2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

NSF IUSE: Embedding Critical Consciousness in the Engineering Design Curriculum during the Middle Years

This NSF IUSE research collaboration between the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Texas at San Antonio focuses on curriculum design for early and mid-level engineering courses (e.g., first-year, sophomore, junior level) that emphasize engineering design. The partnership led to the creation of a course that integrates critical consciousness and Freire’s dialogic principles into the teaching of the engineering design process. This approach addresses two significant gaps in engineering education: (1) the shortage of mid-level design courses and (2) the need for a contextualized engineering curriculum.

Since spring 2023, both institutions have offered this course twice, attracting students from their respective engineering colleges. The course is open to any student that meets the course pre-requisites, a standard practice in engineering. While the institutions serve slightly different student populations and implement the course with some variations, the outcomes have been consistent. These include increased student understanding of the social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of design, a stronger sense of engineering identity through project development, a focus on community-centered design, and improved peer-community building through the dialogic practices used in the course. In this poster, we will present the main framework developed for the course, the dialogic principles used during implementation, and the impact of these on the development of critical consciousness among students.

This project offers valuable insights for educators interested in incorporating dialogic methods into their engineering curriculum and for those who aim to enhance design knowledge by integrating contextualized perspectives.

Authors

Dr. Renata A Revelo The University of Illinois at Chicago [biography]

Renata A. Revelo is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research focuses on shifting the culture of engineering via the study of engineering identity and the study of curricular change.
Dr. Joel Alejandro Mejia http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3908-9930 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is a Professor of Engineering Education in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education at the University of Cincinnati. His work examines the intersections of engineering, social justice, and critical pedagogies. He focuses on dismantling deficit ideologies in STEM, centering Latino/a/x student experiences—especially of those along the U.S.-Mexico border. His work draws on Chicana/o/x studies, raciolinguistics, and bilingual education to explore how language, race, and socialization shape engineering pathways and engineering practice. In 2025, Dr. Mejia received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Award for his contributions to engineering education.
Julio C Mendez University of Illinois Chicago
Luis E Montero-Moguel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9009-1377 The University of Texas at San Antonio [biography]

Luis Montero-Moguel is a Ph.D. Candidate in Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching specializing in STEM education at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Luis holds an MSc in Mathematics Education from the University of Guadalajara and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering. Luis is an NSF-CADRE fellow. As part of his doctoral program, Luis has earned a Graduate Certificate in iSTEM Education and a Graduate Certificate in Engineering Education. With experience as an engineer and a mathematics teacher, he promotes the expansion of equitable and high-quality learning opportunities for both engineering and K–12 students through mathematical modeling. His research focuses on exploring the process of refining mathematical ideas and engineering concepts that engineering students develop while engaging in model development sequences built in real engineering contexts.

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