2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A New Personalized Learning Approach Towards Graduate STEM Education: A Pilot in Chemical Engineering

Presented at Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 6: Programs in Graduate Education

Despite calls over the past two decades to develop and deploy graduate STEM education models that prepare students for a variety of careers outside of academia, few innovations have emerged to meet students at their current skill and preparation levels when entering their graduate studies while also considering students’ individual desired career paths. The U.S.’s current approach to graduate STEM education does not emphasize preparing students with the professional skills and experience outside the lab. Further, students from differing socioeconomic and underserved backgrounds are often not adequately supported. Through a National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award, the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering is creating and validating a personalized learning model (PLM) for graduate education within the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. The goal of this model is to transform and modernize graduate STEM education through a personalized, inclusive, and student-centered approach, which will, in turn, advance existing knowledge on the relationship between personalized learning and student outcomes.

The principles of personalized learning guide the PLM. The PLM is comprised of five components. The first three components provide an intentional approach to learning: Instructional Goals developed for each student based on a learner profile and individual development plans (IDP), a purposeful Task Environment that breaks the traditional three-credit coursework into modules and co-curricular professional development streams, and a resolute approach to Scaffolding Instruction that leads to mastery in the student’s area of focus. The last two components provide feedback and reflection: Assessment of Performance Learning quantifies students’ progress, and Reflection and Evaluation, where improvement opportunities help the student to develop further. Incorporating personalization at every touchpoint of a graduate student’s academic journey creates an authentic, customized, student-centered approach to graduate education. This paper describes in detail the model and the literature behind its development, along with assessments used to guide students.

Authors

Dr. April A. Dukes http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6626-9331 University of Pittsburgh [biography]

Dr. April Dukes is the Faculty and Future Faculty Program Director for the Engineering Educational Research Center (EERC) and the Institutional Co-leader for Pitt-CIRTL at the University of Pittsburgh. April's research and teaching efforts engage graduate students, postdocs, and faculty to inform and support systemic change toward excellence and inclusivity in higher education.
Ms. Valerie E. Kerr University of Pittsburgh [biography]

Valerie E. Kerr serves as the Graduate Engineering Professional Development Consultant in the Office of Experiential Learning and Professional Engagement at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering. In her role, she works with MS and PhD engineering students on all aspects of career and professional development. Valerie holds a B.A. in Economics and German from Washington & Jefferson College and Master of Business Administration and Master of Sports Administration degrees from Ohio University. She is currently pursuing her EdD in Higher Education at the University of Pittsburgh.
Susan K. Fullerton Shirey University of Pittsburgh [biography]

Susan Fullerton is an Associate Professor, Bicentennial Board of Visitors Faculty Fellow, and Vice Chair for Graduate Education in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Penn State in 2009, and joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame as a Research Assistant Professor. In 2015 she established the Nanoionics and Electronics Lab at Pitt as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. Fullerton’s work has been recognized by an NSF CAREER award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, a Marion Milligan Mason award for women in the chemical sciences from AAAS, and a Ralph E. Powe Jr. Faculty Award from ORAU. For her teaching, Fullerton was awarded the 2018 James Pommersheim Award for Excellence in Teaching in Chemical Engineering at Pitt. For more information: http://fullertonlab.pitt.edu/
Dr. Götz Veser University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Mary E. Besterfield-Sacre University of Pittsburgh [biography]

Dr. Mary Besterfield-Sacre is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor in Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the Founding Director of the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC).

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