Collaborative Research: IRES Track I: US-Kenya Collaboration to Foster Underrepresented Students' Capacity in Community-Based Engineering Education Research

尽管学生的国际机会得到了越来越多的关注和支持，但在谁参与这种体验以及他们去哪里旅行方面，仍然存在明显的差距。工科学生的参与率较低，种族和经济上属于少数族裔的学院/大学学生最不可能有机会参与。此外，这样的国际旅行很少发生在撒哈拉以南非洲地区。为了满足这一需求，IRES Track 1项目支持美国代表性不足的学生在肯尼亚埃尔多雷特开展社区参与工程的研究和本地化工程教育的设计。学生将与社会工作、工程和社区本身的研究导师一起工作，这将支持他们对国际发展和工程问题解决中的合作的批判性理解。我们在普渡大学(PU)和旧金山州立大学(SFSU)这两个合作机构开展合作，并与肯尼亚莫伊大学的教育/社会工作和工程两个系以及社区合作伙伴组织图迈尼创新中心合作。该项目将允许更多的美国工程专业学生参与国际研究体验。该计划为第一代、种族小型化或社会经济地位较低的学生提供在国外开展研究和体验研究过程的机会，同时也通过指导和反思增强他们的能力。学生研究项目将扩展肯尼亚和美国在社区参与工程和本地化工程教育方面的现有研究。该项目通过学生IRES参与者将进行的研究和对该项目的深思熟虑的评估，解决了一套综合的研究和实践目标。首先，由学生研究人员进行的研究将有助于丰富社区参与工程方面的学术研究，并促进本地化工程教学的发展。关于工程师如何以公正和可持续的方式与社区接触，以及工程教育如何满足个别社区和学生群体的独特需求，极有必要进行更多的研究。IRES学生研究项目有可能确定有效地建立在当地知识基础上的工程教育的机会和方法。其次，对该项目的评估有助于我们了解学生的学习、跨文化成长和国际研究经验。特别是，我们的项目将专注于被种族和经济边缘化的学生和第一代学生，他们通常没有出现在现有的此类项目研究中。通过我们与多所美国院校(普渡大学和旧金山州立大学)的接触，以及我们与支持这两所院校工程学专业学生人数不足的团体的重点接触，我们的IRES项目将提供一种机制，在工程教育和工程实践领域产生广泛影响。通过我们详细的招生计划和我们的主题重点，我们的IRES计划将扩大获得有影响力的、以社区为中心的工程教育研究的机会。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。

Despite increased attention to and support for international opportunities for students, there are clear gaps in terms of who participates in such experiences and where they travel. Engineering students participate at lower rates, and racially and economically minoritized college/university students are the least likely to have the opportunity to participate. In addition, such international trips rarely take place in sub-Saharan Africa. To address this need, this IRES Track 1 project supports U.S. underrepresented students in conducting research in community-engaged engineering and the design of localized engineering education in Eldoret, Kenya. Students will work with research mentors in social work, engineering, and from the community itself, which will support their critical understanding of collaboration in international development and engineering problem-solving. We work across two collaborating institutions, Purdue University (PU) and San Francisco State University (SFSU), and we engage two departments at Moi University in Kenya, Education/Social Work and Engineering, and a community partner organization, Tumaini Innovation Center. This project will allow a broader population of U.S. engineering students to participate in an international research experience. This program gives first-generation, racially-minoritized, or low socioeconomic-status students the opportunity to carry out research abroad and experience the research process while also empowering them through mentorship and reflection. The student research projects will expand existing research in both Kenya and the U.S. in community-engaged engineering and localized engineering education.This project addresses an integrated set of research and practice aims, both through the research that student IRES participants will conduct and in the thoughtful evaluation of the program. First, the research conducted by the student researchers will contribute to rich scholarship in both community-engaged engineering and the development of localized engineering teaching and learning. There is a great need for additional research on how engineers can engage with communities in just and sustainable ways and for how engineering education can meet the unique needs of individual communities and student populations. The IRES student research projects have the potential to identify opportunities and approaches for developing engineering education that builds effectively on local knowledge. Second, the evaluation of this program can contribute to our understanding of student learning, intercultural growth, and experiences in international research. In particular, our project will focus on racially and economically marginalized and first-generation students, who are typically not represented in existing research on such programs. Through our engagement with multiple U.S. institutions (Purdue and SFSU) and our focused engagement with groups that support underrepresented students in engineering at both institutions, our IRES program will provide a mechanism for broad impacts on the fields of engineering education and engineering practice. Through our detailed student recruitment plan and our thematic focus, our IRES program will broaden access to impactful, community-centered engineering education research.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.