Research Initiation: The Formation of Engineering Students' Beliefs about Intelligence

为了解决我们这个不断变化的世界的复杂问题，工程师们需要展示出韧性，并从事终身学习。此前的研究表明，人们对智力的看法多种多样。例如，一些人认为智力是一种静态的特征，不会随着时间的推移而改变，而另一些人则认为智力可以通过努力来发展。研究还表明，这些关于智力的不同基本信念与个人如何应对挑战等行为密切相关。在这项研究中，一年级和四年级的工科学生将接受采访，了解他们在工科学校的经历，涉及与智力信念有关的多种行为。这项研究将对工程文化和工程师的本科培养如何影响学生的智力信念提供有价值的见解，而智力是学生参与工程问题解决能力的一个未被认识到的因素。这项工作势在必行，以确定如何转变工程文化，使其更具包容性，并形成在挑战面前坚持不懈的工程师。调查结果还将被用来通知教授课程和在外展活动中陈述的教职员工和研究生，从而产生更有效的教育计划。这项工作将在先前定量研究的基础上，对学生关于智力本质的信念提供丰富的表征。该团队将利用卡罗尔·德韦克成熟的思维框架来指导他们的调查。一项横断面研究将收集和分析面试数据，以刻画和比较学生在一年级和四年级对自己智力性质的看法。这个拟议的项目完成后，将深入了解学生对工科本科文化的看法，以及它如何影响他们对智力的信念的形成，这些信念与韧性和对终身学习的承诺有关。这项工作可能有助于改变工程文化和本科工程教育，使之更加包容和鼓励人们对智力本质的生产性信念。这项研究的结果将发表在同行评议的会议记录和期刊上。这些出版物将使工程教育研究社区参与一场关于影响工程师形成的基本信念的重要讨论。该项目还将为两名专业人士提供专业发展和指导，学习如何进行严格的工程教育研究。因此，有资格提交未来教育研究提案的个人人数将会扩大。最后，该团队的计划利用合格的评估员和成员检查，以评估研究的成功。

To address the complex problems of our ever-changing world, engineers need to demonstrate resilience and engage in life-long learning. Previous research has shown that people have a wide-range of beliefs regarding intelligence. For example, some people believe intelligence is a static trait that does not change over time, while others believe intelligence can be developed with effort. Research has also shown that these different underlying beliefs about intelligence are strongly tied to behaviors such as how an individual responds to challenges. In this study, both first-year and senior engineering students will be interviewed about their experiences in engineering school with respect to multiple behaviors linked to beliefs about intelligence. This study will provide valuable insight regarding how engineering culture and the undergraduate formation of engineers impacts students' beliefs about intelligence, which is an under-recognized factor in their ability to engage in engineering problem solving. This work is imperative to determine how to shift engineering culture to be more inclusive and form engineers that persist in the face of challenges. Findings will also be leveraged to inform the faculty and graduate students delivering courses and presenting at outreach events, resulting in more effective educational programs. This work will provide a rich characterization of students' beliefs about the nature of intelligence, building on prior quantitative studies. The team will utilize Carol Dweck's well-established framework of Mindset to guide their investigation. A cross-sectional study will collect and analyze interview data to characterize and compare student beliefs about the nature of their intelligence in both the first-year and senior year. When completed, the proposed project will provide insight into students' perspectives on engineering undergraduate culture and how it impacts the formation of their beliefs about intelligence, which are tied to resilience and a commitment to life-long learning. This work could be instrumental in transforming engineering culture and undergraduate engineering education to be more inclusive and encouraging towards productive beliefs about the nature of intelligence. Results from this study will be published in peer-reviewed conference proceedings and journals. These publications will engage the engineering education research community in an important discussion about underlying beliefs that impact the formation of engineers. This project will also provide professional development and mentoring for two professionals, to learn how to conduct rigorous engineering education research. As a result, the pool of individuals qualified to submit future education research proposals will be expanded. Finally, the team's plan utilizes qualified evaluators and member checking in order to assess the success of the research.