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Walking Between Two Worlds: Creating a Framework for Conducting Culturally-Responsive Research with University Indigenous Communities

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Conference

2023 Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD)

Location

New Orleans , Louisiana

Publication Date

February 26, 2023

Start Date

February 26, 2023

End Date

February 28, 2023

Conference Session

Session 10 - Track 1: Walking Between Two Worlds: Creating a Framework for Conducting Culturally-Responsive Research with University Indigenous Communities

Tagged Topics

Diversity and CoNECD Paper Sessions

Page Count

31

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44813

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/44813

Download Count

235

Paper Authors

biography

Qualla Jo Ketchum Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Qualla Jo Ketchum (she/her/they) is a PhD Candidate in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. She received her Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Biosystems Engineering at Oklahoma State University. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and her Indigeneity impacts all she does from her technical research in water resources to her pedagogical practices and educational research around identity, indigenizing engineering practice and teaching, and the structural issues impacting Indigenous engineers. She currently lives and works on the present and ancestral Homeland and unceded territory of the Wiyot Tribe in Humboldt County, California.

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Marie C. Paretti Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-2202-6928

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Marie C. Paretti is a Professor of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, where she directs the Virginia Tech Engineering Communications Center (VTECC). Her research focuses on communication, collaboration, and identity in engineering.

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Homero Murzi Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-3849-2947

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Dr. Homero Murzi (he/él/his) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech with honorary appointments at the University of Queensland (Australia) and the University of Los Andes (Venezuela). Homero is the leader of the Engineering Competencies, Learning, and Inclusive Practices for Success (ECLIPS) Lab, where he leads a team focused on doing research on contemporary, culturally relevant, and inclusive pedagogical practices, emotions in engineering, competency development, and understanding the experiences of traditionally marginalized engineering students (e.g., Latinx, international students, Indigenous students) from an asset-based perspective. Homero’s goal is to develop engineering education practices that value the capital that traditionally marginalized students bring into the field and to train graduate students and faculty members with the tools to promote effective and inclusive learning environments and mentorship practices. Homero aspires to change discourses around broadening participation in engineering and promoting action to change. Homero has been recognized as a Diggs Teaching Scholar, a Graduate Academy for Teaching Excellence Fellow, a Global Perspectives Fellow, a Diversity Scholar, a Fulbright Scholar, a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, and was inducted into the Bouchet Honor Society. Homero serves as the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Chair for the Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (CDEI), the Program Chair for the ASEE Faculty Development Division, and the Vice Chair for the Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN). He holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (BS, MS) from the National Experimental University of Táchira, Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Temple University, and Engineering Education (PhD) from Virginia Tech.

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Jennifer Lyn Benning Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Dr. Jennifer Benning is an Instructor in the Engineering Education Department at Virginia Tech.

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Donna Westfall-Rudd

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Abstract

Title: Walking Between Two Worlds: Creating a Framework for Conducting Research with University Indigenous Communities Keywords: Race/Ethnicity; Identity; Cross-Cultural Research; Engineering Abstract: Although the National Academy of Engineering has recognized the need for the perspectives of Indigenous people in the engineering profession (NAE, 2006), Indigenous students in the United States continue to be one of the most underrepresented and minoritized groups in engineering. While Native Americans make up 1.2% of the country’s population, only 397 or 0.3% of engineering bachelor’s degrees were awarded to Native Americans in 2020 and only 1,587 Native Americans were even enrolled in engineering undergraduate programs out of over 600,000 total students (ASEE, 2021). Because of these numbers, the limited research exploring Indigenous people in engineering mostly focuses on the recruitment and retention of Indigenous engineering students. However, most of this research focuses on individual-level experiences and fails to address the unique systemic issues impacting this population. The authors have worked to create a methodology that bridges this gap by connecting the individual student story to the systemic structures that impact their experience, in a way that honors and amplifies Indigenous ways of thinking and doing. The study utilized Indigenous narrative methods to explore how colonialism and the structures of non-Native institutions and engineering programs impact the lived experiences of Indigenous engineering students. The framework can be illustrated using the traditional engineering design of wattle and daub structures that were commonly used for homes in Mississippian cultures in North America. This technique builds a wattle frame by weaving thin branches between upright stakes. In this research design, the horizontal rungs represent the theoretical framework utilized as the underlying support for the entire study. The vertical stakes represent the research questions being explored in the study. The daub for the structure is typically a mud-like mixture of binders and aggregates. Applying the daub to the wattle represents the data collection methods in the study as providing structure for the wall. This framework utilizes three primary forms of data: document analysis of university and program policies and structures, discussions with the university “Council of Elders” in the Indigenous community that were a combination of a western focus group methodology and an Indigenous talking circle, and individual conversations/interviews with Indigenous engineering students. Analyzing the collected data is represented by smoothing the applied daub on the wall. This framework demonstrates how to work with Indigenous communities, particularly a university Indigenous community, in a way that is reciprocal and mindful of Indigenous methods within the western structures of academia. In this presentation, we will describe each section of the methodology, the lessons learned throughout the process, and recommendations for future use of this framework in other contexts. The presentation will also highlight the personal reflections of the Indigenous scholar bridging this gap between western academia and traditional Indigenous knowledge herself as a researcher and student walking within the two worlds.

Ketchum, Q. J., & Paretti, M. C., & Murzi, H., & Benning, J. L., & Westfall-Rudd, D. (2023, February), Walking Between Two Worlds: Creating a Framework for Conducting Culturally-Responsive Research with University Indigenous Communities Paper presented at 2023 Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD), New Orleans , Louisiana. 10.18260/1-2--44813

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