CAREER: The Overlooked Barrier - Exploring How Engineering Education Research Teams Negotiate Epistemic Differences

Engineering education is an interdisciplinary field that includes researchers and practitioners from a range of backgrounds - engineering, sociology, psychology, etc. Each of these disciplines have their own approaches that drive the “rules” that guide how research is conducted and what research questions are asked. These differences have led to tension and misunderstanding around the process of knowledge generation and application, limiting the research that is done and the impact of research on engineering education (e.g., K-12 engineering education, undergraduate engineering instruction). Researchers often incorrectly associate these tensions with ineffective communication or project management, creating an overlooked barrier facing research teams. This project will begin to address this overlooked barrier by first investigating how differences in thinking are negotiated among members of an engineering education research (EER) team. By gaining this understanding, this project will take an iterative approach to develop workshops, asynchronous trainings, and course modules focused on supporting EER researchers and teams to navigate barriers related to differences in thinking and ultimately create transformative change in engineering education. The key outcomes of this proposal will be (1) a conceptual model the incorporates epistemic culture and individual’s negotiation of epistemic identities within EER teams; (2) four workshops to expand the conceptual model and translate it for use by researchers; (3) a guiding tool to facilitate the integration of different research goals, approaches, and ideals (epistemic identities) within EER teams; and (4) an asynchronous virtual training and two instructional modules to support both established and emerging researchers. The outcomes of this work will ensure that researchers and teams have the knowledge and tools to navigate barriers related to differences in thinking. This project will achieve these outcomes through three major plans that are fully-integrated. The Research Plan will use a multimethod research approach to investigate 1) how researchers negotiate differences in thinking and 2) the culture that defines how and why teams select specific approaches to generate and apply knowledge. This investigation will be guided by the following research question: How are epistemic differences negotiated among members of engineering education research teams? This project will answer this question by integrating an ethnographic case study (Phase A) with approaches from grounded theory (Phase B). Phase A will deeply explore the culture that defines how knowledge is generated, expressed, and applied within a single research team. This deep exploration will develop an initial conceptual model that represents one way EER teams generate and apply knowledge. Phase B will expand this model by investigating how researchers across a variety of EER teams negotiate differences in thinking and define how knowledge is generated and applied. The Translation Plan will integrate the Research and Education Plans by developing and conducting four workshops. The first two workshops, called exploration workshops, will refine the conceptual model by adding constructs and connections that will be further explored through the Research Plan. Then, two development workshops will be used to translate the research findings to practice through the creation of a guiding tool to facilitate the integration of different research goals, approaches, and ideals within EER teams. The Education Plan will equip researchers and teams with the knowledge and tools to negotiate barriers related to differences in thinking by developing an asynchronous virtual training and two instructional modules. An iterative approach will be used to develop these training to ensure that their structure and content meet the needs of researchers. The asynchronous virtual training will be developed for established researchers. The instructional modules will be developed for emerging researchers and will be implemented within six engineering education programs. 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.