Collaborative Research: Research Initiation: Applying Inclusive Teaching Strategies to Promote Cognitive Belonging and Engagement in an Architectural Engineering Course

A more diverse STEM workforce is needed to support innovation and creativity in the field. However, historically underrepresented students and low-income students are disproportionately less likely to earn undergraduate STEM degrees as compared to overrepresented students. A primary contributor to this achievement gap in graduation rates could be that historically underrepresented students are more likely to lack a sense of belonging in a STEM major. In alignment with the first goal of this solicitation, which is to conduct research in the Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE), the proposed work will evaluate the effectiveness of five teaching strategies on promoting cognitive belonging and engagement in an upper-level architectural engineering course. The teaching strategies include those that provided high structure, e.g., providing students with regular opportunities for learning the materials, and those that create an inclusive environment, e.g., in-class collaborative learning activities. These techniques will be incorporated into two offerings of the same course and evaluated using surveys, in-class observations, and interviews. If these strategies are found to be effective and eventually become widely adopted, more students will feel “I belong in engineering”, which will strengthen the engineering workforce long-term. In support of the second goal of this solicitation, which is to increase the number of researchers in this field, a mentoring and professional development plan will be implemented to develop the skills of the PI, Dr. Michelle Vigeant-Haas at Penn State University, in the engineering education research field and to grow her network. The plan includes working closely with her mentor, Dr. Karen High at Clemson University, an expert in the field, as well as a five-member advisory board composed of members from four other U.S. institutions. In addition, the PI will take relevant courses, conduct workshops, and share the results through presentations and journal publications. Belonging uncertainty contributes to the significantly lower average STEM graduation rates for historically underrepresented students. The research aim of this project is to understand how the use of high-structure and inclusive teaching strategies may impact cognitive belonging, and behavioral and social engagement in an upper-level architectural engineering class. Five instructional strategies will be incorporated into this course and be examined in the context of these three factors. A multi-method approach will be used to collect qualitative and quantitative data and a design-based method will be used to revise the strategies and measurement instruments across two course offerings. The theoretical foundation of this project consists of Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory of learning and a student engagement framework. This project will address the existing gap between these theories by exploring the impact of the proposed teaching strategies on belonging and engagement in a 400-level engineering course. The proposed work will be a significant contribution to engineering education research (EER) given most work relevant to these theories has been done in introductory math and science courses. The outcomes of this work could potentially lead to more students feeling that they belong in engineering, which will diversify the engineering workforce. The mentoring and professional development aim of this project is for the PI, Dr. Michelle Vigeant-Haas at Penn State, to develop EER skills and an EER network under the close guidance of her accomplished mentor, Dr. Karen High at Clemson University, as well as a five-member advisory board. The PI’s professional development plan includes a mentored EER experience, personal development plans, educational methods courses, and broad dissemination at both institutions, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conferences, and in appropriate journals. This work will also contribute to the expansion of the number of faculty conducting EER and create opportunities for multi-institutional EER collaborations. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.