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2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Identify Challenges of Inclusive Practices at the Course Level

Presented at Broadening Participation through Access, Equity, Inclusion in ECE

Objective and Motivation:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are being considered and addressed at the institutional level concerning student recruitment, faculty hiring, and improvement of the institutional climate. It is also important to address DEI at the course level where limited effort has been dedicated to studying DEI practices in classrooms. Therefore, this study aims to understand students’ and instructors’ perceptions of inclusion and the challenges of practicing inclusive pedagogy at the course level. Fundamental questions that need to be answered for inclusive practices at the course level include challenges in implementing inclusive practices, the effects of the inclusive practices on student perceptions such as identity respected and validated, self-assurance, belonging, empathy, student voice, trust towards student peers and instructors, as well as faculty readiness and intentionality in creating inclusive activities in their courses.

Methods:
This study includes students enrolled in a junior-level core course and faculty members with an engineering college in a Hispanic Serving Institute. The study conducts a student survey for students’ knowledge of DEI, as well as reflections on student perceptions of inclusivity in the classroom. The student surveys also include student background (demographics, math preparation, soft skills, technology accessibility, and student performance) and students' self-perception of their individual class experiences. A faculty survey was conducted to collect faculty members’ understanding of inclusiveness and their readiness and intentionality to integrate inclusive practices into a classroom. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results:
This study presents outcomes from three aspects: 1) an analysis of student perception of inclusion in a junior-level core class in electrical and computer engineering, 2) an evaluation of the readiness and intentionality of faculty to implement inclusive practices in their classroom, and 3) an identification of challenges for implementing DEI activities at the course level. Our student survey analysis shows that most of the students had a high level of empathy, commitment to teamwork, and communication skills, however, their level of belonging, trust in others, and problem-solving skills have relatively low levels. These results provide insights and potential directions for improving DEI at the course level. The faculty survey analysis shows the faculty’s awareness of the DEI concepts and general willingness to implement DEI activities in the classroom. Meanwhile, we do not observe strong evidence in terms of faculty’s concrete actions taken in DEI training and actual DEI practice in the classroom, as well as a time commitment beyond three hours to prepare and carry out DEI practices.

Authors
  3. Cate Wengelnik The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]
  4. Dr. Frances Matos University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]
  5. Mason Cole Conkel University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]
  6. Dr. Yan Tang Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9089-5746 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach [biography]
  7. Jessica Gonzales The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]
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  • Broadening Participation in Engineering and Engineering Technology
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