Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Real-World Learning in Engineering: Case Studies of University Partnerships with Wastewater Treatment Facilities

This project aims to support undergraduate engineering programs to easily build effective partnerships with local wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), an important but often overlooked part of communities. These partnerships can give students significant, real-world, hands-on learning experiences about water treatment that make their education more meaningful and practical. Smaller colleges, especially in rural areas, often have a hard time connecting with industry partners. By studying successful partnerships and sharing what works and what challenges were overcome, the project intends to help more schools and industries work together. A planned result of this project is a workshop that gives colleges tools and strategies to start or improve partnerships that support better learning outcomes for students and stronger ties between schools and local industries. This project is also designed to enhance the knowledge, skills, and practices in STEM education research for the postdoctoral researcher. With over 16,000 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) nationwide, the wastewater industry is an underutilized and accessible learning resource for colleges and universities. Collaborating with industry partners in engineering education can enhance students' professional skills, benefit industry partners, and provide authentic learning environments. Despite these benefits, many faculty and departments lack the knowledge and tools to form and leverage these college-industry partnerships. Through a multi-case study of established WWTP partnerships, this research seeks to answer these research questions: 1) What successes, challenges, and necessary contributions from engineering programs and WWTPs help form and sustain mutually beneficial partnerships? 2) What are the unifying features and differences in these partnerships? 3) How do these partnerships impact student motivation and their beliefs about the authenticity of their engineering education? This study employs semi-structured interviews with faculty, wastewater treatment professionals, and students, and analysis of partnership agreements and course materials developed. The goal of this research, grounded in Activity Theory and Stakeholder Theory, is to obtain a deeper understanding of how universities and WWTPs can form mutually beneficial and sustainable partnerships and how these experiential learning environments impact student learning beliefs and motivations. This project is funded by the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. 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.