Faculty lead $300K NSF project for inclusive engineering education

Melissa Bilec and April Dukes side by side with gray backgrounds

The National Science Foundation has awarded $300,000 for a Pitt-led collaborative research project that will provide engineering educators tangible guidance for operating an inclusive classroom.

Melissa Bilec, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering, and co-principal investigator April Dukes, faculty and Future Faculty Program director at the Swanson School’s Engineering Education Research Center, are partnering with faculty at Arizona State University and the Colorado School of Mines on the three-year project, “Collaborative Research: Increasing Implementation of Proven Inclusivity Practices in Undergraduate Engineering Education.”

Prior research shows that more inclusive classrooms improve student learning and academic performance, especially for underrepresented students. Read more about the project.