Summer, sunshine & celebrations ??? ????
Virginia Tech Engineering Education
Home to one of the first Engineering Education Ph.D.s in the nation and Virginia Tech's first-year engineering program.
We can hardly believe it's only been a month since our six new #EngineeringEducation doctors walked across the graduate stage! Since there's no limit to how many times we can celebrate them, meet the six new faces of engineering education and explore their dissertations.
Dissertation: Walking Between Two Worlds: Indigenous Student Stories of Navigating the?Structures & Policies of Public, Non-Native Institutions
Committee: Homero Murzi, Ph.D. (co-chair), Marie Paretti (co-chair), Jennifer Benning & Donna Westfall-Rudd
Abstract: This dissertation walks the balance between the western structures of academia and Indigenous ways of storytelling and knowing. Stories are how knowledge is shared and passed down in many Indigenous cultures. This study utilizes Indigenous Storywork methods, alongside western case study methodology, to explore how colonialism and the structures of public, Non-Native, higher education institutions and engineering programs impact the lived experiences of Indigenous STEM students. Through the use of TribalCrit, this study also connects individual student experiences through stories to systemic structures of universities and engineering programs in a way that honors and amplifies Indigenous ways of thinking and doing.
The study was situated at a university in the eastern U.S. and had three primary forms of data: document analysis of university historical documents and program policies and structures, focus group discussions with the university “Council of Elders” in the Indigenous community, and individual interviews with Indigenous STEM students. The Indigenous STEM students at North Carolina State University hold community as a cultural value from their Tribal backgrounds that is paramount to their success at the university. The students utilize community to access knowledge and build power for themselves as well as for the whole university Indigenous community.
NC State’s Indigenous engineering students, in particular, perceived the structures and policies of their engineering programs to be disconnected from community and relationality and thus did not utilize or connect to these structures as designed. This work also provides an example of a framework for engaging with university Indigenous communities to co-create meaningful and impactful research and demonstrates the differences in the experiences of Indigenous students in the eastern U.S. from those in the West, specifically in terms of their invisibility in the larger community, both on and off campus.
Dissertation: Teacher Pedagogical Choice: Analyzing Engineering Professional Development Programs and COVID in Middle School Science Classrooms
Committee: Jacob Grohs (chair), Jeremy Ernst, Ken Reid , & Liesl Baum
Abstract: Engineering education is increasingly becoming considered an important component of STEM integration in formal pre-college settings.?Professional development programs help teachers develop necessary classroom practices to integrate engineering into their curriculum.?The COVID pandemic has complicated instructional conditions, necessitating emergency remote learning methods to continue instruction amidst safety concerns.?General struggles in K-12 to scaffold engineering and emergent conditions that restrict instructional choices such as pandemics provoke consideration of the pedagogical choices teachers are able to make for STEM integration and what professional development programs should try to do.?Using end-of-program semi-structured interviews with participant teachers in the VT PEERS (Virginia Tech Partnering with Educators and Engineers in Rural Schools) program, this research aims to describe and explain the conditions and dynamics related to teacher pedagogical choice to employ engineering design activities in their classes both within the context of a partnership program and during the COVID pandemic.
Findings from the study show that teachers with supports that overcome or nullify inhibitive factors for pedagogical choice will be able to adopt and develop innovative practices.?Remote learning modalities and COVID-induced safety measures constrained the ability to teach according to familiar principles of instruction, harming teachers’ beliefs and development in the practice of the modalities.?There is a need for a model that includes complex interactions between the teachers and their environment that promote or inhibit teacher agency.?COVID also demonstrates that preparation will be necessary to equip teachers with more efficacious and flexible practices for remote learning when considering the potential for recurring pandemic conditions in the future.
Dissertation: The Journey of Becoming and Belonging: A Longitudinal Exploration of Socialization’s Impact on STEM Students’ Sense of Belonging
Committee: Nicole Pitterson (chair), Jenni Case , Allison Godwin , & Marie Paretti
Abstract: Persistently high attrition rates from STEM majors present a stubborn challenge for researchers, administrators, and faculty alike. To approach this problem, this dissertation examines the process by which students develop a sense of belonging to both their institution and their discipline. Previously identified as an important factor in students’ persistence and overall satisfaction with their undergraduate experience, belonging is a critical piece of the retention puzzle. By applying the theoretical lens of socialization to deepen the understanding of how social interactions help or hinder the development of students’ belonging, this study began to address several gaps in existing literature.
I identified three distinct socialization trajectories, named the Anchored, Independents, and Wanderers. These trajectories grouped students by how their socialization experiences evolved throughout the duration of their undergraduate careers and informed how their social connections to individuals and groups on campus contributed to the development of belonging. Fourteen unique groups of socializing agents were identified, along with five common drivers for intentionally engaging with specific agents. Pre-college socialization experiences were salient for developing anticipatory belonging, as students who were exposed to their discipline or institution prior to arriving as students had an easier time becoming integrated to their communities. These findings address several research gaps and hold potential implications for advising and student support practice, as well as further research on socialization, belonging, pre-college exposure to STEM, and retention.
Dr. Teirra Holloman
Dissertation: Race-conscious Student Support: A Comparative Analysis of Organizational Resilience in Engineering Education
Committee: Walter Lee (chair), Brandy Faulkner, David Knight , & Bevlee Watford
Abstract: One response to calls for broadening participation in engineering was the establishment of minority engineering programs (MEPs). Since their inception, MEPs have taken many forms with various functions and can be classified as engineering student support centers (ESSCs). Some ESSCs are considered race-conscious, meaning they specifically focus on race/ethnicity in their support of engineering students. Prior literature points to race-conscious ESSCs as integral to the recruitment and retention of minoritized students in engineering. Despite their importance, race-conscious ESSCs and their leaders have faced barriers threatening their organization’s survival. To understand how race-conscious ESSCs have survived, I conducted a multiple case study exploring race-conscious ESSCs through the lens of organizational resilience. In this study, I interviewed founding and current directors, with a cumulation of 70+ years of experience, of three race-conscious ESSCs.
The findings from this study provide insight into the types of events, actions, and outcomes that inform the forms and functions of race-conscious ESSCs seen today. I identified six types of events and four types of developments that were salient in leaders’ descriptions of their ESSC’s history. When considering the relationship between events and developments, some event types only occurred in connection with one type of development, while others were in connection with two or more types of developments. This study aims to be historical documentation of race-conscious ESSCs and what they endured to remain a resource to racially minoritized engineering students. Additionally, this study contributes to the holistic understanding of ESSCs by highlighting factors that enable these organizations to be resilient amid disruption. Lastly, this study adds to efforts calling for policy-makers, researchers, and practitioners to be mindful of the tradeoffs being made by race-conscious ESSCs in the name of resiliency and the unintended consequences of these actions.
Dissertation: Credit Loss for Engineering Transfer Students: In-depth analyses and visualizations of patterns across students and structures
Committee: David Knight (chair), Walter Lee , Sarah L. Rodriguez , & Natasha Smith
Abstract: Broadening participation in engineering has been a pressing goal for decades, yet progress has been slow. To meet this goal, the National Academy of Engineering recommends building transfer pathways from community colleges to universities.?Much of the previous research on transfer students has focused broadly on curriculum alignment, articulation policies, and academic advising to ease the transfer pathway in efforts to reduce credit loss.?Credit loss can significantly impact transfer students enrolled in highly sequential degrees, such as engineering, and result in unnecessary time and costs for students.?
Minimal research quantifies and visualizes credit loss or explains in detail how and why it occurs—my?dissertation?explores credit loss for engineering transfer students to understand how and why transfer students accumulate excess credit.?The first phase explores credit loss at a highly intensive research university using institutional data to compare across student characteristics, transfer type, engineering discipline, and state community college institutions.?The second phase quantifies and visualizes credit loss for engineering transfer students from in-state community colleges using data from both the sending and receiving institutions.?
The results of this study revealed that nearly all engineering transfer students experienced some form of credit loss.?The amount of credit loss differs across engineering disciplines, the types of sending institutions, and even between community colleges within the same state system.?Additionally, this study found that credit loss can occur throughout the entire degree pathway, from high school dual enrollment and AP credits to community college and even post-transfer.?Findings can be used to inform advisors, faculty, administrators, and policymakers about the role of credit loss in the engineering transfer process.?This work has implications for informing degree pathways, articulation agreements, and policies that promote successful transfer and degree completion, which ultimately has the potential to enhance college affordability.??
Dissertation: "This Is Bigger Than Me:" A Multiple Case Narrative Analysis of Sociopolitical Development within Black Engineers' Career Journeys
Committee: Jeremi London, PhD, MBA (co-chair), Walter Lee (co-chair), Marie Paretti & Brandy Faulkner
Abstract: Exploring the stories of Black engineers provide an opportunity to challenge dominant narratives about the apolitical nature of engineering work and realize the potential of bridging the socio-technical divide. Sociopolitical development (SPD) is an inclination towards social justice, the motivation to address social inequality in surrounding environments, and the formation of social agency to address contextual oppression. The purpose of this multiple case narrative study is to explore the process of SPD within five Black engineers’ narratives who are inspired to address social inequities through their engineering work.
The overarching research question is: How does the SPD process unfold through the career narratives of Black engineers??Through the multiple settings surrounding Black engineers’ career development, this research provides insight into how engineering stakeholders influence the cultural values underlying the nature of engineering work. Throughout their career narratives, Black engineers’ awareness, behavior, and evaluations of critical consciousness evolve. Events shaping their SPD are also mapped to the socio-ecosystems. The movement through SPD elements depict the holistic nature of the SPD process for Black engineers experiences in childhood, formal education, and the workforce. These results contribute to engineering education literature by: (1) presenting a counter-narrative of engineering work that accounts for the perspectives of Black engineers; (2) highlighting the sense of agency that is necessary to integrate social justice elements in engineering practice; (3) emphasizing the utility of critical consciousness development in establishing a sense of fulfillment in engineering identity; and (4) discussing the influence of critical reflection and social identities on political efficacy and action. Insights from this study should compel engineering stakeholders to reflect on how engineering values perpetuate inequities in engineering pathways and engagement.