Exploring and Advancing Inclusivity in Engineering Education Across Academic CommunitiesVaden, Jessica Moriah (2024) Exploring and Advancing Inclusivity in Engineering Education Across Academic Communities. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)
AbstractThe overarching theme of this research was to explore different aspects of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education experience across cultures and contexts in two engineering education communities, higher education and K-12. This dissertation offers new perspectives and resources to the engineering education community and provides a point of view to improve inclusivity and accessibility in engineering for all students. The research performed in the higher education community focused on the development and pilot of an inclusive classroom practices menu for engineering faculty across three contextually different institutions including predominantly white, Hispanic-serving, and STEM-focused. Inclusive learning communities (ILCs) were also convened to support participating faculty. To assess the impact of the menu and ILCs, faculty and student assessment plans included end of semester surveys and semi-structured interviews. Though literature has highlighted the positive impact of improving inclusivity in STEM classrooms, this research shares both the development of the inclusive classroom tools and the impact of these tools from student, faculty, facilitator, and researcher perspectives. This research also shares a novel conceptual framework of the STEM education environment which centers students’ identities in relation to the people who impact their development as STEM students. The second part of this research, performed in the K-12 education community, focused on the development and pilot of an international, virtual learning experience for middle and high school students (7th-12th grade) in rural Kenya in response to a local air pollution problem. This research offers a citizen science, problem-based curriculum that utilizes air quality monitoring to guide the learning. This curriculum employed a combination of educational and teaching frameworks which emphasized student-led and hands-on learning. In addition to the curriculum, this part of the research shares the air quality data and analyses, the student learning assessment and results, and recommendations. Compared with previous environmental-focused learning experiences, this research offers a unique perspective as it was conducted virtually and internationally amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of this dissertation present a larger case for improving inclusivity and accessibility to engineering throughout the education pipeline, particularly in the face of new social, political, and environmental challenges. Share
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