to another -- from the micro-level of the individual learner to their immediate environments to the macro-levels of socio-cultural institutions. This framework is useful for examining the various learning processes and experiences at multiple levels that make up the formation of professional engineers. 

This study indicates the importance of broad interdisciplinary experiences mediating the learning of students in their studies and the importance of high-quality work relationships as a significant mediator of learning in the workplace. In the higher educational ecosystem, faculty and industry representatives provided key experiences for students that challenged the students’ perceptions of engineering and energy. In the business ecosystem, participants elaborated on and sometimes challenged what was learned in school by focusing on the practical and commercial norms of practice in the energy industry. 

In further analysis, we have found that the ongoing discourse about the gap between engineering education and practice is more complicated and varied than typically conceived. For some kinds of knowledge and experience the gap is wide, for other kinds it is moderate, and for some it is narrow or non-existent. How students transfer different kinds of knowledge and experience from one ecology to the other is a complex interpretive and developmental process that we present in this paper. 

AU  - Russell Korte
AU  - Saniya Leblanc
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Studying the Formation of Engineers in the Learning Ecologies of Energy Engineering Education and Energy Engineering Practice
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/44353
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--44353
ER  -