Lessons learned-Lightning Talk

Class Families - An approach in Engineering to improve student connections, positivity, retention, and success among students

The idea of class groups is very widely used in engineering education, and working in groups is one of the learning outcomes required as per ABET criteria. Most of the times, the groups are assigned for working in lab classes. Here, I am put forward a similar but, a more personal approach – class families. The members of class families were identified by random allocation in the beginning of the semester and the group members were responsible for each other like members of a close-knit family- who communicate with each other on a daily basis. The students looking out for each other helped them feel not secluded in hard times, encouraged each other to succeed in the course, gave them mental support for other courses, and also resulted in a long-term friendship that helped them in choosing other classes, projects, and internships. The class families did group quizzes each week to teach each other what they learned in class during that week, did labs together, and prepared for exams together, to name a few. In my observation, the class families approach helped the students manage their academic stress better and provided a reliable support system, ultimately contributing to student retention and academic success. The paper also discusses about some of the challenges associated with this approach.

Authored by
Dr. Lekshmi Sasidharan (University of Arkansas)

Review Paper: The integration of teaching and research in higher education is a foundation of effective engineering pedagogy, with mentorship playing a pivotal role in this synergy. While involving undergraduate students in research can significantly enhance their educational experience, it also presents unique challenges for faculty members, who lack formal training in mentoring undergraduate research students. Notably, many junior faculty members tend to mentor based on their own experiences as mentees, perpetuating a cycle that may not always reflect best practices, as formal education on research mentoring is rarely provided in academic settings. This research study addresses common hurdles mentors face, including students' inexperience with research methodologies, time management difficulties, and declining motivation over time. Despite these challenges, effective mentorship in undergraduate research offers invaluable opportunities for both students and faculty mentors.
The study highlights the mentor's crucial role not only in guiding project execution but also in fostering essential skills such as scientific rigor, critical thinking, and research independence. Key strategies for impactful mentorship are proposed, including establishing clear expectations, collaborative planning, structured deadlines, research portfolio development, and frequent check-ins. Importantly, the research study emphasizes the delicate balance mentors must strike between providing guidance and encouraging student autonomy, allowing mentees to take ownership of their work while offering supportive oversight. By examining mentorship programs across various institutions, this research aims to identify and recommend best practices for integrating meaningful research experiences into undergraduate engineering education. The insights presented contribute to the ongoing discourse on preparing the next generation of engineers through hands-on, mentored research experiences that bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application, while also addressing the need for more structured mentorship training for faculty. This review study will be presented in a poster presentation format.

Authored by
EMINE FOUST (United States Military Academy)

Since the arrival of ChatGPT, generative AI has continued to shake up higher education institutions. Many institutions have scrambled to identify strategies and set policies for teaching and learning for the faculty and students. One important fact to pay attention to is that generative AI impacts everyone in higher education in how we teach and do research as faculty—not only those who do “technical” research on generative AI, machine learning, or data science but also those who work in the humanities. Hence, it is essential to include a broader range of interdisciplinary voices when investigating the impact of generative AI in higher education.

Last year, the authors, with expertise from four different disciplines—engineering, computer science, communication, and philosophy—came together to design and host a campus-wide workshop to facilitate conversations around generative AI and its impact on society at a Jesuit university. This workshop, designed for faculty across different disciplines, explored the multifaceted implications of generative AI in higher education. This workshop was designed to emphasize the importance of critical thinking in AI education, referencing religious and philosophical perspectives on technology's societal impact, and it aimed to equip faculty with a foundational understanding of generative AI, fostering discussions on its ethical implementation in higher education.

Key topics discussed in this workshop included:
Technology and its Impact on Society: Drawing parallels between the rapid evolution of social media and the current AI revolution, emphasizing the importance of proactive, interdisciplinary approaches to emerging technologies such as social media and generative AI.
Historical Perspective: Examining past misconceptions about AI capabilities, highlighting the need for a nuanced understanding of AI's potential and limitations.
Demystifying AI: An accessible overview of large language models, their functionality, and resource requirements. Discussing critical issues such as bias, misinformation, plagiarism, and the need for transparency and governance in AI development and use.
Practical Applications and Curriculum Integration: Introduction to various generative AI tools and their potential applications in academic settings and suggested strategies for incorporating AI literacy across disciplines, including developing program-specific learning outcomes and identifying courses for AI skill development.
By blending technical knowledge with broader societal considerations, the workshop encourages faculty participants from various disciplines to address the challenges and opportunities presented by generative AI. Through a short survey, the workshop participants highlighted several key themes, including considering interdisciplinary opportunities for AI integration in curriculum design, fostering AI literacy and critical thinking, and ensuring ethical use and awareness. Participants also stressed that AI should be used as a tool rather than a replacement for human skills, and they discussed the need for course-specific integration and adaptability to rapid technological changes. Additionally, they underscored the significance of information literacy, balancing AI use with traditional skills, and understanding the technical aspects of AI.

The authors will present details on how they designed and delivered this workshop and their reflections in a poster.

Authored by
Dr. Yen-Lin Han (Seattle University), Dr. Wan D. Bae (Seattle University), Dr. Julie Homchick Crowe (Seattle University), and Matthew John Rellihan (Seattle University)

This lessons learned paper explores how engineering instructional faculty from different higher education institutions in the southeast U.S. respond to a specific professional development training on mentoring undergraduate students. This work builds upon a one-of-a-kind mentoring hub titled as “RITA Mentoring Hub” funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of this mentoring hub is to provide professional development to new instructional engineering faculty from experienced faculty members and professional trainers, equipping them with skills to guide future mentees in the academic community. This study is a collaboration between three distinct types of higher education institutions. These institutions include the University of Florida, Virginia Tech University, and Morehouse College. Using participatory action research (PAR) approach, twelve (12) engineering instructional faculty members were recruited purposively and strategically from these institutions. In January 2024, the International Mentoring Association (IMA) at University of Florida organized an online IMA Mentor training titled “RITA Mentor Training - Building Futures” for these participants upon request of the principal investigators of this NSF project. The workshop was divided into four modules: theory, skills and strengths, responsive mentoring, and assessment. This paper focused on the second module which focused on the skills and strengths that drive effective mentoring. A special focus was put on an important mentor skill module titled ‘designing powerful questions’ in which the participants were introduced to eight different types of questions. The data was collated from the research team notes, participants’ responses to the survey, and participants’ expressed thoughts during and at the end of training. This study revealed that many participants had not incorporated effective questioning techniques while mentoring their students or mentees to provide empathetic and effective support. It also highlights the need for structured mentoring programs for engineering faculty in educational institutions. This study has implications not only for the instructional faculty that participated in online training but for new and experienced faculty members and graduate students that serve as mentors in different capacities. This paper will be presented as a lightning talk.

Authored by
Mr. Gadhaun Aslam (University of Florida) and Idalis Villanueva Alarcón (University of Florida)

Traditional faculty evaluations often prioritize metrics such as teaching, research, and service, and may fail to adequately recognize and reward faculty contributions that directly advance specific institutional priorities. This paper aims at bridging this gap by proposing a novel framework that introduces the concept of worth as an additional measure. The paper explores the implementation of this integrated approach for engineering and science faculty at a private university, utilizing bibliometrics, strategic contributions, and analyses of faculty perceptions across factors like gender, age, rank, and field. The findings underscore the need to balance merit and value, offering a more comprehensive reflection of faculty contributions within specific institutional contexts.

Authored by
Dr. George E Nasr (Lebanese American University) and Dr. Haidar Harmanani (Lebanese American University)

This lessons-learned paper provides insights and practical guidance for developing and maintaining postdoctoral scholar programs that support historically marginalized scholars in engineering. This paper is informed by the authors of the 2023 ASEE and 2024 CoNECD conference proceedings that discussed the development and implications of the (Program Name) on our postdoctoral scholars. These bodies of work provided insights into how (Program Name) was designed, including its intersectional mentorship model, intentional community building, and professional development initiatives, that could serve as a model for other engineering postdoctoral scholars programs.

Since its establishment in 2021, (Program Name) has faced unexpected challenges due to the rise of anti-DEI legislation and policies. These legislative developments have prompted a reassessment of the program’s structure and goals, leading to significant rebranding of the program within the (University Name) College of Engineering. This resulted in a shift of university procedures and support of scholars that remained in (Program Name). In alignment with new university policies, (Program Name) was restructured to (new Program Name).

Although (Program Name) has undergone new transformations, there are several programmatic lessons the authors have learned about developing and being a part of a program that centers on the professional development of historically marginalized scholars in engineering. From these experiences, authors have gained several key insights that can be applied to other institutions, especially in their establishment of postdoctoral programs in the wake of anti-DEI work. In this paper, we will discuss what we have learned about 1) navigating postdoctoral to-faculty culture and potential barriers, 2) ensuring the alignment between engineering department priorities and programmatic outcomes, 3) acknowledging and addressing institutional wrongdoings, and 4) responding to systematic failure that arises from abrupt policy changes.

These lessons will be presented as a poster with the aim of providing other academic institutions with a roadmap for developing and adapting programs supporting historically marginalized postdoctoral scholars, ensuring these initiatives remain effective and sustainable despite evolving external pressures.

Authored by
Ms. Jameka Wiggins (The Ohio State University), Dr. Monica Cox (The Ohio State University), Shawanee' Patrick (The Ohio State University), and Winifred Opoku (The Ohio State University)

This research paper explores the social connections formed during a variety of faculty development workshops. Since 2019 the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) has been offering Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development (EUFD) workshops to engineering faculty to support the development of entrepreneurial mindset in the faculty participants and their students. EUFD workshops consist of 3 days of in-person engagement followed by a year of coaching and are focused on developing connections between participants and facilitators/coaches and among participants themselves. In this project, we use a survey of EUFD participants to understand the role of connection in their workshop experience. Our research questions are: 1) How many others did participants have meaningful interactions with during the workshops? And 2) What differences in number of meaningful interactions were there between different workshops?

In our survey, participants selected who among their workshop’s participants they had a meaningful interaction with. We then characterized the social connections formed during EUFD workshops using Out Degree and by calculating the number of meaningful connections that were with people who participants met at the workshop (as opposed to having known them prior to the workshop). 83 of the 169 (49%) 2023 EUFD participants that were sent the survey responded. On average, each participant identified 8.83 others with whom they had meaningful interactions and 88% of those connections were people the participants met at the workshop. In a future study, we will examine whether social network characteristics influence the participants’ likelihood of implementing the learning outcomes of the workshop. The preferred presentation mode for this work is a poster.

Authored by
Dr. Kaitlin Mallouk (Rowan University), Darby Rose Riley (Rowan University), and Divya Sindhu Lekha (Affiliation unknown)

The Student Pedagogy Advocates (SPA) program at Purdue University offers an innovative approach to enhancing teaching and learning through student-faculty partnerships. Undergraduate students (referred to as SPAs) in this program develop partnerships with individual professors to improve pedagogy and strengthen communication between students and instructors in their courses. SPAs attend classes and meet weekly with instructors to provide observations and feedback on teaching methods and classroom dynamics. As observers not enrolled in the class and without background knowledge of the subject matter, SPAs are uniquely positioned to freely observe the classroom environment, including the instructors’ actions and teaching approaches, and how these actions influence the classroom environment and student engagement.
Because they are non-experts in formal pedagogy, SPAs bring unique strengths to student-faculty partnerships by offering insights from their student experiences. Their input enhances teaching methods by adding a valuable student-centered viewpoint detached from biases and personal stakes that students enrolled in a specific course may have. By drawing on their experiences, SPAs bridge the gap between teaching methods and student engagement, offering a fresh perspective that resonates with students in the courses they observe.
Through ongoing partnerships across the semester, SPAs help instructors develop, refine, and realize their goals for their classroom environment by incorporating student feedback and lived experiences. This includes varied observation methods such as classroom mapping, observation notes and reflections, mid-semester feedback surveys, focus groups, and less structured discussions with students in the class. SPAs serve as thought partners in responding to and enhancing the class learning environment.
The SPA program draws significantly on Self-Determination Theory and the three basic psychological needs—autonomy, relatedness, and developing competence—encouraging students to influence their learning environment actively. Moreover, it embodies Student-Centered Learning practices by involving students in decisions that shape their educational experience. The SPA program represents one of the first attempts to bring this model from its roots in small liberal arts schools to a large STEM-centric university, demonstrating its adaptability and feasibility across institution types and disciplines. During the poster session, we will present the program's structure, objectives, and outcomes, including examples of observations and short reflections from student and faculty participants, exploring its potential for broader implementation in various academic settings.

Authored by
Ms. Barbara Fagundes (), Dr. Daniel Guberman (Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE)), Kelsey Smart (Affiliation unknown), and Kal Holder (Purdue University at West Lafayette)

This is a Work in Progress paper. The terms “professional learning community” and “community of practice” are often used interchangeably to define a group of faculty and/or staff committed to expanding their knowledge and engaging deeply in a topic, area of concern or systemic issue that creates barriers to success. Professional learning communities (PLC) also cultivate a culture of continuous improvement, where faculty feel valued and equipped to drive meaningful transformations in their teaching and student engagement. The PLC may or may not have an expectation of action, however, in either setting, the possibility to increase sense of agency to make individual and systems-level change lays the foundation for faculty to explore, reflect on and ultimately implement gained knowledge.
To build a growth and change culture, opportunities for faculty to organically come together and explore ideas and concepts related to student success are imperative. These communities, unique in selection, roles, intentions, and purpose, become and incubator for ideation. However, they often lack a driver of individual and collective action. As we launched two PLCs, one at a main campus and one at a regional campus, we asked ourselves two questions to gain a deeper understanding of the impact PLCs can have when we include the expectation of action, and ultimately, how faculty experience an increased sense of agency to affect change within their spheres of influence.
• Do learning communities increase sense of agency?
• Does an increased sense of agency as a result of participating in a learning community impact other aspects of a faculty role?
The PLCs chosen are similar in only one way – the participants are self-selected and not required to attend outside of their own intrinsic motivation to be there. One learning community is limited to the college of engineering on the large, main campus, while the other is interdisciplinary at a smaller, regional campus. We examined the personal and professional goals faculty hoped to achieve as a result of participating in the PLC as well as the perceived barriers to reaching their goals. This information informed the facilitators’ approaches to growth and to what extent faculty felt they were able to address the changes they hoped to make. We would prefer a Poster presentation.

Authored by
Lara Chiaverini (University of Connecticut) and Dr. Stephany Santos (University of Connecticut)

WIP: Exploring How Mentoring Influences Sense of Belonging Among First-Year Women Engineering Faculty

This work-in-progress abstract describes a proposal for exploring how mentoring influences the sense of belonging among first-year women engineering faculty. In recent literature, the importance of mentorship in fostering a sense of belonging among underrepresented communities in academia has gained increasing recognition [1]. Effective faculty mentoring practices and programmatic initiatives in academic departments drastically impact department culture and overall success of faculty [2]. This proposal explores the impact of mentoring on the sense of belonging experienced by first-year women engineering faculty through a faculty development workshop series. As women engineering faculty navigate the challenges of a traditionally male-dominated field, mentorship can play a crucial role in supporting their professional identity, job satisfaction, and overall retention. Additionally, effective mentoring in academic departments can significantly contribute to faculty recruitment as a whole.

The workshop series will explore how mentoring influences the sense of belonging among first-year women engineering faculty, using Strayhorn’s Sense of Belonging Framework as a guiding lens. Strayhorn’s framework defines a sense of belonging as the degree to which individuals feel accepted, valued, and included in their social and professional environments, particularly critical for underrepresented groups navigating challenging academic spaces [3]. This workshop series aims to create a safe and supportive space for women engineering faculty to explore their mentoring experiences, share strategies, and foster a stronger sense of belonging within their academic departments and work environments.

Implementing Strayhorn’s Sense of Belonging Framework, this proposal highlights the importance of mentorship in helping women engineering faculty navigate both the social and professional aspects of academic life. Mentorship relationships that promote emotional support, validation, and professional inclusion are crucial for fostering a strong sense of belonging. This proposal offers valuable insights for institutions seeking to create more inclusive faculty mentoring programs that address the unique needs of women in engineering, ultimately fostering a more supportive and welcoming academic environment.

By emphasizing the role of belonging, this study contributes to the broader literature on diversity and inclusion in STEM academia, offering practical recommendations for improving mentorship programs that support underrepresented faculty members, enhancing their integration and success in STEM academic departments. Furthermore, examining the experiences and perceptions of these faculty members, this proposal aims to highlight the pathways through which mentoring contributes to their sense of belonging and highlights the significance of supportive networks in promoting equity and inclusion within the engineering academic community.

This paper outlines the development and implementation of a faculty workshop series using Strayhorn’s framework, while offering outcomes and recommendations regarding effective faculty mentoring programs and enhancing faculty belonging. The preferred presentation style for this abstract is a Poster.

[1] Markle, R. S., Williams, T. M., Williams, K. S., deGravelles, K. H., Bagayoko, D., & Warner, I. M. (2022, May). Supporting historically underrepresented groups in STEM higher education: The promise of structured mentoring networks. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 7, p. 674669). Frontiers Media SA.

[2] Falzarano, M., & Zipp, G. P. (2012). Perceptions of mentoring of full‐time occupational therapy faculty in the United States. Occupational Therapy International, 19(3), 117-126.

[3] Strayhorn, T.L. (2018). College Students' Sense of Belonging: A Key to Educational Success for All Students (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315297293

Authored by
Dr. Meredith McDevitt (North Carolina State University at Raleigh)