2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Reframing Engineering in Multilingual and Multidialectal Contexts: The Role of Instructor Identity and Language in Dominican-Haitian Learning Communities (Work in-Progress)

Presented at Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES) Technical Session 6: LEES Works in Progress

This Work-in-Progress paper examines how engineering thinking is reimagined in multilingual and multidialectal settings through a STEM summer program in two Dominican-Haitian communities in the Dominican Republic. Designed and implemented by a multilingual and multicultural team, the program sought to center the experiences, practices, and knowledge of communities while introducing foundational engineering concepts. Drawing on culturally sustaining pedagogy and positionality theory, this study analyzes how the identities of instructors shaped lesson design and delivery, and how students’ engagement with engineering was interpreted through a multimodal and multilingual lens. Data sources included instructor journals, field notes, and community conversations. The thematic analysis highlights (1) the influence of instructors’ own definitions of engineering on classroom interactions; (2) the role of heritage language use in building trust; and (3) students' creative engagement with materials, which surfaced localized forms of engineering not always recognized in traditional curricula. This WIP illustrates the role instructors 'identities play in affirming the ways of knowing and doing of students in their communities while expanding notions of who engineers are and how they think. The paper offers early insights for designing equity-driven, linguistically inclusive, and culturally responsive engineering learning experiences in linguistically minoritized communities.

Authors

Ymbar Isaias Polanco Pino http://orcid.org/0009-0006-1418-1342 Tufts University [biography]

Ymbar I. Polanco Pino is a Civil and Environmental Engineering Ph.D. candidate, GEM Fellow, and Provost Leadership Fellow at Tufts University. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Missouri. As a researcher in the postsecondary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education space, Ymbar has focused on examining STEM culture's influence on racially and ethnically minoritized students with Dr. Terrell R. Morton and the Justice and Joy Research Team.

Currently, Ymbar is conducting research for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Department of Energy (DOE), alongside Andrew Parker and Dr. Greses Pérez, to enable equity considerations in commercial building energy efficiency programs through data analysis and community engagement. He hopes to continue doing research that supports and creatively engages historically excluded communities within the renewable energy transition. Ymbar is interested in using media and the arts as community-preferred learning approaches to demystify complex scientific concepts, rendering them more accessible, relatable, and engaging. This approach not only enhances community engagement and participation in energy justice initiatives but also contributes to a more inclusive and equitable educational landscape.

Ymbar is a research assistant for Dr. Greses Pérez, Tufts University Professor in Engineering Education, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Luis Federico Suarez Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach [biography]

Luis Suarez is pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science at Tufts University. He is a Research Assistant under Dr. Greses Perez at the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, where he has worked in culture-sensitive engineering programs. Luis is interested in exploring how students interact with new materials in multicultural settings.
Dr. Greses Perez P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4737-0888 Tufts University [biography]

Greses A. Pérez is a Ph.D. student in Learning Sciences and Technology Design with a focus on engineering education. Before coming to Stanford, Greses was a bilingual math and science educator at public elementary schools in Texas, where she served in the Gifted and Talented Advisory District Committee and the Elementary Curriculum Design team. As a science mentor at the Perot Museum, Greses locally supported the development of teachers by facilitating workshops and creating science classroom kits. She taught in bilingual, Montessori and university classrooms in Texas and in Dominican Republic. She earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Santo Domingo Technological Institute (INTEC) and a M.Eng. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) as well as a M.Ed. degree in School Leadership from Southern Methodist University (SMU). Her current research interests are located at the intersection of science and engineering education, multilingualism and emerging technologies. Prior to starting her career in education, Greses was a project manager for engineering projects and hydrologic and hydraulic studies.
Koral Melissa Nuñez Javeir
L. Clara Mabour http://orcid.org/0009-0008-0804-7176 Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach
Taisha Pierre Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach
Mia Jimenez Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach

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