2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work in Progress: Development and Facilitation of a New Certificate/Class for Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in Engineering and Computing Programs

Presented at Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 9

At a midsize minority serving institution, an undergraduate teaching assistant program was adopted in 2005 in chemical and mechanical engineering. Due to the success, the model was then adopted by the College of Engineering and Information Technology at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), into all departments. These students, known as teaching fellows (TF), not only have an impact on their engineering and computing peers, but also develop skill sets in a non-traditional platform giving them new pathways into academics and industry. Several TFs in their third, fourth or fifth year of their program, perform, act and behave as potential future faculty. In a recent case study [1], students discussed their consideration in going into faculty positions and found the experience increased their efficacy in both their professional and technical competencies.

In the university's commitment to teaching and innovation excellence, UMBC decided to become a Center for the Integration for Research Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) member in 2016. This is housed in graduate school and is a part of the PROMISE, or future faculty, programming. To support the movement towards creating better teaching faculty and its goals to improve STEM undergraduate education, UMBC personnel proposed and received approval to develop and expand a certification to the undergraduate population. To distinguish itself from the graduate level, it was given a classification of CIRTL undergraduate associate certificate. To earn this certification the students must complete the following seminar classes:
● Engineering 396 (ENES 396): Fundamentals of Teaching Fellow Scholarship
● Engineering 397 (ENES 397): Advanced Topics of Teaching Fellow Scholarship
Both seminar classes were developed through the Engineering and Computing Education Program, held in the COEIT, allowing multidisciplinary enrollment. CIRTL curriculum and other in house pedagogy were utilized and redesigned to be digestible for undergraduate students.
In this work-in-progress paper, class discussion of teaching philosophy, mid semester ‘bullet list’ development and full teaching philosophy statements generated by the teaching fellows were examined for successful outcome achievement. The data collected will be used to help assess the effectiveness and further develop the seminar class.

[1] J. Gurganus, M. R. Blorstad and M. M. Headley, "Training beyond the classroom: Case Study of the Impact of a Undergraduate Teaching Assistantship program," 2022 IEEE IFEES World Engineering Education Forum - Global Engineering Deans Council (WEEF-GEDC), Cape Town, South Africa, 2022, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/WEEF-GEDC54384.2022.9996214

Authors

Dr. Jamie R. Gurganus University of Maryland, Baltimore County [biography]

Dr. Jamie Gurganus is a faculty member in the Engineering and Computing Education Program and Affiliate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UMBC. She is the Associate Director STEMed Research in the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT). She also serves as the Director for the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) in the graduate school. Her research is focused on solving problems relating to educating and developing engineers, teachers, and the community at all levels (P12, undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate). A few of these key areas include engineering identity and mindsets, global competencies, failure culture, first year experiences in engineering, capstone design thinking, integrating service and authentic learning into the engineering classroom, implementing new instructional methodologies, and design optimization using traditional and non-traditional manufacturing. She seeks to identify best practices and develop assessments methods that assist in optimizing computing and engineering learning. Dr. Gurganus was one the inaugural award winners of the Diane M. Lee teaching award in 2021 and received an Exemplary Mentor Award from the Center for Women in Technology in 2022. She also received the Northern Maryland Technology Council Leader Award in STEM education in 2019. She has written curricula and published a number of works in engineering education in both higher education, P12 and international spaces. She is a co-founder and the Director of Innovation Programs and Operations for the non-profit research group, Advancing Engineering Excellence in P-12 Engineering Education and has successfully launched PROMISE Engineering Institute Global, for international future faculty development. Dr. Gurganus teaches several first and second year Engineering classes along with the Mechanical and Multidisciplinary Engineering Senior Capstone design courses and Global Engineering at UMBC. As an active member of American Society of Engineering Education, She is currently serving as the program chair for the pre-college division and serving on two task forces with the president to create a framework for ‘Weaving in Students vs. Weeding them out’ and a report to NSF for changing students' mindsets.
Prof. Mark Berczynski University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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