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Writer's pictureEric McChesney
Sep 25, 20241 min read

Changing Classroom Ecology to Support Continued Engineering Enrollment


 

Engineering requires more bachelor’s degree graduates to meet the growing demand for engineering skills globally. One way to address this demand is increasing student degree completion, which is lower than higher education in general. In particular, Black, Latino/a/x, and Indigenous (BLI) students are less likely to complete an engineering degree than their peers. BLI students experience a host of unwelcoming behaviors in engineering environments that contribute to departure without their intended degree. Improving environments to support belonging may offer one solution. Through an ecological belonging intervention, we seek to improve continued enrollment and increase belonging. Quasi-experimental methods were used in a second-semester engineering programming course. Surveys collected before and after an intervention combined with institutional data were used to test the moderation effects of the intervention on continued enrollment in engineering during the semester following the intervention. BLI students who were enrolled in intervention treatment sections were more likely to be enrolled in engineering the following fall. The intervention treatment increased belonging such that control section participants were less likely to continue to be enrolled in engineering. While research to assess the efficacy and mechanisms of the intervention is ongoing, the intervention offers promising results to address attrition, particularly for BLI students.


 
Writer's pictureEric McChesney
Sep 25, 20241 min read

Belonging in engineering for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students: Promising results from an educational intervention in an introductory programming course



 

Contribution: This study demonstrates the efficacy of an ecological belonging intervention in a first-year engineering programming course to increase belonging for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous (BLI) students and close academic equity gaps. Background: Introductory programming courses are often challenging for students and can shape belonging in engineering. BLI students may be particularly susceptible to interpreting struggle as confirmation that they do not belong in predominantly white spaces, which can negatively influence academic outcomes. Research Questions: “What are the effects of an ecological belonging intervention on BLI students’ feelings of belonging within their first-year engineering course?” and “What are the effects of an ecological belonging intervention on BLI students’ performance on a weekly computer programming assignment?” Methodology: The intervention was implemented with 691 students in Spring 2022 and was designed to normalize the struggle to address threats to belonging and close equity gaps in BLI students’ academic performance. A pre-/post-semester survey measuring belonging was analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, and pass/fail academic records were analyzed using logistic regression. Findings: The targeted belonging intervention for BLI engineering students can help to address issues of isolation and academic confidence that negatively impact individuals’ sense of belonging and academic performance.

 
Writer's pictureEric McChesney
Aug 31, 20221 min read

Creating an Organizational Culture in Support of Innovation Education: A Canadian Case Study


 

Innovation and its associated practices (e.g., entrepreneurial-focused curricula, creativity initiatives, makerspaces) are increasingly moving from the periphery to the center of postsecondary institutional identities on an international scale. Set against this context, the purpose of this study was to examine a Canadian institution distinctively identified for its positioning as the country's leading institution for innovation education. Building on a robust literature base and theoretical perspectives, we employed a case study methodology to examine these phenomena. Qualitative data were collected from administrators and staff from varying offices and perspectives (i.e., senior and junior, externally and internally facing), faculty from different disciplines and ranks, and students. Findings suggest that centering innovation presents a distinctive set of complications for institutional stakeholders as they empower students with the tools needed to build regional creative economies. Implications emerged for international researchers and practitioners interested in innovation at the level of students, institutions, communities, and nations.

 
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