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WIP Developing Learning Objectives for an “Equity-Centered” Undergraduate Engineering Program

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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

Understanding Inclusivity and Equity in STEM Contexts: Equity, Culture & Social Justice in Education Division Technical Session 7

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--41777

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/41777

Download Count

438

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Paper Authors

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Grenmarie Agresar University of Michigan

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Grenmarie Agresar is assistant director at the Center for Research on Teaching and Learning in Engineering at the University of Michigan. She earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and Scientific Computation from the University of Michigan in 1996, and a M.A. in Education in 2009. She has taught secondary courses in engineering principles, physics, and computer science, as well as a postdoctoral course in STEM college teaching. Her interests include curricular design across modalities, project-based learning, and mastery grading in engineering education.

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biography

John Callewaert University of Michigan

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John Callewaert is Director of Strategic Projects in the Office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate
Education, College of Engineering, and a Research Investigator with the Institute for Social Research at University of Michigan. He previously served as a program director with the University of Michigan’s Graham Sustainability Institute, Director of the University of Michigan-Flint’s Office of Research, and the Director of the Institute for Community and Environment at Colby-Sawyer College. He completed doctoral study in Resource, Policy and Behavior at the University of Michigan. His undergraduate degree is in Agricultural Engineering Technology from Michigan State University.

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Steve Skerlos University of Michigan

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Joanna Millunchick University of Michigan

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Abstract

The College of Engineering at the University of Michigan is developing a program for undergraduate students to learn diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice (DEIJ) as foundational elements of engineering context, in other words to learn “equity-centered engineering.” This paper presents a set of learning objectives that has been developed to guide the content, delivery and assessment of this DEIJ program. The objectives aim to convey an alignment of DEIJ goals with high functioning engineering education, analysis, design, and practice; as opposed to a set of social considerations overlapping with, yet separate from, core engineering activities. Hence, the iterative developmental process of these objectives has been informed by engineering practitioners, DEIJ practitioners, pedagogy, interdisciplinary literature, and socially engaged approaches. The resulting learning objectives are organized into the following three categories: 1) Individual Responsibilities (Looking Inward): Commit to a process of lifelong learning that will help you contribute uniquely and equitably to any engineering problem. 2) Professional Responsibilities (Looking Outward): Embrace the engineers’ responsibility to behave professionally as global, equity-centered citizens. 3) Engineering in Context (Looking at History to Understand the Present and Forge the Future): Contextualize engineering developments in history, and visualize ways in which engineering can help create a more just, equitable and inclusive society. The aim is for the objectives to be framed within an engineering context, be pedagogically sound, and be asset-framing for a variety of identities. In this work-in-progress paper, we will present the learning objectives, some of the history of their development, as well as how they connect to social justice and critical pedagogies. Our goal with this effort is to engage in dialogue and receive feedback from the community on the developed and evolving learning objectives.

Agresar, G., & Callewaert, J., & Skerlos, S., & Millunchick, J. (2022, August), WIP Developing Learning Objectives for an “Equity-Centered” Undergraduate Engineering Program Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41777

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