Research

Dr. Moses Olayemi’s research interests lie at the intersection of STEM education, socioeconomic development, and the voices of the participants of these discussions in low-resource contexts (primary focus: sub-Saharan Africa). He works with a wide network of scholars and researchers in Africa and in the diaspora to unpack and understand what culturally relevant engineering education looks like in diverse contexts. He also develops contextualized qualitative and quantitative research instruments for measuring the impacts of educational interventions in post-conflict and low-resource settings.

The following questions inspired his venture into the field of engineering education:

  • What are sub-Saharan Africans’ perceptions of STEM education and how do these perceptions influence their policies and quality of life? 
  • How can STEM education be used as a tool for the socio-economic development of sub-Saharan Africa?
  • How can STEM educators in Africa most effectively develop, deploy, and improve upon curricula, pedagogies, and pedagogical aids that will create self-reliant, critical- and inventive thinking scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians capable of solving local and global problems existing now and in the future?
  • Are current assessments adequate measures for evaluating the competency and knowledge required of intending and currently enrolled STEM students? If so, what factors are responsible for so many first-class engineering graduates (especially women) leaving STEM fields in Africa and how do we improve their retention rates? If not, what assumptions, factors, and conditions are responsible for the supposed marginalization of STEM education candidates in sub-Saharan Africa?
  • What are the oft-charted pathways of students from low-resource/conflict settings who successfully vie for and gain access to high-quality education?

Dissertation

For his dissertation, he employed an embedded sequential explanatory mixed methods design to understand culturally relevant engineering education in multiple settings, focusing on the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the Case Study. For his work, his paper, “Telling half a story: A mixed methods approach to understanding culturally relevant engineering education in Nigeria” was awarded the best DEI paper in the International Division of ASEE at the 2023 Conference.

He is the Founding President of the African Engineering Education Fellows in the Diaspora, a non-governmental organization that leverages the experiences of African scholars in engineering education to inform and support engineering education policy, practice, and pedagogies in Africa.

Past Projects

  • Localized Engineering in Displacement (Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya | Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan),
  • Impact Evaluation of Psychosocial Support Intervention facilitated by UNICEF in South Sudan. This project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • Faculty Development at a Post-crisis University (University of Anbar, Iraq). This project was funded by the US Department of State.

Publications

2023

  • Olayemi, M., Ahmadi, J. M., & DeBoer, J. (2023). “Say it anyhow you can”: Unpacking How Engineering Faculty Members Approach Culturally Relevant Engineering Education at an Iraqi University. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition 2023.
  • Olayemi, M. (2023). Telling Half a Story: A Mixed-methods Approach to Understanding Culturally Relevant Engineering Education in Nigeria and the United States. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition 2023.
  • Mosobalaje, O. O., & Olayemi, M. (2023). A Pedagogical Unboxing of Reservoir Simulation with Python: Backward Design of Course Contents, Assessment, and Pedagogy (CAP). ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition 2023.

2022

  • Ezika, I. J. F., Olayemi, M., & Orji, C. T. (2022). Career Progression of Electronic Engineering Graduates: A Study of LinkedIn Career Profiles. 2022 5th Information Technology for Education and Development (ITED), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ITED56637.2022.10051612
  • Brijmohan, Y., Olayemi, M., Dansu, V., Babalola, I., Gamieldien, G., Arigye, J., Ezika, I., Asogwa, U., & Collins, V. (2022). African Diaspora Engineering Education Student Experiences in the US: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Study. 2022 IEEE IFEES World Engineering Education Forum – Global Engineering Deans Council (WEEF-GEDC), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1109/WEEF-GEDC54384.2022.9996261
  • Olayemi, M., Grant, J., Masta, S., & DeBoer, J. (2022). Students, Scholars, Activists: Teaching and Learning Scholar Activism Within the Academy. 2022 Annual American Educational Research Association Meeting.

2021

  • Olayemi, M., & DeBoer, J. (2021). Colonial Antecedents Influencing the Current Training and Practice of STEM Educators in Sub-Saharan Africa. Research in
    Moses Olayemi – 5 –
    Engineering Education Symposium & Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference: Engineering Education Research Capability Development.
  • Olayemi, M., Tucker, M., Choul, M., Purekal, T., Benitez, A., Wheaton, W., & DeBoer, J. (2021). Creating a tool to measure Children’s Well-being: A PSS Intervention in South Sudan. Journal on Education in Emergencies, Special Issue on PSS/SEL
  • Olayemi, M., Vaye, C., Dansu, V., & DeBoer, J. (2021). Professional Development of Secondary School STEM Educators in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematized Literature Review. ASEE Annual Conference 2021: The Sub Above, The Future Ahead, 38. https://www.asee.org/public/conferences/223/papers/33791
  • Olayemi, M., & DeBoer, J. (2021). What factors predict self-efficacy among South African teachers: Constructing an Inferential Model using TALIS 2018 Data. 2021 Annual American Educational Research Association Meeting.
  • Olayemi, M., & DeBoer, J. (2021). Enacting culturally relevant pedagogy for underrepresented minorities in STEM classrooms: Challenges and opportunities. Collaborating Network for Engineering and Computer Diversity, 22.

2020

  • Benitez, A., Purekal, T., DeBoer, J., Olayemi, M., Tucker, M., Kassami, N., Choul, M., MacFarlane, R., Priyanka, B., Yuehwern, Y., Akwero, C, O., Batheng, B. R., Victor, G., Chunyua, G., Ssentongo, J., Tumuhamye, N., Marious, S., Sukhada, S. J., & Utkuhan, G. (2020). Impact Evaluation of Psychosocial Support on Children’s Well-being, Literacy, and Math Outcomes in the Integrated Essential Emergency Education Services Activity in South Sudan. LASER PULSE.

2019

  • Olayemi, M., Freitas, C., Radhakrishnan, D., Dridi, A., & DeBoer, J. (2019). Improving course retention rates in engineering education in refugee settings: Lessons from two case studies. Research in Engineering Education Symposium: Making Connections,10.
  • Dansu, V., & Olayemi, M. (2019). STEM Education in Nigeria: In the voices of the Stakeholders. African Engineering Education Association International Conference, 7.
  • Okonkwo, K., Okpara, J. C., Dansu, V., & Olayemi, M. (2019). Leveraging STEM Education for Sustainable Food Production in West Africa: A case study in Lagos, Nigeria. African Engineering Education Association International Conference, 7.

Funding

  • The Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Grand Challenge Grant for Southern and Central Africa Regional Hub (S/CA RIH) – Award value at $200,000 (Uvira, Congo DR, March 2023).
  • Purdue College of Engineering Scholarship for the 29th SREB Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, Atlanta Georgia – valued at $2500 (West Lafayette, IN, October 2022).
  • Purdue School of Engineering Education Travel Grant for 2023 Graduate Student Exchange Seminar, Ann Arbor, Michigan – valued at $1,500 (West Lafayette, IN, October 2022).
  • Purdue School of Engineering Education 2022/2023 Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship – valued at $63,984.50 (West Lafayette, IN, May 2022).
  • Purdue University Graduate Students Travel Award – $500 (West Lafayette, IN, December 2021).
  • Purdue University Graduate School Award for the most innovative proposal for research-based approaches to improve diversity and inclusion of underrepresented minorities in the College of Engineering at Purdue University. Award value – $10,000. (West Lafayette, IN, March 2020).
  • National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Graduate Students Conference Travel Grant 19-20 -$750 (West Lafayette, IN, February 2020).
  • Exceptional National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Member Award (Ilorin-East Local Government, Nigeria, March 2013).
  • Endowment scholarship for first-class academic performance awarded by the University of Lagos Senate. Periods covered: 2007, 2008, 2009. (Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria)