Implementation Grant: Enhancing Diversity in the Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Population Through Curricular Change

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Johns Hopkins University will lead a consortium of engineering schools to change the core mechanical engineering curriculum to make engineering more attractive to a diverse community. The overriding goal is to reconstruct undergraduate engineering curricula so that engineering is able to attract and retain a larger, more diverse population while maintaining or enhancing its standards for essential skills and knowledge. The hypothesis is that engineering will attract and retain a more diverse set of students if the curriculum has: greater linkages between the fundamentals and applications and between technical and nontechnical topics, more teaming experiences, shorter critical path lengths, more focus on the impact of engineering on the human experience, and a general atmosphere of inclusivity rather than exclusivity. All of the partnering institutions have committed to running the pilot curriculum and to participating in the reform process. There are 8 partnering academic institutions in this project: California State University at Los Angeles, The University of Washington, Michigan State University, Tuskegee University, Howard University, Smith College, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins University. All of these schools have a significant history of educational research and innovation, and all are committed to participating in the entire project, including piloting new modules and courses. The focus in this project is on process, i.e. on creating a rigorous process for curriculum revision that makes programs more attractive to a diverse community. The process involves the following steps: creating a comprehensive database of topics currently included in mechanical engineering curricula (already well under way); reviewing the topic list to eliminate material no longer relevant and adding material which is needed in the future; associating with each topic the prerequisites for understanding, the applications to which it applies, and nontechnical material which could be linked; building a curriculum map from the database and stated objectives of minimizing critical path length, integrating across technical topics and across technical and nontechnical topics, introducing more focus on applications and the social imperatives for engineering, introducing more teaming experiences, and transitioning to a more inclusive environment; piloting of new courses or course modules to test the hypothesis that the new curriculum will attract and retain a more diverse community of students. This will be accompanied by rigorous assessment and evaluation.