Year of Action on Diversity
Diversity’s Forgotten Dimension
The number of students with learning challenges is growing. We need to work with them.
By Barbara M. Moskal
I recently overheard a discussion between two fourth graders, a girl and boy, who had just finished a chess game. Both have distinguished themselves by displaying advanced mathematical and scientific reasoning. Both also wrestle with tough learning challenges. “I’m dyslexic. How about you?” the girl began. “No, I’m not that. I have ADHD,” replied the boy. “It means that I have a lot of energy and I have a tough time focusing. I used to take medicine for it, but it didn’t work.” He asked the girl to explain dyslexia. “I have a tough time reading, spelling, and remembering things,” she said. “I don’t think there is a medication for mine.”
That these children felt comfortable revealing their symptoms suggests that – at least in elementary school – such learning problems are no longer stigmatized as signs of lesser intelligence. If so, word has probably reached their instructors and parents that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia can exist alongside – and might even assist – strong ability in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
In college-level engineering, however, students with learning disabilities are often a forgotten and underserved group. As we seek to promote diversity in all its dimensions, educators need to be aware that these students are appearing in increasing numbers on college campuses. Many of them are aspiring engineers. We will need to work with these students and the Disability Services Office at our institution to create a productive, fair, and supportive learning environment.
Nationwide, we’re not talking about a small population. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6.4 million children in the United States – 11 percent – between the ages of 4 and 17 were diagnosed with ADHD as of 2011. The number of children diagnosed with ADHD has risen by more than 3 percent per year since 1997, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) reports.
ADHD is not considered a learning disability; it is considered a brain-based disorder that results in significant distractibility and may result in additional learning challenges. However, many children diagnosed with ADHD also have learning disabilities. These are a collection of disorders that interfere with an individual’s efficiency in learning to read, write, spell, or compute. Many individuals with normal and above average intelligence also have learning disabilities. Common types of learning disabilities include: dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia. These disabilities impact an individual’s ability to learn language, mathematics, writing, and physical manipulation skills, respectively.
Approximately 2.4 million students have been diagnosed with learning disabilities, according to the NCLD. Eighty percent of children with a known learning disability are diagnosed with dyslexia; in other words, close to 2 million elementary, middle and high school students have been diagnosed with dyslexia.
As university awareness of students with learning problems increases, more students are receiving the support that they need to succeed in their education, and more students with known learning disabilities are pursuing a college degree. University faculty, who already have overburdened schedules, now have a legal responsibility to accommodate disabled students’ learning needs.
Will society as a whole benefit from this requirement and the increased demand it imposes? Let me answer by introducing two academics, whom I’ll call Drs. Beta and Delta. Dr. Beta holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in engineering, has several patents, and is broadly published and recognized in his field. In middle school, Dr. Beta was diagnosed with dyslexia. He admits that he was different and that this came with challenges. He naturally sees the world, including language and text, in colors and patterns. Now he connects his differences to his successes. Dr. Delta is another internationally recognized researcher, with several prestigious awards. She grew up before learning disabilities were commonly diagnosed and only suspects that a learning disability caused her early learning challenges. For her, elementary school was “a beast,” middle school was bearable, and high school and college were easy. Reading was a burden; it was not until she was in graduate school that she felt she could read at the same level and pace as her peers.
Could our two young chess players be future Drs. Beta and Delta? And are we ready to equip them with the skills that they need?
Barbara M. Moskal is a profesor of applied mathematics and statistics at the Colorado School of Mines, where she directs the Trefny Institute for Educational Innovation and the Center for Assessment of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Board Profile
Sheryl Sorby
3D Visionary
Sheryl Sorby almost quit engineering during her first graphics course at Michigan Technological University. “For the first time in my life, I was struggling in class,” she recalls. “It was like I hit a wall.” She stuck it out, ultimately earning a Ph.D. in solid mechanics, and went on to teach… graphics and computer aided design. In the early 1990s, Sorby discovered the reason for her rocky introduction to the field. Despite stellar high school performance in calculus and chemistry, she lacked one skill important to early success in engineering: spatial visualization, or being able to see in the mind’s eye how various parts fit or work together and what objects might look like from different vantage points.
From that eureka moment, Sorby blazed a trail in engineering education research – figuring out how to assess and overcome a learning gap that drives many women and students from low-income backgrounds away from engineering. Over the years, she and colleagues have honed a course to boost spatial skills, increasing class activities and updating software. The course is a key part of the National Science Foundation-backed Engaging Students in Engineering initiative, or ENGAGE, which has been shown to boost female retention rates significantly. It works outside engineering as well; Sorby, whose two daughters are engineers while her son is preparing to be a scientific illustrator, plans to adapt the course for pre-dental students. Less quantifiable, perhaps, is Sorby’s belief in patiently responding to students’ questions. “When I took graphics, my male friends – for whom the whole class was super easy – couldn’t understand why you had a question or why you couldn’t see something that was so obvious to them.”
Retiring after a career at Michigan Tech, where she rose to become associate dean of engineering for academic programs, Sorby pursued engineering education research at the Dublin Institute of Technology on a Fulbright fellowship. Out of that work, several Irish universities are collaborating to launch a nationwide study on spatial-skills development. Sorby will assist remotely from Columbus, Ohio, where she is now a professor at Ohio State University’s Engineering Education and Innovation Center.
Sorby sought out ASEE as a forum to present her research findings, but has since served in a number of leadership roles, particularly in the Engineering Design Graphics Division, which in 2007 presented her with a distinguished service award. “It seems to me the Society is becoming more responsive to the needs and desires of its members,” she says, crediting Executive Director Norman Fortenberry’s leadership. In one example, she cited progress made by ASEE’s information technology department to address changes sought in Monolith – the online platform for conference proceedings – by the Professional Interest Councils.
Meet Your Staff
Systems Maestro
By Nathan Kahl
Steve Woodward is ASEE’s senior systems administrator, which means a lot of things; from the perspective important to ASEE staff, Steve is the guy who smooths things out when your computer doesn’t like you, though he does a lot of “back end” work to keep technical systems running seamlessly throughout the organization.
Like many in the IT world, Steve is self-taught. “As opposed to taking things at face value and doing what you’re supposed to do with them, I want to know why, what’s behind it, and how to make it better.” When he arrived at ASEE seven years ago, the network was showing its age, affecting day-to-day activities. With Steve’s hands-on attention, today few on staff complain about how well their computers operate.
This bleeds over into a passion he has outside of work: giving TLC to his 1968 Dodge Dart, a vehicle that came into his possession several years ago. Anything he can figure out how to do on the car, he does, and he notes he’s learned a lot about electronics and auto mechanics from his tinkering. But part of his enigmatic personality is revealed when he discusses the vehicle: Steve hates to drive; the last time he took the Dart for a spin was to be inspected ten months ago.
ASEE staff will note that Steve pays as much attention to his wardrobe as his car. His signature look is well known around the office: a slim-fitting suit with tie and classic Chuck Taylor canvas shoes, a look he first adopted for ASEE’s annual conference in 2009. “I found some suits that were awesome and interesting, and I had to have those, so I got them and have figured out what to do with them from there.” Why those particular shoes? Steve credits a kindred problem-solver: “There was some Dr. Who influence in there…the David Tennant one.”
Steve loves his job at ASEE. “The way Keith Mounts, the CIO, runs the department, I always feel that what I’m doing is important and appreciated.” The challenges and variety of his role keep him enthused. “I like to take things apart and put them back together. It’s not about being able to do a lot of things, but being able to figure out how to do a lot of things. While I don’t necessarily like the term ‘jack-of-all-trades,’ I have those characteristics to some extent. I know electronics, I know how to cook, I know mechanics, I know how to sew, etc. And what I do here feeds into that love of diversity of interests. I encounter new things all the time.”
ASEE Call for Award Nominations
ASEE is currently seeking nominations for awards to be presented at the Awards Ceremony at the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition in Seattle, Washington, in June 2015.
All it takes is a little of your time for a deserving colleague to receive national recognition on June 15, 2015, in the presence of an audience of esteemed colleagues in the engineering education community.
Descriptions of all awards, including award criteria, nomination requirements, and online award nomination forms, are available on the ASEE website at http://www.asee.org/member-resources/awards. Hard-copy nominations, which will also be accepted, should be sent to:
ASEE
Awards Administration
1818 N Street, N.W., Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
The deadline for submitting award nominations is January 15, 2015. If you have questions, please call (202) 331-3516 or send an e-mail to awards@asee.org.
ASEE National Awards
- Frederick J. Berger Award for Excellence in Engineering Technology Education
- Chester F. Carlson Award for Innovation in Engineering Education
- Isadore T. Davis Award for Excellence in Collaboration of Engineering Education and Industry
- DuPont Minorities in Engineering Award
- Clement J. Freund Award
- John L. Imhoff Global Excellence Award for Industrial Engineering Education
- Sharon A. Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education
- Benjamin Garver Lamme Award for Excellence in Engineering Education
- ASEE Lifetime Achievement Award in Engineering Education
- James H. McGraw Award for Excellence in Engineering Technology Education
- National Outstanding Teaching Award
- Robert G. Quinn Award for Excellence in Experimentation and Laboratory Instruction
Society Awards
- ASEE President’s Award
- W. Leighton Collins Award
- Distinguished Service Citation
- Donald E. Marlowe Award
- Fellow Grade Membership
- Honorary Membership