2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Educational experiences in rigorous Engineering programs are deeply influential on a student’s lived experience and future in terms of identity, sense of purpose, and professional opportunities. In this article, we argue that Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) can make use of culturally relevant approaches influencing their academics and programs to create meaningful learning environments. To increase interest and persistence among Hispanic students enrolled in Engineering programs at New Mexico State University (NMSU), the Research-Oriented Learning Experiences (ROLE) program was created. ROLE is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program whose goal is “to improve Latinx research skills while building strong connections with other peers and near-peer mentors” [1]. ROLE also aims at building community through peer and faculty interaction, teamwork, and Latino culturally relevant experiences.

The purpose of this study is to understand and explore how ROLE is challenging the status quo of engineering education through the development and implementation of a learning community that utilizes an asset-based pedagogical model of instruction. ROLE centralizes collaboration, community, and culture in student-centered programming to encourage retention and degree completion for Latinx participants. The research questions framing this study investigated: 1. How does a collaborative learning environment like ROLE promote asset-based pedagogical practices in engineering education at NMSU? 2. How does the centralization of culture and community in ROLE contribute to supporting student success in rigorous engineering programs at NMSU? The asset-based approach to learning is a theoretical framework that focuses on identifying and leveraging the strengths and existing knowledge of learners to promote effective learning. This approach recognizes that individuals come into the learning environment with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skills [2]. Instead of solely focusing on deficits or gaps in knowledge, the asset-based approach highlights the valuable assets learners possess and seeks to build upon them to enhance the learning process. Author [3] explores the concepts of culturally relevant teaching proposed by Author [4] and the need to take this concept a step further to be a sustaining process for people of color. The wide-ranging implication of this concept is that education is increasingly becoming multiethnic and multilingual, so educational practices should reflect the social evolution happening in society.

ROLE participants include three annual cohorts with an average of eight students per cohort. Most participants identified as junior and senior students pursuing Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Participants completed pre- and post-experience surveys and took part in two sets of interviews. The data collected yielded that as students participate in ROLE, they reinforce their ethnic identity as engineers and benefit from an asset-based pedagogical model of instruction, where peers take a crucial role in such learning. In addition, by creating a culturally relevant research space, students perceive a meaningful connection with their peers and mentors, and remind them that they can also find -una familia- family-type relationships in college. ROLE has helped students fill the gaps, absences, and limitations commonly found in engineering academic programs.

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation through the Broadening Participation in Engineering (BPE) Program.