TY - GEN
T1 - Exploring i-poems to explore the identity of underrepresented engineering student makers
AU - Kellam, Nadia
AU - Cirell, Anna
AU - Boklage, Audrey
AU - Coley, Brooke
N1 - Funding Information:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1636475. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 IEEE.
PY - 2019/3/4
Y1 - 2019/3/4
N2 - This Work in Progress Paper presents an NSF-funded study focused on understanding the role that makerspaces play in the identity development of engineering students from underrepresented groups (URGs). In recent years, makerspaces have become a popular addition to universities, with an implicit assumption that makerspaces will increase students choosing to major in STEM disciplines. The research question that guided this work is the following: How well do I-poems and thematic analysis help us uncover complex and nuanced understandings of the identities of engineering students and makers who are from URGs? For this paper, we share a passage from an interview and conduct an analysis of that passage using the I-poem analytic strategy and thematic analysis. In particular, we explore the possibilities inherent in using these analytic approaches to understand identity development. We discuss how the I-poem was effective in developing a more complex and nuanced understanding of the identity development of engineering student makers. Further implications of this novel approach are that I-poems show promise to resonate better with the reader and position the researcher and reader as 'standing alongside' the participant, instead of a more traditional approach of 'gazing at' our participants.
AB - This Work in Progress Paper presents an NSF-funded study focused on understanding the role that makerspaces play in the identity development of engineering students from underrepresented groups (URGs). In recent years, makerspaces have become a popular addition to universities, with an implicit assumption that makerspaces will increase students choosing to major in STEM disciplines. The research question that guided this work is the following: How well do I-poems and thematic analysis help us uncover complex and nuanced understandings of the identities of engineering students and makers who are from URGs? For this paper, we share a passage from an interview and conduct an analysis of that passage using the I-poem analytic strategy and thematic analysis. In particular, we explore the possibilities inherent in using these analytic approaches to understand identity development. We discuss how the I-poem was effective in developing a more complex and nuanced understanding of the identity development of engineering student makers. Further implications of this novel approach are that I-poems show promise to resonate better with the reader and position the researcher and reader as 'standing alongside' the participant, instead of a more traditional approach of 'gazing at' our participants.
KW - Diversity
KW - Engineering education research
KW - I-poems
KW - Inclusion
KW - Making
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063448234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85063448234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/FIE.2018.8658496
DO - 10.1109/FIE.2018.8658496
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85063448234
T3 - Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE
BT - Frontiers in Education
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 48th Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2018
Y2 - 3 October 2018 through 6 October 2018
ER -