2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Development of a Framework to Support Technology-Life Balance in Undergraduate Engineering Students

Presented at Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering Division (TELPhE) Technical Session 3

Technology-life balance, also referred to as digital wellness or digital health, can be defined as the pursuit of an intentional and healthy relationship with technology and digital media. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge of digital technology usage in the 21st century, technology-life balance has become a much-needed field of research. The extreme extent to which many individuals use and consume technology and digital media can have serious physiological and psychological health effects. Postsecondary engineering students are regular digital technology users in various forms, from study and notetaking tools to entertainment systems, making them highly susceptible to the negative effects of technology overuse. The main purpose of this research is to support health and wellness in undergraduate engineering students by a) promoting effective technological literacy skills and b) improving self-efficacy in understanding technology-life balance. The resulting best practices from this work, which have been condensed into an easily accessible framework, are intended to support students in maintaining digital wellbeing throughout their lifetime. The proposed framework will allow individuals to access research-informed strategies to improve and maintain technology-life balance in an increasingly technological and digital media-focused environment.

Authors

Ms. Milana Hayley Grozic University of Calgary; The University of British Columbia [biography]

Ms. Milana Grozic (she/her) is a second year psychology major at The University of British Columbia. Her research attempts to merge the fields of engineering and psychology - focusing specifically on engineering education. Her passion for the human psycho extends far beyond psychology and she is proud to bring her unique perspectives into engineering education research.
Dr. Emily Ann Marasco University of Calgary [biography]

Dr. Emily Marasco is an instructor of software engineering and the SSE Teaching Chair in Engineering Education Innovation – Digital Transformation. Her pedagogical research and teaching interests are in the areas of innovation and learning engineering, including the use of machine learning, gamification, blended learning, and entrepreneurial thinking as tools for enhancing creativity within software and computer engineering. Dr. Marasco is active as a science communicator and outreach speaker in the local education community. She has been recognized as the 2018 ASTech Outstanding Leader of Tomorrow and received the 2016 Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Graduate Award for women in engineering. She was most recently recognized as one of Calgary’s 2019 Top 40 Under 40 recipients.

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