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Board 39A: Improving Engineering and Social Science Students’ Research Efficacy and Career Motivation in Sustainable Development through International and Transdisciplinary Research Experiences

Year: 2024

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: Environmental challenges caused by climate change, population growth, and urbanization require transdisciplinary solutions that incorporate skills from the fields of science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), as well as the social sciences and humanities, with a perspective of sustainable development.Given the novelty and global nature of these challenges, students' development of transdisciplinary research skills, global competencies, and intercultural abilities is extremely important.The impact of short-term international and transdisciplinary research experiences on students' development of these skills and abilities has not been well studied.We used a mixed methods approach to assess the extent to which six-week interdisciplinary summer research experiences in Brazil improved the self-efficacy, identity, sense of belonging, cultural competency, attitudes, and career intentions of US undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds.Research placements were either field-based or labbased and often involved interactions with community members in low-income urban communities.Pre-and post-trip surveys and interviews with participants revealed increases in research self-efficacy, motivation to use technology, and intention to pursue careers in sustainable development.The research experiences did not have a significant effect on the participants' professional identities, their attitudes toward interdisciplinary research, nor on their teamwork efficacy.Many participants already had a high perceived sense of belonging in their respective fields and high measures of cultural competencies before the international experience, and there was no significant increase in those measures after the trip.The research experience inspired one respondent to perceive sustainability to be a "luxury or privilege" that people from developed countries can consider, but people living in poverty (e.g., in favelas) cannot afford to worry about.

Source: ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

DOI: 10.18260/1-2--43128

Authors: Bettina Casad, Monica Palomo,, Erika Robb Larkins, Natalie Mladenov, Matthew Verbyla

Institutions: University of Missouri–St. Louis, California State Polytechnic University, San Diego State University

Language: English

Topic: Sustainability in Higher Education

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Science Foundation