Synthesize Knowledge
Definition
Synthesizing knowledge means taking information learned from articles, courses, experiences, or workshops related to a particular discipline and cumulating that information to create solutions to problems. Synthesized knowledge can also be applied to effectively perform tasks or jobs. For example, to obtain my computer engineering degree I had to synthesize the knowledge I obtained over five years to complete my senior capstone project. This competency also means obtaining an understanding the methods and policies that have been implemented in engineering education and the impacts that they have had. It is important for me to synthesize knowledge from an engineering education aspect so I can effectively display the importance of diversity and diverse teaching methods to my peers in higher education and develop programs that will best assist future engineering students.
Prior/Current Work
Throughout my first semester as a PhD student, I have been able to conduct a systematized literature review analyzing the factors that improve the retention of underrepresented students in undergraduate engineering programs. The goal of this review was to recognize how various institutions provided resources to their students, what was included in those resources, and how did they benefit students to gain a better understanding of the types of assistance students appreciate in this field. This is applicable to the competency because it focuses on a vast number of articles in attempts to create a solution to an issue.
I'm currently working on a pre-readiness project in which I will be analyzing articles that focus on motivational theories and studies on engineering students to create an annotated bibliography. I will also use the information on these article to create an analysis on how they include empathy, as that is my focus as well. This applies to this competency because I'm combining all of the knowledge I gain for these readings to understand the full concept of motivation and empathy as well as how they are used, if at all.
I'm currently working on a pre-readiness project in which I will be analyzing articles that focus on motivational theories and studies on engineering students to create an annotated bibliography. I will also use the information on these article to create an analysis on how they include empathy, as that is my focus as well. This applies to this competency because I'm combining all of the knowledge I gain for these readings to understand the full concept of motivation and empathy as well as how they are used, if at all.
Future Work
Similar to "Create Knowledge", I will more than likely be synthesizing knowledge throughout the experience in this program. Starting in Spring 2021, I will be working with Dr. Hess to complete a systematic literature review on a research project that is currently under review. That will allow me to improve my ability to analyze articles and determine similarities in data, impacts, and methods. I also hope to turn my systematized literature review into a conference paper by Fall 2021 and am working on submitting a journal article based on the work I did with Dr. Tamara Moore and Dr. Karl Smith as well. Any of these works are artifacts I would use to demonstrate my competency.
Timeline
Spring 2025