GSE/RES: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Effects of First-Year Project Pedagogies on the Retention and Career Plans of Women in Engineering

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Intellectual Merit:This project will examine first-year project pedagogies in engineering in order to identify approaches that enhance the likelihood of women continuing in engineering majors and entering engineering careers. Specifically, the study will investigate the problem-based learning (PBL) model to identify elements of the model most likely to better support the persistence of women in engineering. The PBL model employed in a single-major program will be compared to a more general project-based approach centered on the engineering design process in a course serving multiple engineering disciplines. The proposed project integrates multiple approaches to motivation (the participation-identification model, the expectancy-value model, and self-efficacy theory) and the application of those approaches to a specific pedagogy (problem-based learning) that shows promise for first-year design courses. Each of the motivation frameworks has been shown to be significant in predicting students' choices, effort, persistence, and achievement in schooling, but little is known about how these approaches generalize to women in first-year engineering courses, especially when considered in combination with one another. At the same time, studies of first-year experiences tend to examine curricular impacts broadly, but little rigorous pedagogical research on specific approaches to first-year (cornerstone design) and the effects of those approaches on women. The proposed study bridges these gaps.Broader Impact:There is a growing importance of cornerstone design in engineering, but a distinct lack of research on concrete pedagogical models appropriate for such courses. This project moves beyond the general application of "design projects" to first-year courses to identify how specific, transferable elements of a pedagogical framework such as PBL affect women's beliefs, performance, retention, and career persistence. In doing so, it will provide future engineering faculty with principles of course design and implementation that can have measurable effects on women in first-year engineering programs across the nation. By addressing a widespread curricular phenomenon and moving research into practice through targeted outreach and communication efforts, the project seeks to have a transformative impact on first-year engineering curricula nationwide.