leveraging-changes-in-engineering-and-computer-science-curricula-to-engender-inclusive-professional-identities-in-students

Paper ID #32819Leveraging Changes in Engineering and Computer Science Curricula to Engender Inclusive Professional Identities in Students Mr.. Breigh Roszelle currently serves as the Ass

Paper ID #32819

Leveraging Changes in Engineering and Computer Science Curricula to Engender Inclusive Professional Identities in Students

Mr Blaine Austin Pedersen, Texas A&M University

Blaine is currently a graduate student earning his Ph.D in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Research, Measurement, and Statistics at Texas A&M His research is primarily focused on issues of equity in STEM education.

Dr Robin A.M Hensel, West Virginia University

Robin A M Hensel, Ed.D., is the Assistant Dean for Freshman Experience in the Benjamin M Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University While her doctorate is in Curriculum and Instruction, focusing on higher education teaching of STEM fields, she also holds B.S and M.A degrees in Mathematics Dr Hensel has over seven years of experience working in engineering teams and in project management and administration as a Mathematician and Computer Systems Analyst for the U S Department of Energy as well as more than 25 years of experience teaching mathematics, statistics, computer science, and first-year engineering courses in higher education institutions Currently, she leads a team of faculty who are dedicated to providing first-year engineering students with a high-quality, challenging, and engaging educational experience with the necessary advising, mentoring, and academic support to facilitate their transition to university life and to prepare them for success in their engineering majors and future careers.

Ms Sumaia Ali Raisa, West Virginia University

Sumaia Ali Raisa is a Ph.D student in the Learning Sciences and Human Development Program, and a graduate assistant at PERC, in the College of Education and Human Services at West Virginia University Her research interest includes Cognition and instruction, measurement, and program evaluation.

Dr Rebecca A Atadero, Colorado State University

Rebecca Atadero is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University, specializing in structural engineering She conducts research on the inspection, management and renewal of existing structures, and on diversity, equity and diversity in engineering education.

Dr A.M Aramati Casper, Colorado State University

Dr Aramati Casper is a STEM education researcher and ecologist She is currently a research scientist

at Colorado State University doing research on diversity, inclusion, and social justice in undergraduate engineering classrooms.

Dr Ronald R DeLyser, University of Denver

Ronald R DeLyser is currently an Associate Professor Emeritus retired from the University of Denver where he was on the faculty from 1986 until 2019 He has received all of his degrees in Electrical Engi-neering: the B.S degree from the University of Florida, Gainesville, in 1974; the M.S degree from the University of New Mexico, in 1978; and the Ph.D degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder in

1991 Dr DeLyser, a member of the U.S Air Force between 1965 and 1986, held a teaching position at the United States Air Force Academy, served as a development engineer at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory

at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico and was the Requirements Officer for the Nellis AFB Ranges in Nevada Prior to 2000, his research areas included pedagogy, outcomes based assessment, the study of periodic gratings used as antennas and in antenna systems, high power microwave interactions with large complex cavities, anechoic chambers, and anechoic chamber absorbing materials Since 2000, he has been con-centrating on engineering education pedagogy, engineering program accreditation, and outcomes based assessment for both engineering programs and general education, and inclusive excellence for engineering

an computer science programs In retirement he continues his research in inclusive excellence.

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Paper ID #32819

Dr Christopher D Griffin, West Virginia University

Dr Griffin is a Teaching Assistant Professor and has over 10 years of experimental and computational aerodynamics research experience His primary area of expertise is unsteady aerodynamics, with a focus

on active flow control techniques and UAS aerodynamics Dr Griffin has experience in both supersonic and subsonic wind tunnel testing using a variety of measurement techniques, including strain gage based force and moment quantification and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) He is also well versed in the use

of computational fluid dynamics for aerodynamic analysis While at West Virginia University Dr Griffin has taught a variety of classes, including Fluid Mechanics, Thermodynamics, and Computational Fluid Mechanics.

Dr Scott T Leutenegger, University of Denver

Dr Melissa Lynn Morris, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

Melissa Morris is currently an Assistant Professor in Residence in the Mechanical Engineering Depart-ment at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas She previously served as a Teaching Associate Professor for the Freshman Engineering Program, in the Benjamin M Statler College of Engineering and Min-eral Resources at West Virginia University (WVU) She graduated Summa cum Laude with a BSME in

2006, earned a MSME in 2008, and completed her doctorate in mechanical engineering in 2011, all from WVU At WVU, she has previously served as the Undergraduate and Outreach Advisor for the Mechani-cal and Aerospace Engineering department and the Assistant Director of the Center for Building Energy Efficiency She has previously taught courses such as Thermodynamics, Thermal Fluids Laboratory, and Guided Missiles Systems, as well as serving as a Senior Design Project Advisor for Mechanical Engineer-ing Students Her research interests include energy and thermodynamic related topics Since 2007 she has been actively involved in recruiting and outreach for the Statler College, as part of this involvement

Dr Morris frequently makes presentations to groups of K-12 students.

Dr Morris was selected as a the ASEE North Central Section Outstanding Teacher in 2018.

Dr Christina Paguyo, University of Denver

Christina H Paguyo, PhD, is the Director of Academic Assessment at the University of Denver Her re-search interests focus on designing and examining educational environments grounded in rere-search, theory, and equity.

Dr Jody Paul, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Dr Jody Paul is a Professor of Computer Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, an open-enrollment institution located in downtown Denver, Colorado Professional experiences also include: performance musician and orchestrator (AFM Local 47 Lifetime Member); educator; sailing and fitness instructor; software engineer; computer scientist; locksmith/security consultant; software development manager; notary public.

Ms Seoyeon Park, Texas A&M University

a Ph.D student at Texas A&M University and a research assistant in Partnership for Equity (P4E) project

Dr Karen E Rambo-Hernandez, Texas A&M University

Karen E Rambo-Hernandez is an associate professor at Texas A & M University in the College of Edu-cation and Human Development in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture In her research, she is interested in the assessing STEM interventions on student outcomes, measuring academic growth, and evaluating the impact of curricular change.

Dr Breigh Nonte Roszelle, University of Denver

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Paper ID #32819

Dr Breigh Roszelle currently serves as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science and a Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Denver She currently teaches courses in the fields of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and introduction to engineering, including computer aided design Her educational research interests include first-year engineering experiences, assessment, inclusive excellence, and active learning pedagogy, including project-based learning.

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Leveraging Changes in Engineering and Computer Science Curricula to Engender Inclusive Professional Identities in Students

Introduction

To identify and solve the wicked problems [1] our society faces, science, technology,

engineering, and mathematics (STEM) enterprises need a heterogeneous constellation of

perspectives, mindsets, and expertise Diverse teams are appealing because of their documented capacity to outperform groups selected based only on ability when facing difficult challenges [2] However, organizational theorists note that equipping people with the skills necessary to work together productively on teams composed of diverse members remains a challenge [3]

Additionally, the culture of engineering and computer science, in particular, is often

unwelcoming toward those with diverse backgrounds, further disrupting efforts to form capable teams in those STEM enterprises

Historically, many diversity-focused interventions have centered on “fixing” the marginalized minority to cope with the unwelcoming cultures in which they are situated Instead, the

interventions in this project attempt to change the culture such that it respects and values

diversity in all of its forms

Leveraging diversity as a tool for confronting complex and persistent societal problems will therefore require engineering and computer science educators to be attentive to priming all students to work on diverse teams and be committed to addressing matters of equity within their respective fields With this in mind, the ultimate purpose of our 5-year (currently in year four) multi-institutional NSF IUSE (Improving Undergraduate STEM Education) funded program, The Partnership for Equity (P4E), is to challenge the culture of engineering and computer

science by developing, implementing, and evaluating novel curricular changes intended to

engender inclusive professional identities in engineering and computer science students Students with inclusive professional identities will: “(1) have the necessary technical knowledge, skills, and abilities to work in their chosen field; (2) appreciate how all kinds of diversity strengthen engineering and computer science as disciplines; (3) know how to act in inclusive ways and create inclusive environments within their fields; and (4) consider an endeavor’s impact on diverse populations” [4] Notably, the project approaches diversity from a holistic perspective that includes different life experiences, demographic characteristics, problem-solving

approaches, and personalities, while also valuing the experience of populations historically underrepresented in engineering and computer science

Interventions developed by this program are highly malleable, with the intent of making their implementation into multiple campus and course scaffolds, each serving a variety of students from different backgrounds, a facile process Each activity is designed to address one of three specific aims: to teach students to (a) appreciate diversity within the engineering or computing context, (b) work in diverse teams, and (c) serve diverse populations through their professional work The primary objective of the poster accompanying this paper is to highlight a subset of the nearly 40 curricular intervention activities created by the P4E To make these curricular

interventions easier for instructors currently teaching in the engineering and computer science domains to conceptualize how these changes might apply to their courses, the activities are organized by implementation type: out-of-class activities, in-class activities, and homework assignments The variety of modes by which these intervention activities can be incorporated into the classroom is an intentional design choice that allows space for technical content and inclusion and equity skill development Additionally, the broader impact of the research program

to date will also be discussed

Out-of-Class Intervention Activities

Interview with the Dean

Adapted from work at the University of Michigan [5], first-year engineering students attend a live (either in-person or virtual) interview with the Dean of the College of Engineering

moderated by an engineering faculty member or administrator In this interview, the dean is asked questions about their career, some of the teams in which they have participated, the value

of diversity on teams, and how implicit bias can affect a team and their product This activity is directly related to our second goal: appreciate how diversity strengthens engineering and

computer science

The purpose of this interview is to have an authoritative figure: (1) establish expectations of and norms for engineering students regarding valuing diversity and working collaboratively and inclusively on teams; (2) provide advice for academic and professional success as an engineer; and (3) give examples of well-known alumni from a variety of backgrounds who have been successful engineers and impacted society positively For example, one question asks the dean to reflect on an unsuccessful team in which they participated and explain what went wrong The examples typically point to poor communication, implicit bias, and a lack of diversity on the team to address the problem appropriately leading to a result that did not adequately meet the users/customer’s needs

This activity can be easily implemented both in and out of the classroom In 2020, this activity was conducted as a virtual webinar and student questions were asked in the Q&A feature which was monitored by the meeting host

After listening to the dean’s interview, students are asked to write a one-page reflection paper in which they are asked to describe what they learned from the interview: (1) what is needed to be successful in the engineering profession; (2) the expectations of, or norms for, engineering students; and (3) the lessons learned from the examples provided regarding the difference

between successful and unsuccessful engineering teams These reflections play an important role

in helping students understand the importance of valuing diversity in engineering teams and behaving collaboratively and inclusively on teams while also providing instructors with insight into the impact of the intervention

Interactive Theater Sketch

In this activity adapted from Finelli and Kendall-Brown [6], first-year engineering and computer science students are asked to attend an interactive theater sketch depicting a dysfunctional team, followed by responding to questions in an online module During the sketch, trained facilitators direct discussion amongst the audience, provide insight, and guide the interactive component of the sketch The activity's goal is to use observation and role-playing to learn how to approach biases within peer group settings and address our goal of teaching students to act in inclusive ways and create inclusive environments within their field

The sketch developed for this intervention consists of a hypothetical student lab group working

on a report The group is composed of two members identifying as men and one identifying as a woman The facilitators ask the audience to observe the actors as they work on the report, noting

an empty chair within the group As the sketch progresses, it becomes obvious there is a

dominant member of the group that diminishes the woman’s contribution This includes

questioning her abilities and blaming her for previous mistakes within the group The sketch ends with this member of the group becoming overwhelmed and exiting the stage At this point, the facilitators begin to elicit responses from the audience based on what they just saw Audience members are asked if they can relate to such a setting and, if comfortable, to share some of those experiences

After some discussion, the actors reset the sketch and prepare to act it out again The facilitators invite any audience member to stop the action during this enactment, insert themselves into the sketch, and intervene to prevent the result they had previously witnessed After each attempted intervention, facilitators thank the audience member for contributing, ask about their approach, and solicit feedback from the rest of the audience This cycle of intervention and discussion continues and culminates with the facilitators providing summary insights and allowing the actors to shed their characters and introduce themselves to the audience

Following the sketch, students are asked to answer several reflection questions They are asked

to describe the problems they observed with the lab group, suggestions mentioned during the activity that surprised them, and what interventions seemed to work the best They are then asked

to propose an additional intervention that might have worked and what intervention strategies they could use in the future in similar scenarios

In 2020, this intervention was re-created for virtual implementation in which the actors

performed a related but modified sketch to depict a Zoom-based lab-group meeting, and students observed as webinar participants Because the “empty chair” implementation was not practical

in the Zoom environment, the actors were instead “debriefed” in their character roles and

explained to the audience how the actions of the other group members made them feel Students could ask questions of the actors and respond using the Zoom chat feature Only at the very end did the actors de-role and introduced themselves to the audience Notably, student engagement appeared to increase with the virtual implementation compared to the face-to-face format

Further, instructors note that non-verbal cues are more readily observable in the virtual format than in a live setting

This intervention employed professional actors at two universities and student actors at a

different university

Veteran’s Tool Project

According to the 2016 annual report from the Veteran’s Administration (VA), there were

approximately 4.4 million veterans who left military service with limited abilities due to their time serving in the military Organizations provide free hand and power tools to veterans to improve their lives and increase their employment opportunities In a semester-long project, this intervention tasked senior mechanical engineering students with redesigning commonly used power tools to be more easily used by people with dexterity, amputation, and coordination challenges Teams were required to use topics from the course such as threaded nonpermanent connections and/or welded permanent connections, compression springs, shafts, bearings, and additive manufacturing to increase the accessibility of a power tool

This project could be implemented in machine design courses at any institution Students

appreciated the real-world application and need for their designs The project emphasized the importance of inclusive design considerations as part of the design process thereby addressing our fourth goal: teach students to consider an endeavor’s impact on diverse populations

After submitting the project, students were asked to complete a reflection assignment The reflection questions focused on the mechanics of working in teams and the benefits of working with diverse team members

In-Class Intervention Activities

Team Problem Solving Jig Saw

The goal of the Social Sustainability in Local Projects (Team Problem Solving Jig Saw)

activity/assignment was to help Civil and Environmental engineering students understand and grapple with the way engineering projects are embedded within larger social and environmental contexts, and therefore both appreciate diversity and serve diverse populations In this activity, students used the social justice portion of the Envision rating system [7], which focuses on evaluating the sustainability of a project, to consider a current local engineering project This assignment was implemented at Colorado State University and the local project we chose was the Central 70 project to rebuild a section of Interstate 70 in Denver, Colorado [8] In this

activity, students first read a short introduction to the socially embedded nature of STEM

projects, then read multiple short popular media pieces about the project, including the public-facing project website and at least one local newspaper article The newspaper articles framed the project in different perspectives, such as posing the project as a great success that will help the largely Hispanic neighborhood where it is located, to yet another example of how power and privilege are used to inequitably harm local Hispanic communities In class, students discussed the project both with other students who read the same article, as well as with students who had read different articles The jigsaw structure is commonly used and can be modified for many different activities [9] This activity encouraged students to think about how engineering projects inequitably impact local communities in varying ways By the end of the activity, some students

were able to discuss problems with the project in how it created harm and the importance of multiple perspectives:

After talking with some students who had read articles in favor of the highway project, I realized that opinions have a lot to do with information provided They were highly in

favor of these projects whereas I, who had read articles against the project, viewed the project in a more negative light This will be useful in future interactions because

engineering is a profession that relies heavily on teamwork Understanding that access to information affects opinions greatly can help in dissolving any issues relating to

differences of opinions by making sure everyone has the same information and then

having a discussion about the implications of the information

However, other students still struggled to engage with the social disparities that the I-70 project

is exacerbating, and instead wanted to focus on avoiding grappling with challenging topics, and bypassed the social (seemingly short term) impacts to focus on the infrastructure development, or seemingly long-term impacts: I think that everyone had the same approach The biggest concern was for what was practical Therefore, the long-term benefits were considered more important than the short-term effects We think that for some students the problems embedded in the I-70 situation are too subtle and that by starting with more blatantly racist situations, students who struggled with the activity could be scaffolded into being able to see the more nuanced problems

in situations such as the I-70 project

This assignment could be readily adapted to other locations by using the Envision guidebook and question prompts with different regional infrastructure projects

Design a Hairdryer

The purpose of this intervention is for students to directly observe how diversity within a team, with a focus on gender, can impact design The intervention activity asked teams of

undergraduate students in a thermodynamics course to design a hairdryer The students were split into groups that were all male, all female, or an even split of both genders During the activity, students were given a handout with questions about how the hairdryer worked, energy balances and flow rates of the system, and lastly, to consider some new design aspects for a hairdryer After deliberation, the students then presented their designs to the class Following these

presentations, a class discussion led by the instructor asked students about their designs and their design process, and how the composition of their groups affected these designs Some of these questions included “Do you think your experience with the product reflected how you looked at the design? What about the experience of your teammates?” and “Did the makeup of your team affect how you looked at the design?”

After the activity and discussion, students completed out-of-class reflection prompts Students reflected on two questions, “How would having a diverse design team help during this type of process?” and “Why would having a diverse design team be important for all projects?” The reflections were not graded, but students received extra credit for completion

An evaluation of the student reflections found that all students who completed the reflection piece wrote something positive about the importance of diversity on teams Additionally, two

major themes appeared in the reflections: 1) Different knowledge, different opinions, different perspectives lead to group creativity, project success, and/or increased profits (67% of

respondents); and 2) Diverse teams lead to better innovation (52% of respondents) Notably, while the activity focused on gender, most students brought up other types of diversity in their reflections including race, ability, background, etc

A remote version of this activity was implemented in 2020 with the following changes: less focus on complex technical questions to not distract the students from the design elements, and

an additional “minute paper” reflection response was included before the discussion to help capture the students’ initial thoughts on the activity These results are still being analyzed

This activity directly addresses our third and fourth goals: teach students to work in diverse teams and serve diverse populations in their professional work

Perspectives Activity

Highly effective and inventive teams rely on clear lines of communication and a variety of perspectives In this intervention, students engage in a concrete example where both

communication and perspective are crucial to their team’s success

In this activity, teams of students are tasked with constructing a visual story from a set of

sequential images We used the book Zoom by Istvan Banyai [10], which contains a series of images that are “zoomed” out sequentially For example, the first picture in the sequence was a close up of a rooster, the next in the series is the same rooster but zoomed out to see him sitting

on a window sill, and the following is zoomed out even further to see a farm scene that includes

a farmhouse with the rooster sitting on the window sill The following pictures in the sequence continued to zoom out further

After cutting each page out of the book, each member is given an image that they are not allowed

to show any of the other group members Instead, students must verbally communicate what they see in the images After fifteen minutes of group discussion and attempting to line up in order, students place the image face down on the floor in the sequential order After the images have been placed, the images are flipped over and the team assesses the accuracy of the sequence, and corrections are made if necessary

Following the activity, students are asked to reflect on the most challenging aspect of the task and what strategies helped them communicate in effective ways in a class discussion During this discussion, the instructor asks students to consider the effect of missing even one of the

member's perspectives Further, students are asked to apply this to engineering teams: (a) how would missing perspectives impact the design process or the success of a team? (b) what can be done to be sure all perspectives are included? (c) what strategies did you use to connect with others— how could these strategies relate to what you can do to connect with a team member in engineering? Students generally respond positively and communicate a greater appreciation for multiple perspectives when it is explored in a concrete example like this, rather than as an

abstract concept

The content of this intervention could be implemented in any computer science or engineering course Additionally, this activity directly addresses our third goal: teach students to act in

inclusive ways and create inclusive environments within their fields

Homework Assignment Interventions

Using Diversity to Drive Innovation

The majority of new ideas are combinations of existing ideas This implies the more people who come together from different backgrounds, with different experiences, the more likely their ideas can result in a new and truly innovative idea However, it takes more than bringing together people with different backgrounds and experiences for innovation to occur Instructors must intentionally create environments that support their interaction

In this activity, sophomore chemical engineering students completed the Using Diversity to Drive Innovation intervention as a homework assignment via an online module In the module, students are asked to watch a fifteen-minute TEDx video about how diversity is used by

companies to create ideas and products The speaker highlights a diverse workforce as an asset and points out that a workforce should represent the population it is serving

After watching the video, students were asked to complete reflection questions The questions asked students to share what they found most surprising about the video content if what they learned will impact how they interact with other engineering students on team projects and, if in the future, they would select team members very similar or very different from them

The content in this invention could be implemented as a homework assignment in any course that requires teamwork Additionally, this intervention activity directly addresses our second and fourth goals: teach students to appreciate diversity in engineering and computer science and serve diverse populations in their professional work

Algorithmic Justice League

Modern technologies continue to implement features that rely on human interfaces, e.g a

fingerprint reader or facial recognition to unlock a phone However, the consideration of diverse persons is often not foregrounded in the development of the underlying technologies that make these features possible As a result, diverse populations are not granted equal access to these technologies and may be underserved by them

The purpose of this intervention is to develop student awareness about the ethical considerations associated with technology and demonstrate how technology interacts with diverse populations

In this intervention, students explore how computer software development, a seemingly objective profession, can unintentionally reify racism First, students watch a video in which a female computer programmer of color demonstrates how implicit biases appear in computer programs The first generation of facial recognition software, for example, failed to identify people with very dark skin as humans