Designing IDEA Interventions in Project-Based STEM Curriculum

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

10-2025

Abstract

This paper presents an overarching design and structure of the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) curriculum, developed for a project-based engineering and computer science program to address social inequity in STEM education and beyond. Grounded in social justice principles and informed by cognitive psychology and social constructivist theory, the curriculum weaves targeted interventions into everyday coursework. A nine-part analytical framework guided the development of sixteen modules organized into four thematic areas, with each module following a three-week cycle across four semesters. This paper introduces one IDEA module as a case study to demonstrate alignment with the framework and the impact on student engagement and learning outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of implementation challenges, and strategies for improving accessibility and adapting content for broader academic and professional contexts.

Department

Integrated Engineering

Conference Name

SIGDOC’25: Proc. 43rd ACM International Conference on Design of Communication

DOI

10.1145/3711670.3764618

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