Open AccessEXPANDING ACCESS TO ENGINEERING BY TEACHING PHYSICS THROUGH BIOENGINEERING: STUDENT IDENTITY REFLECTIONS
Author(s) -
R. Paul,
Miriam Nightingale,
Alina Ismaguilova,
Laleh Behjat,
Elena S. Di Martino,
Qiao Sun
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
proceedings of the ... ceea conference
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2371-5243
DOI - 10.24908/pceea.vi0.14160
Subject(s) - leverage (statistics) , bridge (graph theory) , identity (music) , physics education , engineering education , engineering ethics , diversity (politics) , engineering , key (lock) , mathematics education , engineering management , engineering physics , computer science , physics , biology , mathematics , sociology , artificial intelligence , acoustics , anthropology , anatomy , computer security
Diversity in engineering is a key goal, however a barrier for students from diverse backgrounds is the physics requirements in engineering. Often, they will have to choose between the three sciences, and don’t realize that without physics, their options are limited. We launched a pilot program in 2019 to expand access into engineering. Students without high school physics can take a summer bridge program to teach them the fundamentals and prepare them for first year engineering. Physics is taught through bioengineering to leverage their biology background knowledge. This paper presents a thematic analysis of student reflections in the program, using student identity development as a framework.