2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 410: Thematic Maps of Interdependent Engineering Judgment Processes in Undergraduate Systems Engineering Capstone Projects

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session

Our NSF Research Initiation (RIEF) grant focuses on the role of professional engineer identity formation in the construction and communication of engineering judgments in writing. This paper reports the preliminary results of this research as a thematic map obtained from the analysis of 10 semi-structured interviews obtained from five senior systems engineering students in the capstone project at the lead author’s institution. First, our research indicates the interdependence among cognitive processes, discursive identity, and the students’ work context. Second, our research explores the interdependence among the various judgments students must make in order to construct the knowledge constituting their senior projects. These judgments are classified within three broad themes—assumptions and model building judgments, rhetorical and discursive judgments, and framing and positioning judgments. Our thematic map illustrates the role of social practice in the creation and re-creation of engineering knowledge. Our thematic maps suggest a need for greater integration of social and professional praxis in fundamental engineering curricula in order to better prepare students with an awareness of the embodied and enacted communicative practices involved in professional engineering work.

Authors

Dr. Royce A. Francis http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-8240-4903 The George Washington University [biography]

Dr. Royce Francis is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering. His overall research vision is to conduct research, teaching, and service that facilitates sustainable habitation of the built environment. This vision involves three thrusts: 1.) infrastructure management, including sustainability, resilience, and risk analysis; 2.) regulatory risk assessment and policy-focused research, especially for environmental contaminants and infrastructure systems; and, 3.) engineering education research exploring the linkages between professional identity formation and engineering judgment. Dr. Francis earned the Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and the B.S. in Civil Engineering from Howard University.
Dr. Marie C. Paretti http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2202-6928 Virginia Tech [biography]

Marie C. Paretti is a Professor of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, where she directs the Virginia Tech Engineering Communications Center (VTECC). Her research focuses on communication, collaboration, and identity in engineering.
Dr. Rachel Claire Riedner George Washington University [biography]

Rachel Riedner is Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Writing and of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.

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