Integrating Cultural Sensitivity and Indigenous Knowledge in Engineering Education: Adaptive Approaches to Problem-Solving and Growth Mindset

Cultural sensitivity and the incorporation of indigenous knowledge systems play a significant role in the initial stages of the engineering design process, particularly in problem identification, which sets the foundation for all subsequent problem-solving efforts.Despite a large body of literature on engineering problem-solving methodologies, there appears to be a research gap in how cultural contexts and indigenous perspectives influence the early stages of problem identification [1, 2, 3], underscoring the need for studies into such aspects of problem identification.This study explores how first-year engineering students develop problem-identification skills through the lens of indigenizing engineering education, aiming to weave indigenous knowledge and cultural perspectives seamlessly into the curriculum.By fostering a culturally inclusive mindset, our objective is to enable students with the capacity to recognize and creatively address complex environmental, sustainability, and social challenges that disproportionately impact indigenous communities.Model-eliciting activities (MEAs) [4,5,6] related to water issues will be integrated into first-year engineering courses, fostering real-world problem-identification and problemsolution skills using actual data to promote a growth mindset.Our research objectives are a) Examine how exposure to indigenous-specific environmental, sustainability and social issues impacts first-year engineering students' problem-identification, design, and problem-solving abilities.b) Identify the relationship between early exposure in a first-year engineering course and indigenous-contexts problem identification skill development.Cultural mindset development and Indigenous pedagogical principles will guide our study.We will adopt indigenous pedagogical principles [18] for a culturally responsive learning environment respecting Indigenous perspectives and values.Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected through pre-and postsurveys and student focus groups.Anticipated outcomes include substantial improvements in problem identification, design, and problem-solving abilities, fostering a culturally responsive and holistic approach among students.