Invisible Innovators: How the knowledge and experiences of low-income and first-generation students (LIFGs) can contribute to US engineering problem definition and solving

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Technical Description:The goal of this exploratory research is to discover how innovation and creativity in engineering problem solving can be fostered by integrating the knowledge and experiences of low-income and first-generation students (LIFGs) into engineering education. The research team will: 1) engage in an ethnographic analysis of LIFG students' school and work experiences to identify the elements of their knowledge and practice that are the most relevant to engineering; 2) use the ethnographic data to write, pilot, and assess case studies to help engineering educators recognize and value LIFG knowledge and experience in engineering problem definition and solving; and 3) develop and deliver a workshop for faculty at a research university and community college to further theorize where different kinds of engineering knowledge exist in their areas of teaching and practice and how to recognize LIFG students' knowledges and experiences as capabilities in engineering practice.Broader Significance and Importance:This research seeks to make LIFGs visible and relevant to engineering education reform. Broadening participation is a key feature of engineering education reform, but dominant definitions of diversity focus on gender, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities, leaving socioeconomic inequality -- and its link to the other underrepresented demographic categories -- mostly unexamined. The scant research that does exist about LIFGs is grounded in a deficiency model, focusing on what these students lack. This project breaks with the existing scholarship by identifying the ways in which LIFG knowledge and experience outside the classroom, including the tacit knowledge they develop in their lives and at work, could offer innovative ways for all students to define and solve pressing engineering problems. This is a radically different approach to understanding "diversity," as it explicitly includes socioeconomic class background as a potential resource rather than a hindrance. This exploratory, interdisciplinary research lays the foundation to integrate those findings into future work on engineering education research and diversity initiatives.This Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposal is funded through the Broadening Participation in Engineering Program of the Engineering Education and Centers Division and by the Division of Undergraduate Education of the Education and Human Resources Directorate.