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PRESENTATION 1

Title:
Remembering interdependence: A descriptive and normative framework for teamwork in engineering education

Abstract:
This descriptive and normative framework describes how current teamwork delivery can be problematic and a normative alternative. Current teamwork delivery focuses on technical knowledge while grouping students in the hope that social skills will naturally emerge. It also encourages individualism, as grade incentives and time limitations lead students to divide the work and add it together at the end, especially in computer courses. Finally, uncritical teamwork delivery perpetuates assimilation and oppression as the dominant students lead and decide for the rest, while unintentionally silencing the voices and opinions of the majority. The normative alternative of the framework offers ways to: a) scaffold technical and social skills; b) resist individualism with interdependent cooperation/collaboration; c) provide alternatives so teammates realize how power structures impact themselves, teammates, and team dynamics; and d) value multiple ways of knowing and being. This work is intended for STEM educators who are interested in helping their students work effectively and justly in teams. 

Bio:
Jorge Cristancho Rodríguez is a PhD candidate in Engineering Education at Purdue University. He holds a bachelor's and master’s degree in electronic and computer engineering from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. His larger research interest is nurturing social and environmental principles into engineering education. His current work focuses on fostering effective and just teamwork, as well as supporting educators in aligning their values with their teaching practices.

PRESENTATION 2

Title:
Narrative analysis of two colonial engineering migrants: Career decision-making and transnational ties within the Greater United States

Background:
Opportunities to pursue a career in engineering in Puerto Rico are limited. More than half of the STEM workforce leaves Puerto Rico to find work in the United States. Yet, being in a well-paying career like engineering allows emigrants to create new and unique ties to the archipelago.

Purpose:
In this study, two Puerto Rican engineering migrants unpack desires and motivations related to leaving the island and describe how they navigate their lives as colonial migrant engineers in the United States. This study’s research questions are: (1) Which experiences caused two Puerto Rican migrants to consider pursuing engineering work in the industry sector in the United States? (2) How do two Puerto Rican engineering migrants describe their transnational ties while working in the industry sector in the United States?

Approach:
This study engages in narrative analysis to understand the migrants’ decision-making, adaptation, and maintenance of transnational ties to Puerto Rico. Using transnational migration theory, I explore the in- and out-of-work social fields that relate directly to their lives as engineers. Results: I find that transnational social fields facilitate the maintenance of connections to family, friends, ex-coworkers, and school peers. These connections then facilitate exchanges of information, opportunities, cultural maintenance, and engineering knowledge. Conclusions: These ties become important for migrants to preserve their well-being, cultural attributes, professional networks, and family connections, gaining full or partial social support with non-migrants through virtual out-of-work means. Each participant leverages their support networks for engineering-related benefits in unique ways.

Bio:
Kevin Jay Kaufman-Ortiz is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University and is based in Ithaca, NY at Cornell University. Kevin holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus and an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. His interests currently lie in LGBTQ+ experiences in engineering, cultural adaptation, acculturation, decolonization, belonging, and colonial migration from the U.S. territories who are looking to pursue engineering careers in the contiguous United States. His dissertation phenomenologically explores the experiences of engineering migrants within the U.S. empire, paving the way towards new areas of study in engineering education, especially from a migration lens.