2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

IUSE: Prioritizing Data Life Cycle Ethical Management Education for Engineering Undergraduate Researchers

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session I

In a world where data are ubiquitous, it is becoming increasingly important to practice ethical data management, to ensure data is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). However, there remains a lack of interdisciplinary endeavors that embed data life cycle ethical management education into undergraduate research academic courses in Engineering.

In this project, we are designing the framework and curricula to develop competencies of undergraduate researchers regarding ethical management of data throughout the research data life cycle. Our “Design Reasoning in Data Life Cycle Ethical Management Framework” is informed by three existing frameworks: 1) The Design Reasoning Quadrants Framework, 2) The Data Life-Cycle Model, and 3) The Reflexive Principles Framework. This framework guides the integration of data management and ethical considerations in engineering design reasoning. We presented the initial framework at ASEE 2024 and have refined it.

To augment the data ethical management practices of undergraduate researchers, we developed and taught stand-alone courses for undergraduate researchers as well as workshops for research mentors. One new course “Understanding Your Research Data” in Spring 2024. Eleven undergraduate research scholars enrolled in the course and applied research data life cycle ethical management to their current undergraduate research projects. Their mid-term, final reflections and final projects indicated that the course improved their skills in working with data efficiently and ethically, built up their confidence and comfort in managing data-intensive projects, and recognized the crucial role of organized data in the success of a research project.

In addition, the team received feedback from the students expressing the need for additional scaffolding like worksheets and concrete examples. A practical guidebook is currently under development featuring worksheets and samples to support efficient and responsible data cycle management. Some examples are “Data Management Plan Checklist", “Data Preservation Protocol”, "File Naming and Organization Guide”, “Data Quality Checking”, “Metadata - Quantitative and Interview Data Dictionary Creation”, “Data Storage and Backup”, and “Data Repository Selection”.

Authors

Dr. Wei Zakharov http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-7805-6675 Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Dr. Wei Zakharov is an Associate Professor and Engineering Information Specialist in Libraries and School of Information Studies and (by courtesy) the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. She is the faculty liaison to four Schools Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Semiconductors, Engineering Education, and Aviation and Transportation Technology from Polytechnic Institute at Purdue University. She works with students and faculty to address their needs regarding information resources, research data management, and scholarly communication. Dr. Zakharov teaches and conducts research in data and information literacy education, and online learning. As a principal investigator (PI) or co-PI, she has multiple internal and external grants, including three grants from National Science Foundation (IUSE #2236241,CCRI #2120430, RAPID #2027524) and one Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant. She serves as an editorial member and reviewer for several international research journals.
Dr. Senay Purzer http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0784-6079 Purdue University at West Lafayette (PWL) (COE) [biography]

Senay Purzer is a Professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Her research is on engineering design reasoning.
Dr. Carla B. Zoltowski http://orcid.org/0009-0003-1391-6800 Purdue University at West Lafayette (PWL) (COE) [biography]

Carla B. Zoltowski is an associate professor of engineering practice in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and (by courtesy) the School of Engineering Education, and Director of the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program within the College of Engineering at Purdue. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education, all from Purdue. Dr. Zoltowski’s research interests include the professional formation of engineers, human-centered design, and engineering ethics.
Joreen Arigye http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7530-7566 Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Doctoral candidate in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University.
Sarah Sewell Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE)

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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