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Session Description

Free ticketed event
The workshop will provide a pathway for navigating the development of an engineering education research project. Faculty will have the opportunity to work through a scaffolded activity to identify a research area of interest and brainstorm potential research methods. By the end of the workshop, faculty should understand the steps necessary to establish a rigorous and ethically sound study in engineering education.

Speakers

1. Dr. Sarah A Wilson

   University of Kentucky

   Dr. Sarah Wilson is an Assistant Professor in Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Kentucky. She is the director of the Wilson Research Group, where she works to understand and improve mental health in engineering. In this way, she defines mental health as not just the absence of mental illness but a mental state in which engineers can effectively cope with stress, realize their potential, and contribute to society. She is particularly interested in developing and implementing interventions to improve mental health related help seeking in undergraduate engineering students. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rowan University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. She began her academic career as teaching faculty in Chemical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. As an educator, she works to integrate non-cognitive skills such as creativity, social and emotional intelligence, and communication into her courses. Her experience as a teaching faculty member led her to the development of her research in student mental health, resulting in her transition from teaching faculty to assistant professor with research in engineering education in 2021.

2. Sindia Jimenez

   Dr. Rivera-Jiménez is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering Education (EED) and an affiliate faculty to the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida. She is the director of the Engineering Communities & Participatory Change (ECoPAC) Research Group. Her research focuses on understanding the role of engineering communities while enacting their agency in participatory and transformational change. She is particularly interested in broadening the participation of minoritized communities by studying the role of professional development in shaping organizational cultures. As an education practitioner, she also looks at evidence-based practices to incorporate social responsibility skills, collaboration, and inclusive environments into the curriculum. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez with a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. She earned an NSF RIEF award recognizing her effort in transitioning from a meaningful ten-year teaching faculty career into engineering education research. Before her current role, she taught STEM courses at diverse institutions such as Hispanic serving (HSI), community college, and R1 public university. Outside the classroom, she serves as a creator and facilitator of professional development workshops for students, faculty, and industry on social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering.