Walter C. Lee

Exploring student motivation towards diversity education in engineering

If the engineering education community is serious about improving its culture and climate for underrepresented groups, it is imperative to educate students about the importance of diversity and inclusion. Effectively incorporating diversity-related course content into the curriculum requires an understanding of student knowledge of and attitudes toward diversity. Accordingly, this work-in-progress explores engineering students beliefs about the intersection of diversity education and the engineering curriculum. Informed by Eccles Expectancy Value Theory (EVT), the authors pose the following research question: What ability-related beliefs and subjective task values do undergraduate engineering students have in relation to diversity education? This exploratory study resulted in the development of an interview protocol and survey instrument for exploring students beliefs about diversity as it relates to engineering. Initial findings point to the need for closer examinations of student attitudes in subsequent research. Ultimately, the results of this study will directly informed diversity and inclusion efforts at our local institution.

Common configurations for Engineering Student Support Centers

In response to the persistent issues of retention and diversity, many colleges offer Engineering Student Support Centers (ESSCs). However, little is known about ESSC design or how these centers function alongside the engineering curriculum and within the larger systems of engineering education. Based on the current literature, there is a need to better understand ESSC design and how such centers influence the institutional experience of undergraduate engineering students. Our research seeks to address this gap by examining ESSCs of varying structure and configuration at multiple institutions. The overall study will use a multi-case study approach, which includes interviews and open-ended surveys with center administrators and engineering students. Preliminary results from the first phase of the project reveal a variety of ESSC structures and will assist us in representing the assortment of centers in the later phases of the study.

Reflections on the messiness of initiating a systematic literature review on broadening participation in engineering and computer science

The rigorous, structured, and transparent review of literature on a particular topic can lead to promising insights about research directions, practical solutions, and potential policies. While the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is a well-established methodology, it is rarely used in the field of engineering education. Though the use of the term “systematic” suggests a clear-cut process and there are resources available to describe the major steps of the method, the initial steps of a SLR are inherently messy — i.e., they heavily rely on the researchers judgement and decision-making. Unfortunately, the messiness embedded in these steps is rarely discussed or described in existing resources. In this study, we reflect on the “messiness” of initiating a SLR on broadening participation in engineering and computer science. Informed by two existing approaches to reflection, we used the STAARA (Situation-Task-Affect-Action-Result-Aftermath) framework to reflect on the ways in which we resolved important decisions associated with one overarching situation and several corresponding tasks, affects, actions; the aftermath is also discussed. This paper includes insights from our experience that can help other researchers navigate the initial steps of a SLR.

Measuring student integration and institutional support

Engineering is a demanding discipline and otherwise qualified students often take their talents elsewhere- either before earning a Bachelors degree or shortly thereafter. As a result, engineering educators must provide students with adequate support to increase the chances of students successfully integrating into the field of engineering. However, little is known about the relationship between Institutional Support and Student Integration or how each construct influences the retention or early-career decision-making of engineering students. Drawing on the Model of Co-curricular Support, the purpose of this paper is to describe current efforts to develop survey instruments that can be used to investigate how undergraduate engineering students rate themselves on Institutional Support and Student Integration, paying close attention to gender and race/ethnicity. Survey instruments that are valid and reliable within this context would be useful for assessing the impact of student interventions.