The Nature of Engineering Work: Curricular Messaging and Alignment with Diverse Undergraduate Students’ Values, Interests, and Engineering Intentions

工程工作的本质：课程信息传递以及与不同本科生的价值观、兴趣和工程意图的一致性

• 批准号: 2054823
• 负责人: Shanna Daly
• 金额: $ 149.99万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-15 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2054823&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Nature; Engineering; Work; Curricular; Messaging

As part of an undergraduate education in engineering, students typically encounter courses that emphasize core engineering technical skills but neglect the "comprehensive engineering skills" such as the ability to collaborate, to be creative, and to exhibit ethical thinking that are needed to address complex societal problems. Engineering education plays a major role in shaping students' understanding of the nature of engineering work which includes such "comprehensive skills." Thus, it is important to understand when, where, and how students encounter "messages" about the nature and scope of engineering work. This project hopes to investigate how engineering curricula and instruction represent engineering practice and how these representations align with students' values and interests, with the goal of understanding how these messages affect students’ sense of belonging and intentions to persist in the field.The systematic study of two contrasting engineering disciplines will generate greater understandings of the effect of student perceptions of the content of engineering curricula on diverse students' perceptions of the field, their sense of fit, and their future plans. Existing research has focused, rightly, on students' perceptions of campus climate and interactions with faculty and peers, but has largely neglected study of the curricular content itself. Findings from this theory-driven, mixed-method design will extend and complement existing research on undergraduates' motivations for studying engineering and their impact on their connection and commitment to the field. By triangulating data from student and instructor interviews, classroom observations, and census surveys of students in two engineering disciplines, this study will extend a limited literature on diverse motivations for engineering study. Providing future engineers with comprehensive engineering skills is critical to preparing professionals to engage productively with complex sociotechnical problems and with stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds. Additionally, a deeper understanding of what curricular messaging communicates to students about the nature of engineering work, about who engineers are, and about the skill set needed for innovative problem solving will support clearer communication of the value of this broader range of engineering skills. Such curricular messaging may attract a more diverse population of students who value socially relevant problems and may contribute positively to these students' sense of belonging in the field and desire to persist in their studies and into engineering careers. This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances fundamental research on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

作为工程学本科教育的一部分，学生们通常会遇到一些课程，强调核心的工程技术技能，但忽视了“综合工程技能”，如协作能力、创造力和展示解决复杂社会问题所需的伦理思考的能力。工程教育在形成学生对工程工作性质的理解方面起着重要作用，工程工作包括这种“综合技能”。因此，了解学生何时、何地以及如何遇到有关工程工作的性质和范围的“信息”是很重要的。本项目希望调查工程课程和教学如何代表工程实践，以及这些表现如何与学生的价值观和兴趣相一致，目的是了解这些信息如何影响学生的归属感和坚持该领域的意图。对两个不同的工程学科进行系统研究，将使学生更好地理解学生对工程课程内容的认知对不同学生对该领域的认知、适宜感和未来计划的影响。现有的研究正确地将重点放在学生对校园氛围的看法以及与教职员工和同龄人的互动上，但在很大程度上忽视了对课程内容本身的研究。这一理论驱动的混合方法设计的结果将扩展和补充现有的关于本科生学习工程学的动机及其对他们在该领域的联系和承诺的影响的研究。通过三角测量来自学生和教师访谈、课堂观察和对两个工程学科学生的普查调查的数据，本研究将扩展有限的关于工程学习的不同动机的文献。为未来的工程师提供全面的工程技能，对于培养专业人员有效地处理复杂的社会技术问题以及与来自不同背景的利益攸关方进行接触至关重要。此外，更深入地理解课程信息传递给学生的是什么，关于工程工作的性质，关于工程师是谁，以及关于创新解决问题所需的技能集，将有助于更清晰地交流这些更广泛的工程技能的价值。这样的课程信息可能会吸引更多不同类型的学生，他们重视与社会相关的问题，并可能对这些学生在该领域的归属感和坚持学习和从事工程职业的愿望做出积极贡献。该项目由EHR核心研究(ECR)计划资助，该计划支持推进STEM学习和学习环境的基础研究、扩大对STEM的参与以及STEM劳动力发展的工作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

First-Year Engineering Students’ Desired Practices in Mechanical Engineering

一年级工科学生期望的机械工程实践

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Proceedings of the 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
• 作者: Wu, J.;Clancy, S.M.;Mosyjowski, E.A.;Daly, S.R.;Lattuca L.R.;Mondisa, J.
• 通讯作者: Mondisa, J.

Receiving curricular messages: Engineering students’ understandings of valued practices in their field

接收课程信息：工科学生对其领域有价值实践的理解

• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Proceedings of the 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
• 作者: Clancy, S.M.;Cabrera, B.A.;Bork, S.J.;Merz, K.;Mosyjowski, E.A.;Daly, S.R.;Lattuca L.R.;Mondisa, J.
• 通讯作者: Mondisa, J.