Bielefeldt has been a faculty member at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Department of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering since 1996. Her early research focused on bioremediation. Her recent activities are in the area of engineering education research and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. From 2019 to 2024 Bielefeldt was the director of the Integrated Design Engineering Program, and from 2006 to 2010 the director of the Environmental Engineering Program. She is currently the director of the Engineering Education doctoral program at CU. Bielefeldt is a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and a licensed P.E. in Colorado. Address: 428 UCB, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0428 USA
2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Oct 13, 2021
This full research paper explored the relationship between academic environment and faculty membe... more This full research paper explored the relationship between academic environment and faculty members' perspectives on ethics instruction. Ethical responsibility and awareness of the societal impacts of technology are crucial learning outcomes for future engineers. The study and practice of ethics are convergent since the subject draws on engineering and the humanities with the aim of positioning students to responsibly address the most pressing societal challenges. In the curriculum, faculty members' decisions regarding course content, including those related to ethics and societal impacts (ESI), result from a host of factors including influences at the department, college, and institutional levels. This exploratory study examined engineering faculty members' perception of their academic environment in relation to ESI education via a comparative case study of two engineering departments. The mixed-methods design included faculty interviews and surveys to understand participants' perceptions of culture, leadership, and curricular importance related to ESI. The study also employed document analysis to contextualize the formal inclusion of ESI and to triangulate the findings. The data suggested the influence that culture and leadership, especially at the department level, exert on perceptions of support for ESI instruction. Across both departments, the data indicated the high value that faculty place on ESI in engineering education. The findings suggest the importance of establishing both bottom-up and top-down support for ESI education and creating a culture in which espoused values align with formal structures and policies. With increasing attention paid to the inclusion of ESI and growing responsibility on engineering faculty, it is important to acknowledge the environment in which educators develop their instructional practices and perspectives.
ABSTRACT This research explored the social responsibility (SR) attitudes of engineering students ... more ABSTRACT This research explored the social responsibility (SR) attitudes of engineering students with respect to their self-reported religious beliefs and the religious affiliation of their institution. The study measured SR attitudes using 50 items on a 7-point Likert metric. Over 1900 responses were received in spring 2014 from undergraduate engineering students attending 5 Christian-affiliated and 12 secular universities. On average, students attending Christian-affiliated institutions had more positive SR attitudes than students attending secular institutions. However, an individual's religious beliefs were more important than the institution in predicting SR attitudes. Students who stated that they were very active in an organized religion had more positive attitudes toward SR than students who self-characterized as spiritual, who were in turn more positive than students less active in their religious preference, indifferent, or atheist. College courses were reported to have impacted views of SR by 42–74% of the students attending various institutions; among these students, 32% of the students attending Christian-affiliated institutions indicated that religion-related courses had an impact. The results indicate a need to further explore how religious beliefs impact SR beliefs, toward the goal of more effectively encouraging all engineering students – religious or not – to recognize the importance of socially responsible engineering.
This Work-in-Progress paper explores the global work interests of engineering students. Expectanc... more This Work-in-Progress paper explores the global work interests of engineering students. Expectancy-value models indicate that interest in working abroad should motivate students to develop global competencies due to utility value. Further, Social Cognitive Career Theory indicates that student interest in international careers may be influenced by personal and environmental factors. This exploratory research used convenience samples of data. In a national survey (17 institutions, 2305 responses), 58% of the engineering students had some interest in living internationally as a factor important in their future careers. Student interest in living in a developing country was higher among female students, decreased with rank in college, and differed by both discipline and institution. Student interest in living in a developed country was higher among female students and varied among institutions. Among incoming first-year civil, architectural, and environmental engineering students at one large public institution, 76-94% had some interest in working on projects outside the U.S. during their career. The results show significant student interest in traveling or living abroad for work. Future research should explore how college experiences influence these global work interests and whether they translate into motivation for learning global competencies.
AbstractThis study examined self, peer, and instructor ratings of leadership behaviors in four ar... more AbstractThis study examined self, peer, and instructor ratings of leadership behaviors in four areas: collaboration, creativity, organization/control, and competition for 98 students in one civil e...
Some researchers have indicated that teams with greater cognitive diversity produce superior resu... more Some researchers have indicated that teams with greater cognitive diversity produce superior results. Cognitive diversity can take a variety of forms, but in this work diversity of personality types is explored. The impact of cognitive styles on team performance was evaluated in a freshman environmental engineering (EVEN) course. The students worked on projects involving comparative analysis and some calculations, but no design or intrinsically “creative” requirements. Specifically, student teams in 2006, 2007, and 2008 evaluated solid waste landfills. In 2006 and 2007 the project encompassed three or four periods of in-class direction and work time. In 2008, the project was modified to compare the energy and environmental impacts of landfills to waste-to-energy incinerators and included only two class periods with instructor direction (lecture and question/answer). Three different methods were used to form the student teams. In 2006, student grades in the class to date were used to...
International Journal of Engineering Education, 2019
All engineering students develop and mature through their four or more years in college as they p... more All engineering students develop and mature through their four or more years in college as they prepare to become part of asocially impactful profession. Presently, students’ ideas about how they will be socially responsible engineers in the futureremains unknown. Understanding more about students’ evolving ideas about how they plan to integrate their motivationto be socially responsible with their chosen profession can give insight into how to improve the alignment between students’personal and professional lives. This study includes four years of longitudinal interviews with engineering students. Theinterviews consistedmainlyof questions regarding experienceswithsocial responsibility,engineering, and the combinationof the two. The interviews were analyzed using an Ethic of Care framework, which allowed for the students to becategorized into one of four types that emerged from the student responses. These types described how strongly studentsintegratedsocial responsibilityvalueswit...
2021 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Oct 13, 2021
This full research paper explored the relationship between academic environment and faculty membe... more This full research paper explored the relationship between academic environment and faculty members' perspectives on ethics instruction. Ethical responsibility and awareness of the societal impacts of technology are crucial learning outcomes for future engineers. The study and practice of ethics are convergent since the subject draws on engineering and the humanities with the aim of positioning students to responsibly address the most pressing societal challenges. In the curriculum, faculty members' decisions regarding course content, including those related to ethics and societal impacts (ESI), result from a host of factors including influences at the department, college, and institutional levels. This exploratory study examined engineering faculty members' perception of their academic environment in relation to ESI education via a comparative case study of two engineering departments. The mixed-methods design included faculty interviews and surveys to understand participants' perceptions of culture, leadership, and curricular importance related to ESI. The study also employed document analysis to contextualize the formal inclusion of ESI and to triangulate the findings. The data suggested the influence that culture and leadership, especially at the department level, exert on perceptions of support for ESI instruction. Across both departments, the data indicated the high value that faculty place on ESI in engineering education. The findings suggest the importance of establishing both bottom-up and top-down support for ESI education and creating a culture in which espoused values align with formal structures and policies. With increasing attention paid to the inclusion of ESI and growing responsibility on engineering faculty, it is important to acknowledge the environment in which educators develop their instructional practices and perspectives.
ABSTRACT This research explored the social responsibility (SR) attitudes of engineering students ... more ABSTRACT This research explored the social responsibility (SR) attitudes of engineering students with respect to their self-reported religious beliefs and the religious affiliation of their institution. The study measured SR attitudes using 50 items on a 7-point Likert metric. Over 1900 responses were received in spring 2014 from undergraduate engineering students attending 5 Christian-affiliated and 12 secular universities. On average, students attending Christian-affiliated institutions had more positive SR attitudes than students attending secular institutions. However, an individual's religious beliefs were more important than the institution in predicting SR attitudes. Students who stated that they were very active in an organized religion had more positive attitudes toward SR than students who self-characterized as spiritual, who were in turn more positive than students less active in their religious preference, indifferent, or atheist. College courses were reported to have impacted views of SR by 42–74% of the students attending various institutions; among these students, 32% of the students attending Christian-affiliated institutions indicated that religion-related courses had an impact. The results indicate a need to further explore how religious beliefs impact SR beliefs, toward the goal of more effectively encouraging all engineering students – religious or not – to recognize the importance of socially responsible engineering.
This Work-in-Progress paper explores the global work interests of engineering students. Expectanc... more This Work-in-Progress paper explores the global work interests of engineering students. Expectancy-value models indicate that interest in working abroad should motivate students to develop global competencies due to utility value. Further, Social Cognitive Career Theory indicates that student interest in international careers may be influenced by personal and environmental factors. This exploratory research used convenience samples of data. In a national survey (17 institutions, 2305 responses), 58% of the engineering students had some interest in living internationally as a factor important in their future careers. Student interest in living in a developing country was higher among female students, decreased with rank in college, and differed by both discipline and institution. Student interest in living in a developed country was higher among female students and varied among institutions. Among incoming first-year civil, architectural, and environmental engineering students at one large public institution, 76-94% had some interest in working on projects outside the U.S. during their career. The results show significant student interest in traveling or living abroad for work. Future research should explore how college experiences influence these global work interests and whether they translate into motivation for learning global competencies.
AbstractThis study examined self, peer, and instructor ratings of leadership behaviors in four ar... more AbstractThis study examined self, peer, and instructor ratings of leadership behaviors in four areas: collaboration, creativity, organization/control, and competition for 98 students in one civil e...
Some researchers have indicated that teams with greater cognitive diversity produce superior resu... more Some researchers have indicated that teams with greater cognitive diversity produce superior results. Cognitive diversity can take a variety of forms, but in this work diversity of personality types is explored. The impact of cognitive styles on team performance was evaluated in a freshman environmental engineering (EVEN) course. The students worked on projects involving comparative analysis and some calculations, but no design or intrinsically “creative” requirements. Specifically, student teams in 2006, 2007, and 2008 evaluated solid waste landfills. In 2006 and 2007 the project encompassed three or four periods of in-class direction and work time. In 2008, the project was modified to compare the energy and environmental impacts of landfills to waste-to-energy incinerators and included only two class periods with instructor direction (lecture and question/answer). Three different methods were used to form the student teams. In 2006, student grades in the class to date were used to...
International Journal of Engineering Education, 2019
All engineering students develop and mature through their four or more years in college as they p... more All engineering students develop and mature through their four or more years in college as they prepare to become part of asocially impactful profession. Presently, students’ ideas about how they will be socially responsible engineers in the futureremains unknown. Understanding more about students’ evolving ideas about how they plan to integrate their motivationto be socially responsible with their chosen profession can give insight into how to improve the alignment between students’personal and professional lives. This study includes four years of longitudinal interviews with engineering students. Theinterviews consistedmainlyof questions regarding experienceswithsocial responsibility,engineering, and the combinationof the two. The interviews were analyzed using an Ethic of Care framework, which allowed for the students to becategorized into one of four types that emerged from the student responses. These types described how strongly studentsintegratedsocial responsibilityvalueswit...
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