Engineering identity is an integral determinant of academic success in engineering school, as it allows students to have an understanding of themselves in relation to what they study. Studies in engineering and other STEM disciplines have shown a positive correlation between identity and retention. Previous studies by Carlone and Johnson, Hazari, and Godwin have examined the following facets of a STEM or engineering identity: performance, competence, recognition and interest. While many current papers examine how culture and social interactions may influence identity, this paper examines how doing engineering coursework can uncover or influence a student’s engineering identity.
This comparative case study examines how two students’ experiences solving an Open-ended Modeling Problem (OEMP) in their statics class may have contributed to their engineering identities. Cristina and Dylan, our two cases, both recalled how they solved a problem about a hands-free crutch device in an interview at the end of the semester. None of the questions were explicitly about identity. The interviews indicate that both students were interested in solving these problems and recognized themselves as being capable of solving the problem. In the case of Cristina, the problem helped her build confidence, both through her understanding of the material and her problem solving abilities. Our results also saw both students discussing how the disciplinary authenticity made them ‘feel like an engineer.’
Implications of this work include a deeper understanding of how day-to-day problem solving
within courses can influence engineering identity and may aid in understanding how certain
activities and scaffolding can influence engineering identity. This is important as students who have strong engineering identities are more likely to stay in engineering, become competent engineers, and find success in their respective fields. This research can inform educators on the importance of assigning novel, ill-defined problems that require students to apply their critical thinking skills and logic skills in real world situations.
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Documenting Engineering Identity: Electrical and Computer Engineering Departmental Documents and Student Identity
As concerns about the preparation of engineers grow, so has interest in the dimensions of engineering identity. By having a thorough understanding of engineering identity, departments will be better able to produce engineers who understand their role as a member of the profession. Generally, engineering identity literature has not focused on specific disciplinary identities, instead looking at engineering as a whole. Previous literature has utilized role identity theory (e.g., Gee, 2001) and identified key dimensions of engineering identity, including one’s performance/competence and interest in engineering courses and recognition as a current/future engineer (Godwin, 2016; Godwin et al., 2013; Godwin et al., 2016).
This paper deepens our understanding of electrical and computer engineering identities. As part of research activities associated with National Science Foundation grant looking at professional formation of socio-technically minded students, we analyzed texts and documents from an electrical and computer engineering department to examine the department’s professed priorities. Using document analysis, we answered this research question: How is a department’s commitment to undergraduate engineering identity development expressed in departmental documents?
Document analysis focuses on texts to describe some aspect of the social world (Bowen, 2009). This analysis was performed with two types of departmental documents: front-facing documents (e.g., websites, newsletters) and internal documents (e.g., ABET self-studies, program evaluations) from an electrical and computing engineering department at a public research university. Analysis employed a priori and emergent coding schemas to formulate themes related to identity, performance/capability, interest, and recognition present in departmental documents (Bowen, 2009; Godwin, 2016). Specifically, we skimmed documents to ascertain inclusion status; read and coded documents in depth; and identified broader themes across documents (Bowen, 2009).
One broad theme was a lack of attention to identity; another showed emphasis on technical skills/competencies. By interrogating absences, we found that there is little attention being paid to identity development or its components in these documents. In other words, these texts do not indicate that the department is invested in supporting students’ senses of interest, performance, and recognition as electrical and computer engineers. Rather, we found that these texts emphasize the acquisition of specific concepts, skills, and competencies. Overall, analysis indicated that the department does not cultivate holistic engineering student identities. The resultant implications are by no means irrelevant—a focus on identity over specific skills could increase retention, increase student satisfaction, and produce better future engineers.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1623125
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10337960
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- 2018 ASEE Annual Conference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--30343
