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Computational Thinking in the Formation of Engineers: Year 2

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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

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

7

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42083

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/42083

Download Count

298

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Paper Authors

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Noemi Mendoza Diaz Texas A&M University

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Dr. Mendoza is a faculty member of Technology Management in the College of Education-Engineering at Texas A&M University. She has worked as electrical engineering professor in Mexico. She recently obtained funds from NSF to investigate enculturation to engineering and computational thinking in engineering students. She is the co-advisor of the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers at TAMU and is interested in computing engineering education and Latinx engineering entrepreneurship.

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Russell Meier Milwaukee School of Engineering

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Dr. Russ Meier teaches computer architecture at Milwaukee School of Engineering. His funded research explores how first year students develop computational thinking. He received the Iowa State University Teaching Excellence Award, the Iowa State University Warren B. Boast Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence, and the MSOE Oscar Werwath Distinguished Teacher Award.

He belongs to IEEE and its HKN, Computer and Education Societies, as well as the American Society for Engineering Education and its Electrical and Computer Engineering, Educational Research and Methods, and First Year Programs divisions. In these groups, he helps deliver engineering education conferences, webinars, and certificate programs. He leads teams accrediting engineering degrees as an Engineering Area Commissioner in ABET.

IEEE elevated him to Fellow for contributions to global online engineering education. And, the International Society for Engineering Education bestowed International Engineering Educator Honoris Causa for outstanding contributions in engineering education.

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Deborah Trytten University of Oklahoma

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Dr. Deborah A. Trytten is a Professor of Computer Science and Womens' and Gender Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Her main research focus is diversity in engineering education and introductory software engineering education.

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Mark Weichold Texas A&M University

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Janie Moore Texas A&M University

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Abstract

This poster presentation reports the results during the second year of the “Collaborative Research Project: Research in Improving Computational Thinking in the Formation of Engineers, a Multi-Institutional Initiative.” During this year, the validation of the ECTD, as a mechanism to assess entry level computational thinking skills as one factor, has been completed. The progress also includes 27 interviews done with 3 cohorts of students that shared similar social identities in one institution (e.g. race/ethnicity, gender, first generation/gifted classification, decrease in level of confidence) to explore aspects in the first year experience that might affect the decision to be an engineer. The interviews were done with students that reported different levels of stress given position-of-stress questions added to the ECTD and later asked in the semester (at a different point of stress). These interviews revealed privilege of those with prior computing training or experience. For the next year of this project, the research team expects to expand to mixed-method data collection for all three institutions in the collaborative and to continue gathering longitudinal data. The results are expected to inform current first-year engineering programs and impact curriculum, enculturation of engineers, and increase participation. The research team expects these results will improve the preparation of an inclusive community of diverse engineers.

Mendoza Diaz, N., & Meier, R., & Trytten, D., & Weichold, M., & Moore, J. (2022, August), Computational Thinking in the Formation of Engineers: Year 2 Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--42083

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