For my research component, I worked with Amy Trowbridge and Tirupavalanam Ganesh in a qualitative study to understand which experiences in the GCSP impact students the most. This opportunity allowed me to further understand the program itself, as well as engineering education in general. I participated in this research group for both the Fall and Spring semesters of 2017.
Our research consisted of analyzing portfolios of previous program graduates by using open and axial coding methods to group and identify different kinds of development. The theoretical framework we used included three different components that contributed to the development of becoming an engineer: identity, accountable disciplinary knowledge, and navigation. We found that the GCSP contributed to all three of these components in substantial ways.
Identity is important because students need to be able to recognize themselves as engineers in order to fulfill their ability to contribute to society. The program helps students foster their identity as engineers by surrounding them with more students that share similar passions. While working with other Grand Challenge Scholars, students are encouraged to push themselves past the requirements of traditional engineering education.
Accountable disciplinary knowledge is the knowledge necessary for an engineer to perform their tasks, such as mathematics or communication skills. We found that throughout the program, students were being exposed to critical experiences that uniquely prepared them to be well-rounded engineers. Through service learning, for example, students learned what it was like to work on a project with an organized team of engineers much earlier than in a traditional curriculum.
The final component of the frameworks is navigation, which is the unique path every engineer needs to take to reach their goals, such as the courses required to earn a degree. We found that within the program, students took various interdisciplinary courses that introduced them to topics and focuses that they would have otherwise never been exposed to. Often times the completion of a component in the program lead to opportunities in research, newfound interests for work, or even commitments to furthering their education in graduate school.
Each of these experiences prepare Grand Challenge Scholars in different ways so that they can be ready for the professional world and to start challenging the major problems that face society. As a Grand Challenge Scholar myself, this research helped me better understand what the program was really doing, and allowed me to better appreciate the work I had done towards its completion. I was also a part of FURI for my two semesters of research, so I had the opportunity to present my research at two different FURI symposiums as well as a poster session at the American Society for Engineering Education conference in Columbus, Ohio. I gained communication skills and a deeper understanding of engineering education that allowed me to clearly describe our project’s qualitative research methods and findings. Having this experience will help me in future projects and challenges regarding education and research.
Figure 1: FURI poster I presented at the Fall 2017 FURI symposium.