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Observations from a citizen science engineering research project revealed implications for the formation of engineering students. Citizen scientist participants engaged in a months-long project to design, build, and use rainwater harvesting tanks. Their perceptions toward engineers and engineering were gathered from interviews and focus groups conducted at the start, interim, and conclusion of the project. Through a domain analysis of the transcripts, the authors found that the citizen scientists’ perceptions toward engineering as a process were greatly influenced by their participation in the project. However, their perceptions of engineers as persons did not change. Interestingly, the citizen scientists volunteered their own “funds of knowledge” about engineering skillsets and “habits of mind” but did not connect their personal traits and skills to engineering or engineers. Since the rainwater harvesting project of the citizen scientists was similar to the open-ended, project-based learning experiences of many engineering students, we posit that student perceptions of the engineering process are strongly influenced by project-based learning, but the impact on their engineering identity is limited. We explore the theoretical possibility of using asset-based community development (ABCD) mapping techniques to connect personal student strengths to communities in the context of open-ended, project-based engineering design. 

An initial exploratory study examined basic parameters of the sustainability mindset in an historically underrepresented group within engineering. An NSF water quality engineering research project engaged citizen scientists from vulnerable Latinx families in design, construction, and use of acrylic concrete structures for rainwater harvesting. During the start, middle, and end of the project, participants were asked to share their perceptions of sustainability through a series of exploratory focus groups questions: “How do you feel about droughts in the region; can you please tell me what you know about drought-resiliency; do you know ways a person might be able to conserve water during a drought; can you please tell me what you know about water quality testing?” Three coders (an environmental engineer, a civil engineer, and a sociologist) conducted a domain analysis of the focus group to determine emergent themes reflecting the sustainability mindset of the citizen scientists. Preliminary results show that between the onset and conclusion of the rainwater harvesting project, participants increasingly articulated their thoughts on sustainability in a future-oriented context requiring collective action in a broader, community sense. The preliminary findings have implications for sustainability- focused engineering outreach and crowdsourcing efforts.