2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This empirical Work-In-Progress paper explores the research question: How do K-12 STEM teachers participating in a seven-week engineering research experience describe and reflect on the construct of empathy as related to the work of engineers? Recent research in engineering education has emphasized empathy as an important aspect of the work of engineers. Engineers must consider how they will communicate and collaborate as members of interdisciplinary teams, and how their work will address problems and support solutions to real world concerns across social, environmental, local, and global contexts. However, the connection between empathy and engineering has not always been an obvious one and the emphasis on empathy is sometimes overlooked in engineering education in favor of prioritizing technical, practical, and conceptual skills.

Similarly in the K-12 educational sphere, teachers of STEM disciplines have the complex responsibility to translate the content, practices, and understandings of the nature of STEM and the disciplinary communities to their students. However, many K-12 STEM teachers have not had firsthand experiences with STEM-related research beyond undergraduate or teacher preparation programs, making it potentially difficult for them to fully grasp and incorporate such understandings into their teaching. Moreover, the notion of empathy as a significant aspect of science and engineering may be easily overlooked by K-12 teachers in the same way it has been historically overlooked in postsecondary engineering education if teachers are not attuned to the importance of empathy in STEM.

To address some of these concerns, Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) programs have been instituted at many universities and national laboratories to engage K-12 teachers in immersive firsthand participation in research within a STEM community, alongside mentor scientists and engineers. While RETs are understood to be productive professional development experiences for teachers, much of the research has not yet examined the impacts of these programs on whether and how teachers understand empathy as an aspect of the professional work of scientists and engineers.

As such, this research explores the experiences and reflections of seven middle school STEM teachers participating in a seven-week RET program at XXXXX. This RET is designed to provide teachers opportunities to participate in cutting edge engineering research around sensing technologies and applications for environmental and physiological monitoring. To understand teachers’ learning and experiences during the program, semi-structured interviews were conducted at the beginning and end of the program with each teacher participant. Taking a constructivist grounded theory approach, the interviews were examined for themes around teachers’ research experiences, connections to their classroom, and connections between engineering and the ‘real-world’. Connections between engineering and empathy emerged as a salient theme for all teachers. Specifically, teachers noted how (1) Engineering can impact the lives of real people; (2) Empathy is multidimensional in engineering work; and (3) Empathy is important in (STEM) education. As a work-in-progress, these three themes and their related implications for STEM education will be discussed in detail in the full paper and presentation.