CAREER: Developing Novel Methods and Tools for Engineering Education Researchers

About This Grant

This CAREER project will develop a framework to guide researchers in analyzing, developing, and refining psychological theories to effectively incorporate engineering ways of knowing. The framework will help develop new knowledge based on a more robust understanding of engineering students in higher education. Theories are a crucial part of research projects; they help drive the questions we ask, the methods we use, and the conclusions we draw. They provide a roadmap to guide the data analysis and interpretation and position researchers within a body of existing knowledge. Traditional psychological theories often take a generalized approach to human motivation, overlooking the specificities of engineering contexts. The research outcomes include (1) a responsive understanding of engineering students’ achievement goal pursuits and their impact on academic outcomes and (2) a new evidence-based responsive survey instrument manual. Achievement goal theory (AGT) will be used as a case study to help develop and refine the processes needed to create the reimagining guiding framework. This project will employ qualitative research methods which use collected data to develop new theories (known as a "grounded theory approach") to uncover relevant achievement goals specific to the lived experiences of engineering students. This project will answer the following research questions: When using a grounded theory approach to reimagine AGT, what context-specific achievement goals emerge among engineering students? To what extent do the prominent themes identified in this research effectively capture the varied achievement goals among engineering students? Given the achievement goals, what are the distinct goal profiles of engineering students, and what are the implications of these profiles for their academic outcomes, engineering identity, and engagement? Through qualitative inquiry, this phase will elucidate the nuances and unique perspectives that shape the motivational pursuits of students within the engineering context. Twenty to forty engineering students will be recruited to participate in the interviews. Building on the insights gained from the initial research question, a contextually relevant survey instrument will be developed. This instrument will be designed through a focused approach, which is based on the salient achievement goals identified in Phase 1. Their shared experiences will inform the development of a responsive survey scale, which will be validated with 1,600 engineering undergraduate students via factor analysis. Validity evidence will be gathered to examine how these achievement goals influence academic outcomes through latent profile analysis. Collectively, these research questions will support the development of a reimagined guiding framework. The education outcomes are (1) a cadre of engineering education researchers who are equipped to reimagine psychological theories and (2) a graduate-level course teaching emerging scholars how to examine extant theories. This project aligns with NSF’s commitment to enhancing engineering education by addressing gaps in our theoretical understanding of all engineering students and providing actionable processes that can transform engineering education. 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.