Research, Publications & Presentations

2024 NSF ITEST. Collaborative Research: Developing and Testing Innovations: Early childhood maker literacies: Fostering computational thinking among Navajo youth and educators. BC: $566,643 (PI: Avneet Hira, Co-PI: Marina Bers) Total award: $1,240,345 (PI: Kristin Searle, Utah State University)

2024 NSF RET Site: Researching Cellular Agriculture: Bridging engineering and plant science to cultivate future engineering teachers $599,568 (PI: Avneet Hira, Co-PIs: Glenn Gaudette, Ali Salifu, Luke Perreault, Helen Zhang, & Mike Barnett)

2024 NSF DRK-12. Building Teacher Capacity for Teaching Across Science Disciplines Using “Smart” Greenhouses. BC: $1,589,209 (PI: Mike Barnett, Co-PIs: Helen Zhang, Avneet Hira & Jacqueline DeLisi) Total award: $2,977,449

2024 Cummings Foundation grant to Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation for The Charles River Collaboratory $150,000(Co-leads: Bob Perry, Mike Barnett, Avneet Hira & Helen Zhang)

2024 Constellation’s E2 Energy to Educate grant. Engaging Youth and their Families in Learning About Alternative Energies through Food Justice $25,000 (PI: Mike Barnett, Co-PIs: Helen Zhang & Avneet Hira)

2023 NSF CAREER. CAREER: Engineering in Youth-led Technology-rich Settings: Promoting Belonging and Preventing Harm $594,440 (Role: PI)

2023 NSF ITEST. Developing and Testing Innovations: Restorative Gardening: Growing youth empowerment through learning & teaching about artificially intelligent community sustainable urban gardens $1,299,256 (PI: Mike Barnett, Co:PIs: Lacee Satcher, Avneet Hira, Helen Zhang, & Maureen Kenny)

2023 Schiller Institute SI-RITEA Type A. Promoting Community Climate Resilience and Wellbeing in Northern Kenya through Peace Education $50,000 (PI: Avneet Hira, Co-PIs: Justin Henriques (James Madison University), Ahmed Mohamed (Garissa University))

2023 Schiller Institute SI-RITEA Type B. A strategic partnership: Creating a Collaboratory for Environmental Science $50,000 (PI: MIke Barnett, Co-PI: Bob Perry, Helen Zhang, Avneet Hira)

2022 Boston College Research in Formative Education. Great Resignation or Great Transformation?: Purpose-Driven Engineers $14,880 (PI: Dr. Avneet Hira, Co-PI: Dr. Belle Liang)

2022 Lynch School Collaborative Fellows Grant. Supporting Youth in Engaging the Community in Environmental Justice Issues $121,674 (PI: Dr. Mike Barnett, Co-PIs: Dr. Avneet Hira & Dr. Helen Zhang)

2022 Schiller Institute Grants for Exploratory Collaborative Scholarship (SIGECS). Digital Mental Health Innovations to Support Scaling Out a Family Strengthening Intervention for Afghan Refugee Families: An Interdisciplinary Collaboration $50,000 (PI: Dr. Theresa Betancourt, Co-PIs: Dr. Nam Wook Kim, Dr. Avneet Hira, Prof. Sunand Bhattacharya)

2022 Boston College Academic Technology Innovation Grant (ATIG). Transdisciplinary Learning across contexts: Blending Tissue Engineering and Learning Sciences $36,425 (PI: Dr. Mike Barnett, Co-PIs: Dr. Helen Zhang, Dr. Avneet Hira, Dr. Glenn Gaudette)

2021 NSF ITEST. Building a Youth-Led Learning Community through Automating Hydroponic Systems $1,414,733 (PI: Mike Barnett, Co:PIs: Helen Zhang, Maureen Kenny, Jacqueline DeLisi, Claudia Rinaldi, & Avneet Hira)

2021 Schiller Institute Grants for Exploratory Collaborative Scholarship (SIGECS). Engaging families in growing their own food through home-based STEM learning experiences $50,000 (PI: Dr. Mike Barnett, Co-PIs: Dr. Avneet Hira, Dr. Helen Zhang)

2021 Center for Social Innovation in the School of Social Work at Boston College. Using Human Centered Design to Develop a School-Personnel Training to Improve Transgender Adolescents’ Mental Health $22,220 (PI: Dr. Maggi Price, Co-PIs: Dr. Paul Poteat, Dr. Avneet Hira )

[19] Hira, A., Woods, P., & Anderson, E. (2024). What has persisted and what has not: A longitudinal study of changes in teachers’ experiences of Project-Based Teaching and Learning through the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Engineering Education. (in press)

[18] Hira, A., Gemski, J., & Henriques, J. (2024). Assistive Technology and Human-Centered Engineering Design: Partnership between a school that serves students with extensive support needs and a human-centered engineering program. International Journal for Engineering Education. (in press)

[17] Woods, P., Anderson, E., & Hira, A (2024). Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on the Grammar of Schools in Project-Based Learning Contexts. Journal of Educational Change. (in press)

[16] Beheshti, M., Shah, S. A., Zhang, H., Barnett, M., & Hira, A. (2024). Affordances of Technology for Sustainability-Oriented K–12 Informal Engineering Education. Sustainability, 16(16), 6719.

[15] Stuopis, I., & Hira, A. (2024). Hands-On for Whom?. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 14(1), 3.

[14] Beheshti, M., Kang, E., Yan, S., Louime. E., Hancock, C., & Hira, A. (2024). Augmented Reality in A Sustainable Engineering Design Context: Understanding Students’ Collaboration and Negotiation Practices. Sustainability, 16(1), 379.

[13] Zhang, H., Hira, A., Phatak, J., Barnett, M., & Shah, A. (2024). Growing STEM Leaders:  High School Youth as Teachers and Mentors through Teaching Physical Computing. In Redesigning the Future of Education in the Light of New Theories, Teaching Methods, Learning, and Researches. Information Age Publishing.

[12] Hira, A., Woods, P., & Anderson, A. (2023) Reflections of three educational researchers on research and life during the pandemic. In McCarther S. & Davis D. (Eds.), Breakthrough: From Pandemic Panic to Promising Practice OEH Book Series.

[11] Hira, A., Bhattacharya, S., Gaudette, G. & Govindasamy, S., (2022). Designing a design-driven human-centered engineering program. International Journal of Engineering Education (in press)

[10] Holly, Jr, J., Hira, A., Maxey, K, & Beebe, C. (2022) Who gets to engineer? In T. Fowler (Eds.), Countering the mythology of inclusion and wellness in schooling (pp 67 – 92) DIO Press, New York.

[9] Hira, A., & Hynes, M. (2021). How do designers and engineers practice design while Making? A narrative inquiry of designers who Make. Information and Learning Sciences, 122(11/12), 749-773

[8] Hira, A. & Anderson, E. (2021). Motivating Online Learning through Project-Based Learning During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. IAFOR Journal of Education, 9(2), 93-110.

Prior to HER lab

[7] Anderson, E., & Hira, A. (2020). Loss of brick-and-mortar schooling: how elementary educators respond. Information and Learning Sciences, 121(5/6), 411-418.

[6] Hira, A., & Hynes, M. M. (2018). People, Means, and Activities: A Conceptual Framework for Realizing the Educational Potential of Makerspaces. Education Research International, 1–10.

[5] Hira, A., & Hynes, M. M. (2017). Design-based research to broaden participation in pre-college engineering: research and practice of an interest-based engineering challenges framework. European Journal of Engineering Education, 44(1–2), 103–122.

[4] Hynes, M., Joslyn, C., Hira, A., J. Holly, J., & Jubelt, N. (2016). Exploring Diverse Pre-College Students’ Interests and Understandings of Engineering to Promote Engineering Education for All. International Journal of Engineering Education, 32(5B), 2318–2327.

[3] Hira, A. (2015). An ontological approach towards the next generation engineer: What it means to become and be an engineer. Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, 28(2&3), 179–184.

[2] Hira, A., Kansal, V., Jindal, T. K., Kansal, J., & Ganju, A. (2012). Harnessing wind energy in cryospheric regions. International Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology, 3(2), 313–319.

[1] Hynes, W., Hynes, M., & Hira, A. (2015). Applying the makerspace model to the K-12 classroom. Educational Facility Planner, 49(1), 35–38.

[34] Ramos, K. A., Stuopis, I., Louime, E. J., Carter, P. E., Hancock, C., & Hira, A. (2024, June). Promoting Belonging in Engineering through the Creation of Youth-Centered Technology-Rich Spaces. In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

[33] Tonn, J., & Hira, A. (2024, June). Engineering as Conflict: A Framing for Liberal Engineering Education. In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

[32] Shah, A., Raphael, D., Phatak, J., Zhang, H., Hira., A, & Barnett, M. (2024) Cultivating science identity: An Automated Table-top Greenhouse Project with Middle School Students. In 2024 NARST Annual International Conference

[31] Ranger, B., Hira, A., & Govindasamy, S. (2024, June). Work in Progress: Engineering Analysis Laboratory Courses Complement First-Year Physics and Calculus. In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

[30] Phatak, J. U., Hira, A., Zhang, H., Shah, A., & Barnett, M. (2024). Understanding the Peer Mentoring Experiences of High School Students in an Out-of-School STEM Camp: An Exploratory Study. In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2024, pp. 1830-1833. International Society of the Learning Sciences.

[29] Shah, A., Park, J. H., Raphael, D., Beheshti, M., Phatak, J. U., Sun, C., A, Hira, H, Zhang & Barnett, M. (2024). Dynamics of Interest and Competency Belief in Coding among Middle-schoolers. In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2024, pp. 1586-1589. International Society of the Learning Sciences.

[28] Ramos, K., Gardow, J., Louime, E., Kang, E., & Hira, A (2023). Promoting belonging and breaking down gatekeeping in youth-centered engineering spaces. In ASEE 2023 Annual Conference.

[27] Louime, E., Kang, E., Anderson, E., Searle, K., & Hira, A (2023). Intergenerational E-Textile Workshops for Engineering and Social-Emotional Learning. In ASEE 2023 Annual Conference.

[26] Huang, A., Bachiochi, G., Bozorgmehri, N., Broome, A., Carter., P, Cho, H., … & Hira, A (2023). Experiences from the First Cohort of Engineering Students at a Liberal Arts University. In ASEE 2023 Annual Conference.

[25] Hira, A., Gemski, J., & Henriques, J. (2023). Assistive Technology and Human-Centered Engineering Design: Partnership between a school that serves students with extensive support needs and a human-centered engineering program. In Clive L Dym Mudd Design Workshop.

[24] Shah, A., Phatak, J., Hira, A., Zhang, H., & Barnett, A. (2023). Tech Demo: “Smart Greenhouse” Project: Combining Physical Computing with Plant Science. In International Society of the Learning Sciences 2023 Conference.

[23] Carnasciali, M., Hira, A., & Tonn, J. (2022). Understanding Student Experience and Motivation in a New Human-Centered Engineering Program – Insights from the First Cohort. In 2022 Frontiers in Education Conference.

[22] Kang, E., Yan, S., Brady, S., Katz, A., Hira, A. (2022). Augmented Reality for Sustainable Collaborative Design [Conference Presentation]. American Society for Engineering Education.

[21] Ranger, B., Hira, A., Smith, B., Zhang, X., & Anthony, B. (2022). Work in progress: cost-effective table-top ultrasound systems as platform for biomedical engineering education. In ASEE 2022 Annual Conference.

[20] Ozkan, D., & Hira, A. (2021). Critical perspectives on teaching design in first-year engineering. In ASEE 2021 Annual Conference.

[19] Rodriguez-Simmonds, H & Hira, A. (2021). A collaborative autoethnographic dialog exploring the soul of engineering education. In ASEE 2021 Annual Conference.

[18] Hira, A., Bhattacharya, S., Gaudette, G. & Govindasamy, S., (2021). Designing a design-driven human-centered engineering program. In Clive L Dym Mudd Design Workshop.

[17] Hira, A., & Anderson, E. (2021). The heart of the matter: High school educators’ experiences of teaching project-based learning. In International Society of the Learning Sciences 2021 Conference.  

Prior to HER lab

[16] Hira, A., Beebe, C., Maxey, K., & Hynes, M. (2018). “But, What Do You Want Me to Teach?”: Best Practices for Teaching in Educational Makerspaces (RTP). In ASEE 2018 Annual Conference. Salt Lake City, UT. 

[15] Hynes, M., Beebe, C., Hira, A., & Maxey, K (2018). Make-an-Engineer Introduction to Engineering Activity (P12 Resource/Curriculum Exchange). In ASEE 2018 Annual Conference. Salt Lake City, UT. 

[14] Hira, A., Salah, S., Hurt, C., & Hynes, M. (2017). Broadening the contexts of engineering to broaden participation: A multi-method study of an interest-based engineering challenges framework. In ASEE 2017 Annual Conference.Colombus, OH. 

[13] Rush, J., Hira, A., & Hynes, M. (2017). The role of gender in pre-college students’ perceptions of engineering. In ASEE 2017 Annual Conference. Colombus, OH. 

[12] Beebe, C., Sarwar, U., Jubelt, N., Hira, A., & Hynes, M. (2016). MAKER: A Game to Make Engineering. In ASEE 2016 Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA.

[11] Hira, A., & Hynes, M. (2016a). A thematic analysis of the maker movement in cyberspace across cultural contexts. In ASEE 2016 Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA.

[10] Hira, A., & Hynes, M. M. (2016b). Impromptu reflection as a means for self-assessment of design thinking skills. In ASEE 2016 Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA.

[9] Holly, J., Joslyn, C., Hira, A., Hynes, M., & Beebe, C. (2016). What do you like to do? Exploring pre-college students’ career aspirations and perceptions of engineering (Work in progress). In ASEE 2016 Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA.

[8] Hira, A., Holly, J., & Hynes, M. (2015) Implementation of an Interest-based Engineering Challenges Framework: A Design Research Approach (Work in progress). In Translating Research to Practice. REES. Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland.

[7] Hynes, M. M., Joslyn, C. H., & Hira, A. (2015). Underrepresented students’ interests and how they relate to engineering. In NARST Annual International Conference. Chicago, IL.

[6] Hira, A., & Hynes, M. M. (2015). Broadening participation in engineering: Making in the K-12 Classroom following an interest-based framework. ASEE Annual Conference. Seattle, WA.

[5] Streveler, R. A., Pitterson, N. P., Hira, A., Rodriguez-Simmonds, H., & Alvarez, J. O. (2015). Learning about engineering education research: What conceptual difficulties still exist for a new generation of scholars?. In IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference Proceeedings (pp. 1-6). El Paso, TX.

[4] Hira, A., Joslyn, C. H., & Hynes, M. M. (2014). Classroom makerspaces: Identifying the opportunities and challenges. In IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings (pp. 1677–1681). Madrid, Spain.

[3] Fila, N. D., Hess, J., Hira, A., Joslyn, C. H., Tolbert, D., & Hynes, M. M. (2014). The people part of engineering: Engineering for, with, and as people. In IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings (pp. 727–735). Madrid, Spain.

[2] Hira, A., Jain, N., Chhjed, S., & Sarkar, S. (2013). Lift generation characteristics of an airfoil in hover with time dependent gust models. In 9th International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems. Jaipur, India.

[1] Hira, A., Kapoor, A., Joseph, D., & Das, S. (2010). Flying cars: A dream or reality. In National Aerospace Olympiad (Aeronautical Society of India). Chandigarh, India.

[8] Stuopis, I., Ramos, K. A., Hancock, C., Louime, E. J., & Hira, A. (2024, June). Board 222: CAREER: Engineering in Youth-led Technology-rich Settings: Promoting Belonging and Preventing Harm. In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

[7] Shah, A., Phatak, J., Zhang, H., Hira., A, & Barnett, M. (2024) Smart Greenhouse: Bridging Physical Computing, Plant Science, and Data Literacy. In SIGCSE Technical Symposium 2024 program.

[6] Shah, S A, Raphael, D, Phatak, J, Hira, A, Zhang, H, & Barnett, M. (2024) Cultivating science identity: An automated table-top greenhouse project with middle school students. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST)

[5] Raphael, D, Shah, S A, Phatak, J U, Hira, A, Zhang, H, & Barnett, M. (2024) Enhancing middle-school students’ interest in coding through a tabletop automated greenhouse project [iPoster]. American Educational Research Association

[4] Shah, S. A., Phatak, J. U., Hira, A., & Zhang, H. (2023, June). Board 304: HighSchoolers’ Understanding about “Engineering” and Their Perception of the Coding-Engineering Relationship. In 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

[3] Woods, P., Anderson, E., & Hira, A. (2022) Failing to Reset: A Critical Examination of COVID-19’s Impact on the Grammar of Schooling. American Educational Studies Association. 

[2] Hira, A., Zhang, H., & Barnett, M. (2022) Engaging families in growing their own food through home-based STEM learning experiences. Science Educators for Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice Annual Conference.

[1] Brady, S., Kang, E., Louime, E., Naples, S., Katz, A., Hira, A. (2021, December 5-8). Emerging Learning Technologies for Education on Sustainability Topics [Conference Presentation]. Research in Engineering Education Symposium & Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference, Perth, WA, Australia.