Reshaping norms

The goal of the Reshaping Norms project is to change the culture of an undergraduate engineering course in a manner that more broadly includes students from diverse social, cultural, and traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in Engineering. Reshaping Norms serves to incorporate pedagogies, strategies, and initiatives into the classroom that are founded on inclusiveness, encourage nonconformity, and promote student involvement within their local communities. It is anticipated that these classroom interventions will have an immediate and positive impact on student learning and attrition, and a positive long-term influence on the traditional boundaries of engineering identity. To accomplish this goal, the project is designed to meet the following objectives:

1. Test and refine a series of classroom interventions designed to impact the professional formation of undergraduate engineering majors;
2. Increase student interest in engineering and self-efficacy toward continuing in the engineering profession;
3. Integrate sustainability into the project for a long lasting impact on the field; and
4. Broaden the base of engineering faculty prepared to tackle the difficulties of professional formation through targeted mentorship.

The hypothesis underlying this project is:

Underrepresented engineering students who participate in classrooms that seek to create an inclusive community, and relevancy in the course, will have increased interest in the field and self-efficacy towards continuing in the profession.