Development of Veteran-friendly Military Technology and Instrumentation Mechanical Engineering Course

Abstract

Carolina Charlotte. Dr. Lim's research explores the intersection of gender, race, and class in STEM education and highlights the dialogical process of identity construction across various groups of underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. She has served as a co-PI and qualitative evaluator for three federal grants including a 1.

U.S. Military Students in Civilian Undergraduate Engineering Programs: A Narrative Review of the Student Veteran and Servicemember Literature

“…Seventeen studies were published in peer-reviewed conference proceedings and five studies were published in peer-reviewed journals, including the International Journal of Engineering Education, Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, Social Sciences, and International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. While each paper focused primarily on the experiences of undergraduate military students, five articles also studied populations that contained non-military affiliated participants [29], or participants whose family members had served in the military [11].…”

“…As noted previously, five studies included in this review engaged with non-military participants [16], [21], [24], [29] or participants whose family members have served [11]. In developing a mechanical engineering course that introduces military technology to engineering students, Dalhberg and colleagues [29] found that both military and non-military students found the course to be beneficial to developing an understanding of mechanical engineering topics.…”

“…As noted previously, five studies included in this review engaged with non-military participants [16], [21], [24], [29] or participants whose family members have served [11]. In developing a mechanical engineering course that introduces military technology to engineering students, Dalhberg and colleagues [29] found that both military and non-military students found the course to be beneficial to developing an understanding of mechanical engineering topics. This study suggests that introducing military technology in engineering courses can have a positive impact on military and non-military students and may be an effective way of creating inclusive environments for military students in engineering.…”

“…Self-report surveys were employed most often as quantitative measures. Janeiro and colleagues [19] and Dahlberg and colleagues [29] both used mixed methods approaches that combined qualitative interviews with quantitative surveys. Janeiro used this information to better understand the characteristics of military students at East Carolina University (ECU), as well as their reasons for choosing to pursue engineering at ECU [19].…”

“…[1], [12], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [20], [21], [22], [23], [25], [11], [26], [27], [28], [30], [31] Quantitative (2) [13], [24] Mixed Methods (2) [19], [29] Qualitative Eighteen of the 21 papers in this review used qualitative data generation methods. Almost all of these qualitative studies used in-depth or semi-structured interviews [1], [11], [18], [21]- [23], [25]- [28], [30], [31], focus groups [12], [15], [17], or a combination of both [14], [20].…”