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1. Experts’ and Novices’ Perspectives on the Priority of the Head, Heart, and Hand in Civil Engineering: A Mixed Methods Study

   Jeremi London, Christina Lam ( January 2020 , IJEE International Journal of Engineering Education)

   null (Ed.)

   Although some have called for engineering curricula that fully integrates learning in the head (cognitive), hand (skill), andheart (affective) domains, others acknowledge the difficulty of overhauling existing curriculum to adequately prioritize the‘‘heart’’. The opinions of experts are often consulted to inform curricular changes, but this is rarely compared to theopinions of novices. There is a need for a better understanding of both experts’ and novices’ perspectives on the role of the‘‘heart’’ in engineering education and in engineering work. With an emphasis on civil engineering, this study uses aconvergent parallel mixed methods research design and Shulman’s Three Apprenticeships framework to investigateexpert and novice perspectives on the priority of affective constructs in undergraduate education and their approach todesigning facilities for users with needs different from their own. Data was collected from civil engineering experts andnovices at an annual regional civil engineering-focused conference. Results suggest experts and novices may have differentperspectives on which values should be emphasized earlier versus later in civil engineering education. Implications of theresults from this study suggest that while many values should be emphasized in engineering education, it might beimportant for educators to emphasize certain values (e.g., compassion) earlier rather than later to assist in thedevelopment of a well-rounded engineer. 

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2. Early Career Engineers’ Advice for Civil Engineering Instructors

   Beddoes, Kacey ( January 2023 , Hawaii International Conference on Education)

   There is a growing interest in engineering education research on school-to-work transitions and early career engineers. Much of this work documents misalignments and gaps between engineering education and engineering practice. Contributing to that growing body of research, this paper presents findings on the advice that early career engineers would give to engineering instructors. The research question addressed in this paper is: What is the most important advice that recent graduates have for civil engineering instructors? Data came from interviews with civil engineers in the United States. Sixteen early career civil engineers were asked what advice they would give instructors in civil engineering programs. Open coding methods were used to identify and categorize themes in the responses. In contrast to the other interview questions, for which participants’ answers differed to a large degree, the uniformity with which participants answered the “advice” question was striking. Nearly all participants said that instructors should have a better understanding of real-world engineering work practices and/or experience working in industry. Their reasoning and explanations are elaborated upon in this analysis. Programs and suggestions on how this could be accomplished are discussed. 

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3. Understanding Expert Perceptions of PBL Integration in Introductory Aerospace Engineering Courses: Thematic Analysis of Focus Groups with PBL and Aerospace Engineering Instructors

   Olewnik, A. ; Schrewe, L. ; Ferguson, S. ( January 2023 , ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Problem-based learning (PBL) is gaining momentum in engineering education as a student-centered teaching approach that engages students in problems that mirror realities of practice. While the goal of this pedagogical approach is to more authentically prepare and train students for success in the field, it can be both challenging and frustrating for faculty to effectively implement. In this research paper, the opinions of faculty experts from aerospace engineering and PBL are considered. Data were collected through two structured focus groups to identify areas deemed critical for the transition of an introductory, second-year aerospace engineering course to PBL at an R1 university on the East Coast of the United States. Four different dimensions of PBL integration were considered: design, learning objectives, implementation/facilitation, and assessment. Through a thematic analysis of focus group transcripts, results showed that while the experts identified many areas that were critical to consider during this transition, there are important areas of divergence among the expert groups. In fact, areas of distinct opposition were exposed. This study highlights the importance of considering feedback from both content/technical experts and pedagogical design experts during the development and integration of PBL and lays the groundwork for further exploration of if and how consensus between these two groups can be found to support improved curriculum development. 

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4. Productive Designs for Successful Failure: Constructionist Perspectives on Supporting Personally Meaningful and Culturally Empowered Learning and Teaching

   Tissenbaum, M ; Smith, C ; Bawankule, A ; Hopping, D ; Holbert, N ; Correa, I ; Danzig, B ; Zikovitz, D ( October 2023 , ETC Press)

   In education, we cherish success and fear failure. But not every learning experience is a success right away, in fact failing and making mistakes and then learning from them is the norm rather than the exception. In this symposium, we present different perspectives on how failure can contribute to constructionist learning and teaching, examining how learners identify and address failures in their designs and how distinct approaches to failure can support learners in collaboratively creating personally meaningful projects. Taking a holistic approach to failure—that incorporates cognitive, social, and affective factors—we argue that failure should play a key role in constructionism and present different perspectives for finding a more productive stance that turns failures into rich opportunities for constructionist learning and teaching. 

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5. Belonging in Engineering

   O'Hara, Robert M. ; Bolding, Candice W. ; Ogle, Jennifer H. ; Benson, Lisa ; and Lanning, Rachel ( June 2020 , 2020 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   When examining factors affecting student academic success, it is important to consider how these factors interact with one another. Students’ affective attributes are complex in nature; thus, research methods and analyses should holistically examine how these attributes interact, not simply as a set of distinct constructs. Prior research into engineering students’ affective attributes, in which we used a validated survey to assess student motivation, identity, goal orientation, sense of belonging, career outcome expectations, grit and personality traits, demonstrated a positive correlation between perceptions of belongingness in engineering and time spent in the program. Other prior research has examined interactions between affective attributes, for example, engineering identity as a predictor of grit (consistency of interest). However, more work is needed to examine the complex relationships between sense of belonging, engineering identity, future career outcome expectations and motivation, particularly for students in an engineering program undergoing curricular change. This paper describes a confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model to examine how engineering identity, career outcome expectations and time-oriented motivation (specifically, students’ future time perspectives, or FTP) impact their sense of belonging in engineering, with grit (consistency of interest) as a moderator of these relationships. To conduct these analyses, we used survey data collected over two years from sophomores, juniors, and seniors enrolled in an undergraduate civil engineering program (2017-18, n=358; 2018-19, n=556). Based on descriptive statistics and initial statistical comparisons, we confirmed our prior findings that students’ sense of belonging at the course level increased with time in the program (from sophomore to senior year), and that engineering identity increased with time in the program as well. In addition, we observed that seniors had higher perceived instrumentality, a sub-construct of FTP indicating their perceived usefulness of their courses in reaching their future goals, than sophomores and juniors. We found that course belongingness and FTP have the strongest influence on belongingness compared to other affective attributes we assessed. When identity and motivation were factored in, career outcome expectations were not influential to engineering belongingness. Finally, we found that time-oriented motivation (FTP) was also a mediator of this relationship through its influence on grit (consistency of interest). 

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