Board 55: Engineering with Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Education through Industry Immersion and a Focus on Identity
- Conference
- Location
-
Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
-
June 23, 2018
- Start Date
-
June 23, 2018
- End Date
-
July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topics
-
Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
-
10
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--30058
- Permanent URL
-
https://strategy.asee.org/30058
- Download Count
-
518
Paper Authors
Yen-Lin Han Seattle University
Yen-Lin Han is an Assistant Professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Seattle University. Her research interests include micro-scale molecular gas dynamics, micro fluidics, and heat transfer applications in MEMS and medical devices as well as autonomous vehicles and robotics. She also holds the patent for the continuous trace gas separator and a provisional patent for the dynamic tumor ablation probe. She is passionate about Engineering Education and is experienced in developing inverted classroom lectures and facilitating students' learning through authentic engineering problems. She is currently the Co- PI for the NSF Revolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments grant awarded to the Mechanical Engineering department at Seattle University to study how the department culture changes can foster students' engineering identity. Dr. Han received her BS degree in Material Science and Engineering from National Tsing-Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan, her PhD degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. She is a member of American Society of Engineering Education, American Society of Mechanical Engineering and American Educational Research Association.
Kathleen E. Cook Seattle University
Kathleen Cook, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Seattle University. Dr. Cook received her doctorate in Social and Personality Psychology from the University of Washington, with a minor in quantitative methods and emphases in cognitive and educational psychology. Her research has included classroom learning, person perception, health perceptions, and jury decision making.
Teodora Rutar Shuman Seattle University
Professor Teodora Rutar Shuman is the Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Seattle University. She is an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington. She is the PI on a NSF-RED grant. Her research also includes NOx formation in lean-premixed combustion and electro-mechanical systems for sustainable processing of microalgae. Her work is published in venues including the Journal of Engineering Education, IEEE Transactions on Education, Bioresource Technology, Chemical Engineering Journal, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, and Combustion and Flame. She is a member of the American Society of Engineering Education and the Algae Biomass Organization. Dr. Shuman recently served as Chair for the ASEE Energy Conversion and Conservation Division.
She received a Dipl.Ing. degree in mechanical engineering from Belgrade University in 1992, an M.S.M.E. from the University of Washington in 1994 and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2000.
Gregory Mason P.E. Seattle University
Gregory S. Mason was born and raised in Spokane Washington. He received the B.S.M.E. degree from Gonzaga University in 1983, the M.S.M.E. degree in manufacturing automation from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1984 and the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in multi-rate digital controls, from the University of Washington in 1992.
He worked in a robotics lab for the Department of Defense for five years after receiving his M.S.M.E. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seattle University, Seattle, WA. His research interests are controls system and the use of technology to enhance engineering education.
Dr. Mason is a member of the American Society of Engineering Education and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He is a licensed professional engineer.
Jennifer A. Turns University of Washington
Jennifer Turns is a Professor in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington. She is interested in all aspects of engineering education, including how to support engineering students in reflecting on experience, how to help engineering educators make effective teaching decisions, and the application of ideas from complexity science to the challenges of engineering education.
Abstract
Identity influences who people think they are, what they think they can do and be, and where and with whom they think they belong. In education, identity is a determining factor in one pursuing, persisting, and persevering in a field. In engineering, it has been shown to be an important factor in attracting and retaining underrepresented minorities. Identity development is a social process realized through culture -- through the interactions of students, faculty, and industry, through participation in engineering-related activities, and through reinforcement of shared similarities. This goal of this project is to develop a mechanical engineering program where students and faculty are immersed in a culture of doing engineering with industry engineers that in turn fosters an identity of being an engineer. Cultivating a culture of doing engineering can result in graduates who not only are prepared technically and professionally with a practical, realistic understanding of what it is to be an engineer, but also who identify with and are committed to the engineering profession.
This culture of “engineering with engineers” is created through changes in four areas: a shared department vision, faculty, curriculum, and supportive policies. In each, a variety of actions create the cultural change, address barriers to change, and ensure sustainability. A cross-cutting theme unifying these changes is a significant connection to industry. Some of the changes include faculty immersion in industry, makeathons that connect industry professionals with students, and changes in how the department prioritizes teaching, student research, industry connections, and faculty mentoring.
During this project, changes to the program and to student and faculty identities are monitored through interviews, surveys, and many other tools. Results of the study will lead to a clearer understanding of the changes that promote engineering identities, particularly in women, and how such identities affect students’ sense of belonging in a program and their persistence in the major. The study will also lead to a better understanding of the factors that influence faculty identity, and how these richer identities affect how they view their roles and their students.
More importantly, understanding how identities affect students' engagement, performance, and persistence could transform how we teach STEM in K-16. Such knowledge will allow educators to target activities that produce the strongest effect on identity and be mindful of those that negatively impact identity. Finally, a focus on identity encourages reflection and a larger discussion about how students see themselves, their education, and their profession, and how these views uniquely affect underrepresented or marginalized students. This conversation can lead to a better understanding of how best to create an inclusive educational system.
This project was funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) IUSE/PFE: RED grant through NSF.
Han, Y., & Cook, K. E., & Shuman, T. R., & Mason, G., & Turns, J. A. (2018, June), Board 55: Engineering with Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Education through Industry Immersion and a Focus on Identity Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30058
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2018 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015