Advancing Undergraduate Engineering Education: Tools to Develop Engineering Design Skills that Consider Social, Economic, and Environmental Factors

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by promoting engineering design that considers social, economic, and environmental factors. It will do so by supporting the distribution and adaptation of a Social Engagement Toolkit developed by the principal investigators. This resource provides instructors with teaching materials that help engineering undergraduates gain skills in considering social aspects of engineering problems when designing solutions and engaging clients and stakeholders. These skills align with the National Academy of Engineering’s 21st Century Challenges and are foundational for today’s engineers. However, these non-technical skills are often under-emphasized or absent from engineering curricula. The impact of the Social Engagement Toolkit on student learning will be examined across multiple courses and different institutions, including Georgia Institute of Technology, University of California, Fullerton, and University of Michigan, Dearborn. The results will inform how to adapt the Social Engagement Toolkit for different institutional contexts. A study of the instructors’ attitudes to adoption of the Social Engagement Toolkit is also planned. The resulting adaptations of the Social Engagement Toolkit can produce an important, transferable resource to support socially engaged engineering education nationwide. The Social Engagement Toolkit uses a hybrid learning block approach to provide on-demand virtual lessons combined with in-person coaching to help engineering students learn to integrate contextual information (e.g., physical, personal, social, cultural, and societal contexts) at every phase of their engineering work. The research component will assess the impact of the Social Engagement Toolkit on student learning and instructor adoption of the materials into their courses across institutional contexts and program settings. The research questions will be answered via a mixed methods study that includes surveys and focus group interviews. The impact of the Toolkit on student learning will be investigated via collection and analysis of pre- and post-assessment data. Both engineering instructors who adopt and those who do not adopt the Social Engagement Toolkit will be queried to understand barriers to adoption and to assist the adaptation of resources to suit instructors’ needs. It is expected that the Social Engagement Toolkit will be a vehicle for promoting greater inclusiveness in engineering programs. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.