The College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) is a unique opportunity for college of engineering undergraduate students to engage in hands-on research with a faculty mentor while using critical thinking, collaborative, and entrepreneurial skills. SURP is an 8-week long program (can be non-contiguous), and students are expected to spend at least 20 hours/week working on their research projects and additional time preparing and presenting their poster for the annual SURP symposium; SURP students and their faculty mentor will agree upon a start date and timeline for their research project (with a suggested start date of June 26th, 2023). The goals of SURP are to: 

Project Title: Exploring and Operationalizing Inclusive Teaching in Engineering Education

Faculty Email: blutz@calpoly.edu

This work will use qualitative methods to explore and better define inclusive teaching in engineering, with a long-term goal of enhancing student evaluation of teaching regarding inclusivity. Calls for inclusive teaching are growing in engineering education, but research remains limited regarding how engineering faculty enact inclusive practices and how students experience them. We will accomplish the beginning of this work during the summer of 2023 which will occur in three overarching phases, each lasting between 2-3 weeks. First, we will learn about human subjects research design and obtaining IRB approval for data collection. This will include developing semi-structured interview protocols for students and faculty that explore beliefs, experiences, and practices related to inclusive teaching. Second, we will pilot these methods with faculty and students. We will recruit students in Dr. Lutz’s research group as well as colleagues in different JEDI committees. Finally, we will conduct preliminary qualitative analysis and revise our interview protocols for subsequent data collection. This project is firmly situated within the scholarship of teaching and learning and is designed to enhance teaching in ways that benefit both engineering students and faculty. By focusing on aspects of inclusivity in engineering, this research has the potential to improve teaching and learning in Engineering at Cal Poly and can also influence the way educators think about what it means to be an effective engineering educator more broadly. 

HOW TO APPLY: