Computational thinking is widely recognized as important, not only to those interested in computer science and mathematics but also to every student in the twenty-first century. However, the concept of computational thinking is arguably complex; the term itself can easily lead to direct connection with “computing” or “computer” in a restricted sense. In this editorial, we build on existing research about computational thinking to discuss it as a multi-faceted theoretical nature. We further present computational thinking, as a model of thinking, that is important not only in computer science and mathematics, but also in other disciplines of STEM and integrated STEM education broadly.

The recognized importance of computational thinking has helped to propel the rapid development of related educational efforts and programs over the past decade. Given the multi-faceted nature of computational thinking, which goes beyond programming and computer science, however, approaches and practices for developing students’ computational thinking are not always self-explanatory in terms of their foci and feasibility in diverse educational contexts. In this editorial, we first examine relevant publications in computational thinking to identify a trend of integrating computational thinking into disciplinary education. We subsequently build on recent discussions about the concept of computational thinking to (1) frame a review of educational efforts in developing students’ computational thinking, (2) discuss opportunities and challenges to further such educational efforts through not only programming and computer science but also other disciplines, and (3) articulate needed research and scholarship to support educational practices.

This paper examines students’ claims about who can become an engineer and what it takes in engineering culture to be successful. Through longitudinal interviews with 20 undergraduate engineering students, we found that participants’ descriptions of who can ‘do’ engineering were paradoxical. Participants simultaneously maintained that ‘anyone’ could do engineering and that individuals must also possess certain characteristics to become engineers. This study connects these students’ responses to broader conversations regarding social advancement and meritocratic values within U.S. engineering culture. Participants’ responses reflect a definition of engineering that may on the surface appear open but is in practice exclusionary to individuals who do not conform to certain expectations. While many discussions of culture in engineering focus on the values and practices of ‘core’ members such as faculty or practicing engineers, it is imperative to consider the understandings that students bring to their university and enact while being enculturated into the engineering profession. This study contributes to the literature by examining the ways cultural values are upheld and reified among undergraduate engineering students.

Contribution: The current study finds that female-identified students report stronger associations between ``helping others'' and interest in bioengineering/biomedical engineering than non-females, while they report less interest in electrical and computer engineering overall, with similar associations to factors such as ``inventing/designing things'' than non-females.

Background: Participating in undergraduate research experiences (UREs) supports the development of engineering students' technical and professional skills. However, little is known about the perceptions of research or researchers that students develop through these experiences. Understanding these perceptions will provide insight into how students come to understand knowledge evaluation and creation, while allowing research advisors to better support student development.Purpose: In this paper, we explore how undergraduate engineering students perceive what it means to do research and be a researcher, using identity and epistemic cognition as sensitizing concepts. Our goal is to explore students' views of UREs to make the benefits of these experiences more accessible.Design/Method: We created and adapted open‐ended survey items from previously published studies. We collected responses from mechanical and biomedical engineering undergraduates at five institutions (n= 154) and used an inductive approach to analyze responses.Results: We developed four salient themes from our analysis: (a) research results in discovery, (b) research includes dissemination such as authorship, (c) research findings are integrated into society, and (d) researchers demonstrate self‐regulation.Conclusions: The four themes highlight factors that students perceive as part of a researcher identity and aspects of epistemic cognition in the context of UREs. These results suggest structuring UREs to provide opportunities for discovery, dissemination, societal impact, and self‐regulation will help support students in their development as researchers.

The purpose of this study was to determine how a real-world, sustainability-focused engineering capstone course affected students’ critical thinking skills, student knowledge of sustainability, and student and faculty workloads. The research also investigated the effectiveness of a classwide jigsaw team approach. A combination of qualitative and quantitative assessment tools, including surveys, journals, interviews, and timecards, was employed to investigate the research questions. Results revealed that a real-world project with a focus on sustainability positively impacted students’ critical thinking skills and led to increased knowledge of sustainability, but it also correlated with a high workload for students and faculty. Additionally, the jigsaw organization structure proved successful and yielded a positive team-building experience for the students. These results suggest open-ended problems with real project constraints can yield a uniquely beneficial learning experience without sacrificing ...