This work-in-progress paper describes a new initiative at the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering to help our students integrate, and sometimes reconcile, their personal values with their engineering identity. In this paper, we describe how we are collaborating with the Office for Mission and Ministry on our campus to use the language of vocation in an engineering context to help our students develop a critical awareness about the choices they will make upon graduation. We present a brief introduction to the literature on vocation and reflection in higher education, discuss our approach to teaching this material in our first-year User-Centered Design course, and examine the impact of the activity on students through preliminary analysis of survey data. We find that students value discussion of these topics, but more work needs to be done to connect the concepts of vocation and engineering.
Dr. Diana A. Chen is an Assistant Professor of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. She joined the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering in 2016. Her research interests are in areas of sustainable design, including biomimicry and adaptability in structural, city, and regional applications. Additionally, her scholarship includes topics such as curriculum development, contextualization of fundamental engineering sciences and integrating social justice into engineering education. She earned her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from Clemson University, and her BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College.
Mark Peters received a Bachelors degree in Economics from Georgetown University and then pursued a business career in New York City, working in many of the major business disciplines. Over the past twenty years, Mark has worked and consulted for large corporations, professional organizations, hospitals, churches, and universities.
Dr. Peters earned a Masters Degree from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. He has taught in a variety of disciplines including: Business Management, Organizational Leadership, Economics, Ethics, and Leadership Studies, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Peters has twice served on the Faculty of Semester at Sea teaching courses in Social Entrepreneurship, Global Development, and International Management.
Mark enjoys integrating travel into his teaching and research, most recently designing study abroad courses in Latin America and Africa in sustainable development and social entrepreneurship. After completing his dissertation study on creating a culture of vocational exploration on college campuses, Mark completed a world tour researching micro-finance institutions and visiting universities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. During previous world travels, Mark has worked in Italy, Mexico, El Salvador, and Costa Rica, and spent a summer traveling through India.
His most recent teaching and research combine his love for the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and his passion for economic justice. Mark has worked in the Division of Mission and Ministry at the University of San Diego since 2001, now serving the role of Director for Mission. The pride and joy of their lives, Mark and his wife Danielle are privileged to raise a three-year-old daughter named Barbara Patricia, who commutes with her Dad to attend USD’s Manchester Child Development Center, preparing herself to join the USD Class of 2039!
Dr. Gordon D. Hoople is an assistant professor and one of the founding faculty members of integrated engineering at the University of San Diego. He is passionate about creating engaging experiences for his students. His work is primarily focused on two areas: engineering education and design. Professor Hoople’s engineering education research examines the ways in which novel approaches can lead to better student outcomes. He is the principal investigator on the National Science Foundation Grant “Reimagining Energy: Exploring Inclusive Practices for Teaching Energy Concepts to Undergraduate Engineering Majors.” He has also co-developed a unique interdisciplinary course, Drones for Good, where engineering students partner with peace studies students to design a quadcopter that will have a positive impact on society.
Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is an assistant professor of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. His current research investigates how the integration of the historically and culturally accumulated wealth of knowledge, skills, and practices - also known as funds of knowledge - and engineering design can serve as a pathway to and through engineering. Dr. Mejia is particularly interested in how Latinx adolescents bring forth unique ways of knowing, doing, and being that provide them with particular ways of framing, approaching, and solving engineering problems. Dr. Mejia’s primary research interests lie at the intersection of engineering education and social justice. He is particularly interested in the integration of Chicanx Cultural Studies frameworks and pedagogies in engineering education, and critical consciousness in engineering through social justice.
Susan M. Lord received a B.S. from Cornell University in Materials Science and Electrical Engineering (EE) and the M.S. and Ph.D. in EE from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Chair of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. Her research focuses on the study and promotion of diversity in engineering including student pathways and inclusive teaching. She is Co-Director of the National Effective Teaching Institute (NETI). Her research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dr. Lord is among the first to study Latinos in engineering and coauthored The Borderlands of Education: Latinas in Engineering. Dr. Lord is a Fellow of the IEEE and ASEE and is active in the engineering education community including serving as General Co-Chair of the Frontiers in Education Conference, President of the IEEE Education Society, and Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Education (ToE) and the Journal of Engineering Education (JEE). She and her coauthors received the 2011 Wickenden Award for the best paper in JEE and the 2011 and 2015 Best Paper Awards for the IEEE ToE. In Spring 2012, Dr. Lord spent a sabbatical at Southeast University in Nanjing, China teaching and doing research. She is on the USD team implementing “Developing Changemaking Engineers”, an NSF-sponsored Revolutionizing Engineering Education (RED) project. Dr. Lord is the 2018 recipient of the IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award.
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