Dr. Hannah Budinoff received funds from NSF to explore the impact of inclusive teaching practices on engineering student success, with co-PIs Vignesh Subbian (UArizona), Francesca López (Penn State), and Ann Shivers-McNair (UArizona). Part of the project summary is listed below, and more details about our project can be found from NSF’s award page (Link).
“This project aims to serve the national interest by implementing evidence-based, inclusive pedagogical strategies in engineering design courses. Equity-centered approaches that emphasize the strengths and perspectives of all students in the learning process are critical to broadening participation in engineering and developing a diverse and innovative workforce. One promising approach, asset-based pedagogy, offers explicit ways to acknowledge the holistic student perspective and incorporate knowledge that affirms their identities into curricula. While there is a growing body of evidence that students’ identity and achievement are positively influenced by asset-based pedagogy, there is a lack of research specifically showing its impact on undergraduate engineering student outcomes. This early-stage research project plans to develop, integrate, and study the impact of asset-based approaches in engineering design courses. Incorporating these approaches in engineering design courses will allow for different ways of knowing and doing engineering among students and, ultimately, promote the formation of their identities as engineers. The project hopes to generate new knowledge on the implications of asset-based practices in postsecondary engineering education. This knowledge is especially novel because there is limited evidence showing the impact of asset-based pedagogical practices on college student outcomes. This project intends to develop tools and strategies that educators can readily incorporate into their design courses. Findings and resources from this work have the potential to improve the perception among educators that all students, including women, gender minorities, and racial and ethnic minorities, can engage and succeed in engineering activities. Consequently, the collective change among faculty instructional approaches and students’ learning approaches enabled through this work has implications for the overall college success and career readiness in STEM students.”