Research Areas

Anti-deficit Approach to Engineering Education Pedagogy

Faculty Mentor:  Grace Panther

Description:  Multiple organizations have cited the need to increase participation in the engineering workforce to address the world’s grand challenges and for the U.S. to stay globally competitive (NSB, 2021; NSF 2020). To date, research in engineering education has predominantly addressed this problem by adopting a “deficit” perspective.  It is difficult to diversify engineering if engineering pedagogy continues with a deficit perspective that only selects for students with a narrow skill set. The deficit perspective focuses on a deficiency associated with the student that impacts their ability to succeed (Valencia, 1997). One area of deficiency cited in engineering education research literature is a student’s visuo-spatial skills. Visuo-spatial skills “enable us to manipulate, organize, reason about, and make sense of spatial relationships in real and imagined space” (Atit et al., 2020, p. 1). This work will challenge the deficit-orientated ideologies broadly adopted within current engineering education by taking an anti-deficit perspective (i.e., asset orientated perspective), to identify and leverage the strategies students use to be successful in undergraduate engineering degree programs. 

Fellow Opportunity: As part of an ongoing CAREER: Re-envisioning Engineering Pedagogy to Support a Range of Visuo-spatial Skills (NSF 2339207), Fellows may extend their qualitative data collection and analysis expertise through ethnographic-inspired course observations and longitudinal semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students. Additionally, fellows will be able to expand their theoretical expertise by actively participating in research from an anti-deficit perspective. An opportunity to interact with disciplinary faculty through dissemination and data collection will provide a fellow with boundary spanning experience.

Leveraging Virtual and Augmented Reality to Educate the Next Generation of Railroaders

Faculty Mentor: Logan Perry

Description: A true discipline-based project, this study applies engineering education research in the context of transportaion engineering. It aims to train and retain talent for the next generation of railroaders through the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). This project will utilize the digital data collected via 3D point clouds to create realistic AR and VR training environments. The result is an integrated inspection system/environment that allows inspectors to do inspections via AR and allows for the facilitation of educational training for an array of audiences.

Fellow Opportunity: The fellow on this project will get first-hand experience designing data collection protocols and analysis procedures. Specifically, they will 1) evaluate the extent to which VR/AR training modules impact learning in the context of industry-based education and 2) investigate the factors that affect learning and retention within the railroad industry. The results of this work have the potential to transform industry training practices by providing immersive, interactive, and scalable solutions that enhance both the efficiency and effectiveness of workforce development. The fellow will also have the opportunity to collaborate with industry partners, gaining insights into the practical applications of emerging technologies in real-world transportation engineering contexts. This project offers a unique blend of technical, educational, and industry-focused experiences that will equip the fellow with valuable skills for discipline-based educational research. 

Exploring Intercultural Competency Development in Graduate Engineering Research Environments

Faculty Mentor: Jessica Deters

Description: In an increasingly global and diverse society, engineering programs are called to produce engineers at all levels who have intercultural competency (also known as global competencies), representing the ability to work with stakeholders across the world and from a variety of cultural backgrounds. This collaborative research is a two-phase multiple methods project comprising a nationwide benchmarking phase to provide contextual details on the climate impacting graduate student development of intercultural competencies from both the faculty and student perspectives and follow-up deep interview and longitudinal mixed methods phase to understand the development of intercultural competencies over time. Findings from this research will transform both the graduate engineering education research subdiscipline and the global engineering education subdiscipline, which rarely interact. 

Fellow Opportunity: This opportunity comes from the funded project, Collaborative Research: Intercultural Competencies In the Wild: Exploring Situated Intercultural Competency Development in Graduate Engineering Research Environments (NSF 2414169), which began in August 2024. Fellows will have the opportunity to analyze data from a quantitative, nationwide survey and will have the opportunity to participate in qualitative data collection. By participating in this project, fellows can develop skills with advanced quantitative or qualitative research methods and build their knowledge of intercultural competencies and graduate education.

Building Capacity for Self-Directed Learning 

Faculty Mentors:  Heidi Diefes-Dux, Grace Panther, & Logan Perry

Description:  Engineers need to be able to guide their own learning in the workplace where the problems they work on are complex (Jonassen et al., 2006) and workplace learning occurs primarily informally (Marsick & Watkins, 1990). Embedded in an “ability to acquire and apply new knowledge” (ABET, 2023) is the ability to think critically - to identify gaps in one’s understanding or skills set, to examine and monitor one’s thinking processes and progress towards a goal, and to plan appropriate actions (Ku & Ho, 2010). Experts (e.g., practicing engineers) have the capacity to deeply engage in metacognitive strategies (Ertmer & Newby, 1996; Zimmerman, 2002). Students can develop self-directed learning (SDL) capacity through self-reflection (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2001). This research area involves examining the impact of integrating reflection activities across engineering curricula on students’ longitudinal development of metacognitive regulation strategies (i.e., monitoring, evaluation, and planning) as the basis for building students’ self-directed learning capacity. This research work also involves exploring engineering instructors’ and teaching assistants’ experiences with bringing reflection into their courses and finding means to overcome their challenges associated with developing knowledge about metacognition and new instructional methods for introducing and sustaining reflection as well as time and expertise to provide high quality (specific, theory-aligned) feedback to help students improve. 

Fellow Opportunity:  From the funded project, Enhancing Engineering Students’ Ability to Think Deeply about their Learning Through Formal and Continuous Reflection (NSF 2235227), multiple sources of data spanning multiple years and departments are available (e.g., student (n > 1000) course reflections, self-assessments of SDL ability, and knowledge-gains from reflection, as well as instructor interviews). In-depth analyses of differences are possible for students’ academic level, prior exposure to reflection, demographic groups, etc. Applications of AI to meet instructional challenges are also possible. A fellow will develop skills with advanced qualitative or quantitative research methods while extending their ability to apply theories (i.e., metacognition, self-regulation, SDL (e.g., Knowles, 1975). A fellow may also become involved in coordination activities that enable sustained research-to-practice-to-research cycles in engineering classrooms, such as developing and delivering theory-aligned and evidence-based training and education materials for reflection.