2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

NSF RIEF: Applying Inclusive Teaching Strategies to Promote Belonging and Engagement in an Upper-level Engineering Course, Year 1

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

The traditional teacher-centered transmittal model of teaching and learning does not promote student engagement and sense of belonging, which makes it an inequitable learning environment. This NSF-funded Professional Formation of Engineers: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (PFE:RIEF) mixed-methods project explores how the use of inclusive teaching strategies may impact sense of belonging, behavioral engagement, and social engagement within an upper-level engineering course. The results of this work will contribute to our understanding of the benefits of using these strategies in a population that is in the late stages of engineering formation, which is not typically studied. This paper summarizes the project activities and preliminary results from the first year of the project.

Several inclusive strategies were incorporated into an upper-level architectural engineering course to create an inclusive and structured classroom learning environment that provides regular opportunities for practice, active learning, and interactions with peers. The strategies ranged from a syllabus revised to emphasize inclusive and student-centered language, to pre-class assignments, to in-class worksheets. The regular opportunities for low- and no-stakes practice are especially beneficial for students who may still lack the necessary skills to be effective self-directed learners. In turn, these opportunities provide a more equitable and inclusive learning environment, which may promote engagement and a sense of belonging in the course.

To assess impacts of these strategies on belonging and engagement in the first year of the project, three data collection methods were used in this mixed methods study: surveys, in-class observations, and interviews. The surveys (n=16 and n=20) consisted of a mix of Likert scale and open-ended questions. The belonging and engagement rating questions were slightly modified items from validated instruments (Maghsoodi et al., 2023 and Naibert & Barbera, 2022, respectively). The observation protocol was developed to collect evidence of in-class social and behavioral engagement. Lastly, the interview protocol was designed to learn more about students’ experiences of belonging and engagement in the course in the context of the instructional strategies. A regression analysis will be used to investigate if there are any relationships between the factors of belonging and two types of engagement, while a thematic analysis of the open-ended questions provides richer context around the quantitative results. Revisions to the in-class observation protocol will also be discussed. Lastly, interview data from five students will be deductively and inductively coded to conduct a thematic analysis. The thematic analysis is anticipated to provide rich insight into the students’ experiences in the course in terms of engagement and belonging.

The outcomes of this project’s first year are intended to contribute to our understanding of the impacts of the incorporated inclusive strategies on upper-level engineering students in the context of the relevant belonging and student engagement frameworks. These findings will be a significant contribution to the field of engineering education research since these strategies have been primarily studied in introductory math and science courses. The work may also be relevant to persistence in the field after degree completion since belonging is not frequently studied in students approaching graduation.

Authors

Dr. Michelle C Vigeant http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9055-6173 The Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Dr. Michelle Vigeant is an associate professor of acoustics and architectural engineering (AE) at the Pennsylvania State University. She primarily teaches two undergraduate courses in architectural acoustics and noise control in AE within the Department of AE, but also teaches some graduate level courses in the Graduate Program in Acoustics. Dr. Vigeant is passionate about implementing different pedagogical approaches in her courses, in particular those that promote active engagement and active learning during lectures. She also enjoys mentoring undergraduate and graduate research assistants on topics that link quantitative measures of room acoustics and noise to human perception of and physiological response to sound. Prior to joining Penn State, Dr. Vigeant was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at University of Hartford where she taught undergraduate courses in acoustics and provided research experiences for undergraduate students.
Dr. Jennifer S. Brown http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3712-8089 University of Georgia [biography]

Dr. Jennifer Brown earned her PhD in Engineering and Science Education (2023) and her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (2020) from Clemson University. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Elevate lab at the University of Georgia in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. Her primary research foci include graduate student and faculty professional development, graduate well-being, and mentorship of women and others with marginalized identities in STEM. Her engineering background is in advanced manufacturing and design.
Randi Sims http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6380-2460 Clemson University [biography]

Randi is a current Ph.D. student in the department of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University. Her research interests center around undergraduate research experiences using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Her career goals are to work as an evaluator or consultant on educationally based research projects with an emphasis on statistical analyses and big data.
Dr. Karen A High Clemson University [biography]

Karen High, Ph.D., is a professor of Engineering and Science Education (ESED) at Clemson University. Prior to Clemson, High pursued technical and educational research as a chemical engineering professor at Oklahoma State University for 24 years. She has been active in educational research and initiatives for over her entire career. High has garnered more than $12 million in research funding, has written more than 100 peer- reviewed publications, and delivered more than 280 presentations and workshops on both chemical engineering and STEM educational research. She has mentored more than 40 graduate students and 50 undergraduate students in chemical engineering and STEM education research. Her current work focuses on student and faculty development and mentoring as well as student success in Calculus. High has held a variety of administrative positions: Clemson - Director of STEM Faculty Development Initiatives, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences (CECAS); Oklahoma State - Interim Director of Student Services, Coordinator of the Women in Engineering Program, and Director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Center. She currently serves as the Inaugural Director of the Clemson Center for Transformational Mentorship at Clemson.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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