IUSE/PFE: RED: REvolutionizing Diversity Of Engineering (REDO-E)

许多国家报告声称，提高重点工程专业学生的多样性，如航空航天、机械、电气和计算机工程，是国家的优先事项。虽然20多年来，航空航天工程领域缺乏多样性一直被认为是一个问题，但过去和目前的举措并未取得实质性进展。通过工程多样性的革命性项目，德克萨斯农工大学航空航天工程系将极大地提高本科生、研究生和教职员工的多样性、包容性和质量。这一转变将通过三个战略实现：(A)增加系内活动和基础航空航天工程内容非传统应用的能见度，例如从几乎完全侧重于飞机和航天器转向强调更现代的应用，包括能源系统、环境、医疗保健和生活质量；(B)通过广泛使用学生参与的教学战略来支持学生的成功，以满足更多样化的学习者和学习风格，教师发展计划以改善学生-团队动力和学生-教师关系，以及自定进度、基于能力的模块，以补充所有本科航空航天学生的现有课程；以及(C)通过改变教员聘用做法，增加院系教员的多样性和卓越。本项目运用有关组织变革、教师发展、学生参与度、微攻击性、内隐偏见和学生成功等方面的文献来设计和实施一项全面的院系变革。该项目将(A)创建并每年更新自定进度、以能力为基础的在线单元，以补救具有非传统人口统计特征、背景和学习风格的航空航天工程专业学生所面临的障碍；(B)将非传统应用纳入课程；(C)培训教师使用教学战略来解决和纠正微侵略性和隐性偏见，并在课堂上采用积极的学习教学技术；(D)扩大招生和留住工作的广度，以支持学生增加多样性和取得成功。从多个方面解决多样性问题(包括招聘、课程重新设计、学生参与的教学方法、教师发展和改善教师多样性的干预措施)增加了项目目标实现的可能性。REDO-E项目准备了广泛的研究和评估计划，以确定这些举措在多大程度上实现了转型目标。研究计划将通过四个研究问题来解决上述每一个目标：1)将非传统的航空航天应用程序纳入核心课程将如何影响多样性？2)密集的教师发展计划将在多大程度上影响多样性、课堂气氛和系气氛？3)在线、自定进度、基于能力的模块的使用将如何影响多样性？4)随着时间的推移，拟议的干预措施集对航空航天系的多样性有多大影响？该项目与大学提高多样性的目标相一致，并为开创性的项目方法提供学院管理支持。该系是一个拥有9个工程专业的大学系统的一部分，它将进一步与排名靠前的同行机构的系主任合作，并参加来自全国各地的航空航天工程系主任的年度论坛。这些资源将用于支持关于适应性和可扩展性的讨论，以产生更大的影响并使工程教育发生革命性变化。该项目由本科教育司、工程教育和中心司、土木工程、机械和制造创新司、电气、通信和网络系统司以及工业创新和伙伴关系司联合资助；反映了该项目与各司及其计划的各自目标的一致性。

Numerous national reports assert improving diversity of students in key engineering majors, such as aerospace, mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering, are national priorities. While lack of diversity in aerospace engineering has been acknowledged as a problem for over 20 years, past and current initiatives have not achieved substantial progress. Through the REvolutionizing Diversity Of Engineering project, the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University will dramatically improve the diversity, inclusion, and quality of undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty members. The transformation will be achieved through three strategies: (a) Increasing department activity and visibility of non-traditional applications of fundamental aerospace engineering content, such as a shifting from an almost exclusive focus on airplanes and spacecraft to emphasizing more modern applications, including energy systems, the environment, healthcare, and quality of life; (b) Supporting student success through widespread use of student-engaged instructional strategies to address more diverse learners and learning styles, faculty development programs to improve student-team dynamics and student-instructor relationships, and self-paced, competency-based modules to complement existing curricula for all undergraduate aerospace students; and (c) Increasing diversity and excellence of departmental faculty through changes in faculty hiring practices. This project applies the literature on organizational change, faculty development, student engagement, microaggressions, implicit bias, and student success to design and enact a comprehensive departmental transformation. The project will (a) create and annually update self-paced, competency-based online modules to remediate barriers faced by aerospace engineering students with non-traditional demographic characteristics, backgrounds, and learning styles; (b) include non-traditional applications in the curriculum; (c) train faculty to use instructional strategies to address and remediate microaggressions and implicit biases and incorporate active learning pedagogical techniques in their classrooms; and (d) improve breadth of recruitment and retention efforts to support increased diversity and success of students. Addressing the issue of diversity from multiple dimensions (including recruitment, curriculum redesign, student-engaged instructional approaches, faculty development, and interventions to improve faculty diversity) increases the likelihood that project goals will be achieved. The REDO-E project has prepared extensive research and evaluation plans to determine the extent to which these initiatives are achieving transformation goals. Research initiatives will address each of the above goals through four research questions: 1) How will incorporating non-traditional applications of aerospace into the core curriculum affect diversity? 2) To what extent will an intensive faculty development program affect diversity, classroom climate, and department climate? 3) How will use of online, self-paced, competency-based modules affect diversity? 4) To what extent do the proposed set of interventions impact the diversity of an aerospace department over time? This project aligns with college goals for improving diversity and college administration support for groundbreaking project approaches. The department, which is part of a university system that has nine engineering programs, will further team with department heads from highly ranked peer institutions and participate in a yearly forum of aerospace engineering department heads from across the nation. These resources will be engaged to support discussions on adaptability and scalability that can lead to larger impacts and revolutionize engineering education.This project is jointly funded by the Division of Undergraduate Education; the Division of Engineering Education and Centers; the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation; the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems; and the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships; reflecting the alignment of this project with the respective goals of the divisions and their programs.