2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Developing a Framework for Equity-Centered Engineering Curriculum and Instruction

Presented at Engineering a Just Future: Cultivating Equity, Voice, and Community in Technical Education

In this work-in-progress paper, we report on ongoing work conducted during the initial stages of research that inform the development of a framework to support the design and delivery of equity-centered engineering curriculum and instruction within undergraduate courses. The entire project is supported by an NSF Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) grant, and the research discussed in this paper includes (1) a synthesis of relevant literature on how to teach equity-centered engineering content – about the application of equity considerations in engineering practice – and/ or to use equity-centered engineering pedagogy – creating equitable learning conditions in engineering courses – and (2) a summary of individual interviews with engineering instructors who have incorporated issues of equity into engineering courses.
Many dimensions of the current culture of undergraduate engineering programs impede curricular and pedagogical attention to issues of equity in engineering courses. Research has identified barriers that include a culture of competition rather than collaboration; whiteness, masculinity, and heteronormativity; the belief that engineering is apolitical, objective, neutral, and meritocratic; and the presumption of a social-technical divide and consequent prioritization of technical knowledge over social understanding.
Our literature review and interviews both aim to identify course components that engineering instructors and instructional staff consider essential for equity-centered engineering education, including both pedagogy and content and the interplay between them. For this research, we defined equity-centered engineering curriculum and instruction as courses or sequences of courses that both integrate equity considerations into technical content and support students’ engagement through pedagogical attention to equitable classroom environments. We first introduce the project and framework development in this paper, and then discuss a sample of findings, and we also briefly describe the remaining work to develop, implement, study, and iterate on the framework.

Authors

Dr. Laura A. H. Wood University of Michigan [biography]

Laura Wood is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Education, working with the Teaching Engineering Equity Center, at University of Michigan.
Angie Kim University of Michigan
Amber N Williams University of Michigan
Berenice A. Cabrera University of Michigan [biography]

Berenice A. Cabrera (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Higher Education at the Marsal School of Education at the University of Michigan. She earned a B.A. in Biology and Latinx Studies and a minor in Chemistry from San Francisco State University (SFSU). She also earned a Master’s in Cell and Molecular Biology from SFSU and a Master’s in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. Alex taught biology at community colleges in California before attending the University of Michigan where her research interests pivoted to engineering education. Her current research interests focus on examining the messaging
undergraduate engineering students receive with respect to the type of work that is valued in engineering. Her research is centered around the goal of making engineering curriculum more socioculturally relevant and the field more inclusive of women and students of color.
Hayley N. Nielsen http://orcid.org/0009-0009-1223-3550 University of Michigan [biography]

Hayley N. Nielsen is a PhD student in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.
Lu Zhou University of Michigan [biography]

Visiting Scholar in higher education at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor;
Ph.D. candidate in higher education at Tsinghua University.
Dr. Grenmarie Agresar University of Michigan [biography]

Grenmarie Agresar is an instructional consultant at the Center for Research on Learning in Teaching in Engineering at the University of Michigan (U-M). She earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and Scientific Computation, a M.S. in Bioengineering, a M.
Dr. Shanna R. Daly http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4698-2973 University of Michigan [biography]

Shanna Daly is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. She has a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University.
Dr. Lisa R. Lattuca http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1547-5992 University of Michigan [biography]

Lisa Lattuca, Professor of Higher Education and member of the Core Faculty in the Engineering Education Research Program at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Joi-Lynn Mondisa http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-3959-6548 University of Michigan [biography]

Joi Mondisa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering and an Engineering Education Faculty Member at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Dr. Erika Mosyjowski http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5700-641X University of Michigan [biography]

Erika Mosyjowski is the Research and Faculty Engagement Manager in the Center for Socially Engaged Design within University of Michigan College of Engineering. She earned a PhD and MA in Higher Education from Michigan and a Bachelor's in Psychology and Sociology from Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Steve J. Skerlos University of Michigan [biography]

Professor Steven J. Skerlos is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan. He is a tenured faculty member in Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering. He also serves as a UM Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Sustainabili

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