Research Initiation: Understanding Team Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Undergraduate Engineering Design Projects

研究、设计和制造中的绝大多数工程活动都是由团队完成的，这种方法在生物医学、航空航天和消费品等各种部门都很普遍。高度的任务复杂性意味着团队往往是多学科的，而且在组成和覆盖范围上很可能是全球性的。管理这种与生俱来的多样性对团队效率至关重要。本项目旨在通过探索多样性和公平实践对本科工程设计过程中包容性的影响，来推进工程设计团队中团队合作动力的多样性、公平性和包容性(DEI)的研究。此外，它还旨在支持一个致力于进行工程教育研究的新兴研究人员社区。学生有效地参与不同团队的能力是推进整体工程形成的关键能力。了解基于团队的工程设计和DEI之间的联系将有助于培养能够响应劳动力不断变化的需求、具有平等开放和可获得性的心态的工程师，从而塑造当前和未来的工程专业人员。这个项目的发现有望帮助发现工程团队如何合作和学习的有价值的见解。最终，通过战略性地结合Dei实践，我们可以创建更多功能和有效的小组，对学生的成功产生积极影响，特别是通过增强边缘学生参与和茁壮成长的能力。在参与框架的基础上，这个项目将加深对本科工程设计协作中高包容性团队和低包容性团队在团队多样性和公平实践方面的差异，以及影响团队活力的其他因素的理解。此外，将确定与纳入的正面和负面结果相关的关键因素，以构建PI的长期研究目标的理论框架，即研究具有DEI考虑的协同设计行为建模。将研究以下探索性研究问题：高包容性团队和低包容性团队在多样性方面有何不同？高包容性和低包容性团队在其股权做法方面有何不同？高包容性团队和低包容性团队在班级相关变量(如学生学业水平、协作方式和项目类型)上有何不同？这个项目将利用混合方法，通过从300多名学生的三个学期的课程中有机收集(即，没有刻意干预或影响研究人员的团队形成)的课堂数据，来密切研究团队成员在项目协作中的行为。量化和定性分析结合在一起，将使我们更全面地了解多样性和公平的哪些方面在促进包容协作方面是有效的或无效的。此外，本项目试图揭示这些发现背后的机制和原因，提供洞察力，为促进工程设计团队协作中的DEI提供潜在的干预策略。该项目将由一名首席研究员领导，他是一名工程学教员，由经验丰富的STEM教育研究人员组成的团队提供指导。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。

The overwhelming majority of engineering activities in research, design, and manufacturing are accomplished by teams, and this approach is prevalent across sectors as varied as biomedical, aerospace, and consumer goods. High task complexity means that the teams are often multi-disciplinary and quite possibly global in composition and reach. Managing this inherent diversity is critical to team effectiveness. This project seeks to advance the research on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) specific to teamwork dynamics in engineering design teams by exploring the influence of diversity and equity practices on inclusion within the undergraduate engineering design process. Additionally, it also aims to support a community of emerging researchers dedicated to conducting engineering education research. Students’ ability to engage effectively in diverse teams is a key competency to advance holistic engineering formation. Understanding the connection between team-based engineering design and DEI will be instrumental in shaping current and future engineering professionals, by helping prepare engineers who are responsive to the evolving needs of the workforce with a mindset of being equally open and accessible to all. The findings of this project are expected to help uncover valuable insights into how engineering teams work and learn together. Ultimately, by strategically incorporating DEI practices, we can create more functional and effective groups that positively impact student success, particularly by enhancing the ability of marginalized students to participate and thrive. Grounded in the Framework for Participation, this project will develop an understanding of the differences between high-inclusion and low-inclusion teams in undergraduate engineering design collaborations, in terms of team diversity and equity practices, among other factors that influence team dynamics. Further, critical factors that are associated with the positive and negative outcomes of inclusion will be identified to build the theoretical framework for the PI’s long-term research goal to study collaborative design behavior modeling with DEI considerations. The following exploratory research questions will be studied: What are the differences between the high-inclusion and low-inclusion teams with respect to their diversity? What are the differences between the high-inclusion and low-inclusion teams with respect to their equity practices? What are the differences in class-related variables between the high-inclusion and low-inclusion teams (such as student academic levels, collaboration modality, and project types? This project will utilize a mixed-methods approach to closely study team members’ behaviors in project collaboration through classroom data organically collected (i.e., without intentional interventions or influence on team formation from researchers) over the course of three semesters from more than 300 students. Together, the quantitative and qualitative analyses will provide a more comprehensive understanding of what aspects of diversity and equity have been effective, or ineffective, in promoting collaboration inclusion. Furthermore, this project seeks to uncover the mechanisms and reasons behind these findings, providing insights that can inform potential intervention strategies for promoting DEI in engineering design team collaboration. This project will be led by a principal investigator who is an engineering faculty member with mentorship from a team of experienced STEM education researchers.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.