UMBC Engineering and Computing Education Program (ECEP)

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http://hdl.handle.net/11603/29321
The Engineering and Computing Education Program (ECEP) officially launched in March 2019. The program intends to support activities inside the classroom and in research that spotlight trends and ideas in the changing landscape of engineering and computing education.

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    Responsible Computing: A Longitudinal Study of a Peer-led Ethics Learning Framework
    (ACM, 2022-09-15) McDonald, Nora; Akinsiku, Adegboyega; Hunter-Cevera, Jonathan; Sanchez, Maria; Kephart, Kerrie; Berczynski, Mark; Mentis, Helena
    We studied the impact of introducing first-year computer science (CS) students to ethical thinking about the social justice impacts of data collection, tracking, bias, internet privacy, and competitive “real world” system design and critique activities. While basic content was consistent for all, one group was involved throughout the course in peer discussions designed to foster greater engagement, with the anticipation that this would enable students to reach new levels of sensitivity through peer-to-peer interaction. This article reports on our observation of this design, interview, and project data collected throughout the course as well interviews conducted eight months later to learn about how students were retaining and applying what they learned. We found that students are sensitive to the technology-related risks and vulnerabilities encountered by individuals based on race, gender, and, to some extent, age, but they struggle to assess who is responsible for these risks, what to do about bias in technology design, and how to mitigate harms for individuals whom they perceive to be vulnerable, furthering the argument for an integrated ethics curriculum. We explore the value of formal peer-led discussion to evolve social justice thinking with a focus on identity, though note that opportunities for any group discussion are meaningful to students’ thinking about social justice. Over the longer term, students tend to recall and apply ethics that is closely related to their identity, suggesting that empathy has limits.
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    Qualitative Study of Women’s Personal Experiences of Retention and Attrition in Undergraduate Engineering Programs
    (ASEE, 2023-06-25) Kreiner, Elle Ann; Gurganus, Jamie R
    Women’s persistent underrepresentation in engineering fields is a national priority. In the past two decades, the proportion of women earning degrees in engineering has increased from 18% to 21%. This work-in-progress paper presents the preliminary longitudinal mixed-methods analysis and results from a study designed to advance the understanding of women’s experiences in undergraduate engineering at a mid-size university. This research, in its third year, focuses on qualitative analysis examining personal experiences as they coalesce with gender, sex, race, and other identifying factors. These compiled experiences provide insight into how the identifying factors influence educational outcomes as aligned with our sociocultural understanding of undergraduate engineering education. Qualitative methodology in the form of ethnographic interviews and focus groups were used to examine a racially diverse sample of ten cohorts of undergraduate women in engineering programs, in addition to currently enrolled students. The aim of this portion of the project is to elucidate the cultural ecosystem of undergraduate engineering education and its relation to women’s achievement motivation and to complicate the discourse on identity in engineering education with an examination of structural modes of power, privilege, and inequality within the discipline. This research seeks to answer: What personal experiences in engineering cohorts are related to retention and graduation among undergraduate women, and what experiences may be ubiquitous in these cohorts? Findings from this research pertain to various majors (mechanical, chemical, or computer engineering), touching on first-hand experiences of prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination, mentorship, growth, and opportunity. The final phase of the project completes comparative analysis of data collected through mixed methods.
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    Development and Facilitation of a New Certificate/Class for Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in Engineering and Computing Programs
    (ASEE, 2023-06-25) Gurganus, Jamie R.; Berczynski, Mark
    At a midsize minority serving institution, an undergraduate teaching assistant program was adopted in 2005 in chemical and mechanical engineering. Due to the success, the model was then adopted by the College of Engineering and Information Technology at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), into all departments. These students, known as teaching fellows (TF), not only have an impact on their engineering and computing peers, but also develop skill sets in a non-traditional platform giving them new pathways into academics and industry. Several TFs in their third, fourth or fifth year of their program, perform, act and behave as potential future faculty. In a recent case study [1], students discussed their consideration in going into faculty positions and found the experience increased their efficacy in both their professional and technical competencies. In the university's commitment to teaching and innovation excellence, UMBC decided to become a Center for the Integration for Research Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) member in 2016. This is housed in graduate school and is a part of the PROMISE, or future faculty, programming. To support the movement towards creating better teaching faculty and its goals to improve STEM undergraduate education, UMBC personnel proposed and received approval to develop and expand a certification to the undergraduate population. To distinguish itself from the graduate level, it was given a classification of CIRTL undergraduate associate certificate. To earn this certification the students must complete the following seminar classes: ● Engineering 396 (ENES 396): Fundamentals of Teaching Fellow Scholarship ● Engineering 397 (ENES 397): Advanced Topics of Teaching Fellow Scholarship Both seminar classes were developed through the Engineering and Computing Education Program, held in the COEIT, allowing multidisciplinary enrollment. CIRTL curriculum and other in house pedagogy were utilized and redesigned to be digestible for undergraduate students. In this work-in-progress paper, class discussion of teaching philosophy, mid semester ‘bullet list’ development and full teaching philosophy statements generated by the teaching fellows were examined for successful outcome achievement. The data collected will be used to help assess the effectiveness and further develop the seminar class. [1] J. Gurganus, M. R. Blorstad and M. M. Headley, "Training beyond the classroom: Case Study of the Impact of a Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship program," 2022 IEEE IFEES World Engineering Education Forum - Global Engineering Deans Council (WEEF-GEDC), Cape Town, South Africa, 2022, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/WEEF-GEDC54384.2022.9996214