Research Initiation: Investigating the Connection Among Undergraduate Engineering Students Data Proficiency, Motivation, and Engineering Identity

研究启动：调查本科工程生数据熟练程度、动机和工程认同之间的联系

• 批准号: 2204937
• 负责人: Kim-Doang Nguyen
• 金额: $ 19.93万
• 依托单位: South Dakota State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2022-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2204937&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Initiation; Investigating; Connection; Among

Data and data analysis are increasingly pervasive in all engineering fields. It is critical for engineering students to retain and improve their data skills and to learn advanced techniques to be competent in the job market today and in the future. Engineering students and practitioners need to generate, interpret, and manipulate data in nearly all their professional activities. Data skills are defined as the ability to interpret data, make connections, and turn data into meanings to solve a problem ranging from foundational methods for refactoring data to advanced techniques such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. In developing data proficiency, students build the ability to contextualize, interpret, and manipulate data to meet stakeholder needs. Data, data skills, and data proficiency are critical for engineering students because data-enabled technologies are in high demand as they will continue to transform the engineering workplace and are instrumental in the ongoing radical shift of jobs replaced and augmented by automation. However, to date, the connection between the experiences building data proficiency and engineering identity and motivation has not been investigated and established. The overarching goal of this research initiation project is to employ a mixed-methods research approach to discovering how the development of data proficiency is linked with motivation and engineering identity throughout the undergraduate engineering curriculum. The research questions that guide this project, viewed through motivation theory and engineering identity theory are (1) How does the development of data proficiency support the professional formation of undergraduate engineering students? (2) How do facets of student motivation and personal identities influence the development of data proficiency and engineering identity for undergraduate engineering students at a rural land grant university? To answer these questions, we propose a two-phase mixed methods research design. The qualitative phase will interview student cohorts twice over the two years of the grant to understand how engagement with data skills and the development of data proficiency is built and interacts with engineering identity and motivation. These findings will influence the adaption of existing survey instruments to understand potential connections between data proficiency, engineering identity, and motivation more broadly.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在所有工程领域，数据和数据分析越来越普遍。对于工程专业的学生来说，保持和提高数据技能并学习高级技术以在当今和将来都有能力的高级技术至关重要。工程专业的学生和从业人员几乎需要在其所有专业活动中生成，解释和操纵数据。数据技能被定义为解释数据，建立连接并将数据转化为含义的能力，以解决从重构数据的基础方法到高级技术（例如机器学习和人工智能）等问题。在开发数据水平时，学生建立了将数据进行上下文化，解释和操纵数据以满足利益相关者需求的能力。数据，数据技能和数据水平对于工程专业的学生来说至关重要，因为支持数据的技术的需求很高，因为它们将继续改变工程工作场所，并有助于通过自动化所取代和增强工作的持续的根本性转移。但是，迄今为止，尚未研究和建立建立数据水平与工程身份和动机之间的经验之间的联系。 该研究启动项目的总体目标是采用一种混合方法研究方法来发现数据能力的发展如何与整个本科工程课程中的动机和工程认同联系在一起。通过动机理论和工程认同理论观察的指导该项目的研究问题是（1）数据能力的发展如何支持本科工程专业学生的专业形成？ （2）学生动机和个人身份方面如何影响农村土地赠款大学的本科工程学生的数据水平和工程认同的发展？为了回答这些问题，我们提出了两阶段混合方法研究设计。定性阶段将在赠款的两年中进行两次采访学生队列，以了解如何构建与数据技能的参与以及与工程认同和动力进行互动。这些发现将影响现有的调查工具的适应，以更广泛地了解数据能力，工程认同和动机之间的潜在联系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估标准来评估值得支持的。