Contextualizing Asset-based Approaches in Undergraduate Engineering Design Education

该项目旨在通过在工程设计课程中实施以证据为基础的包容性教学战略来服务于国家利益。以公平为中心的方法强调所有学生在学习过程中的优势和观点，对于扩大对工程的参与和培养多样化和创新的劳动力至关重要。一种有希望的方法是基于资产的教学法，它提供了明确的方式来承认学生的整体观点，并将确认他们身份的知识纳入课程。虽然越来越多的证据表明，基于资产的教学方法对学生的身份和成就产生了积极的影响，但缺乏专门表明其对本科工科学生成绩的影响的研究。这个早期研究项目计划开发、集成和研究基于资产的方法在工程设计课程中的影响。将这些方法融入到工程设计课程中，将允许学生以不同的方式认识和从事工程，并最终促进他们作为工程师的身份的形成。该项目希望就以资产为基础的做法在中学后工程教育中的影响产生新的知识。这一知识特别新颖，因为显示基于资产的教学实践对大学生结果的影响的证据有限。这个项目旨在开发教育工作者可以很容易地融入到他们的设计课程中的工具和策略。这项工作的结果和资源有可能改善教育工作者的看法，即所有学生，包括妇女、性别少数群体、种族和少数族裔，都可以参与并成功地从事工程活动。因此，教师教学方法和学生学习方法之间的集体变化对STEM学生的整体大学成功和职业准备具有影响。具体的项目目标是确定基于资产的教学法对工科学生的归属感、工程认同感和自我效能感的影响，并确定基于资产的教学法对学生如何将其资产映射到设计过程和设计课程能力的影响。该项目计划在亚利桑那大学的七个系和所有本科水平的大约15门课程中实施基于资产的方法，亚利桑那大学是一家公共、土地赠款、为拉美裔服务的机构。项目组还将为工程教育工作者提供专业发展，以帮助实施基于资产的教学法。该项目以自我决定理论为基础，将使用经过验证的调查工具，通过深入访谈，定量地衡量以资产为基础的教学法所提供的课程更新对学生的影响。这项工作的结果应该会开辟新的途径，以股权为中心和以资产为基础的心态重新设想工程学课程的结构和教学方法。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by implementing evidence-based, inclusive pedagogical strategies in engineering design courses. Equity-centered approaches that emphasize the strengths and perspectives of all students in the learning process are critical to broadening participation in engineering and developing a diverse and innovative workforce. One promising approach, asset-based pedagogy, offers explicit ways to acknowledge the holistic student perspective and incorporate knowledge that affirms their identities into curricula. While there is a growing body of evidence that students’ identity and achievement are positively influenced by asset-based pedagogy, there is a lack of research specifically showing its impact on undergraduate engineering student outcomes. This early-stage research project plans to develop, integrate, and study the impact of asset-based approaches in engineering design courses. Incorporating these approaches in engineering design courses will allow for different ways of knowing and doing engineering among students and, ultimately, promote the formation of their identities as engineers. The project hopes to generate new knowledge on the implications of asset-based practices in postsecondary engineering education. This knowledge is especially novel because there is limited evidence showing the impact of asset-based pedagogical practices on college student outcomes. This project intends to develop tools and strategies that educators can readily incorporate into their design courses. Findings and resources from this work have the potential to improve the perception among educators that all students, including women, gender minorities, and racial and ethnic minorities, can engage and succeed in engineering activities. Consequently, the collective change among faculty instructional approaches and students’ learning approaches enabled through this work has implications for the overall college success and career readiness in STEM students.The specific project goals are to determine the impact of asset-based pedagogy on engineering students’ sense of belonging, engineering identity, and self-efficacy and to determine the impact of asset-based pedagogy on how students map their assets to the design process and competencies in design courses. The project plans to implement asset-based approaches into approximately 15 courses across seven departments and all undergraduate levels at the University of Arizona, a public, land-grant, Hispanic-Serving Institution. The project team will also provide professional development for engineering educators to help with implementation of asset-based pedagogy. Grounded in self-determination theory, the project will measure the impact of curricular updates informed by asset-based-pedagogy on students quantitatively using validated survey instruments and qualitatively through in-depth interviews. Results from this work should open new avenues to re-envision the structure and pedagogy in engineering courses with an equity-centered and asset-based mindset. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.