2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Development and Impact of Research Efficacy in a Undergraduate Teaching-Assistant Certification Class

Presented at Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 7

Research experiences and opportunities are growing in availability and significance for undergraduate students. Furthermore, undergraduate students can offer a distinct perspective and a unique form of assistance compared to graduate students and faculty. This also applies to the classroom. Participation in research in the undergraduate years, shows to provide all engineering student populations (including marginalized groups) to consider a job in the academic and research fields.
At a mid-size minority serving institution, undergraduate students are utilized as teaching assistants (termed as teaching fellow) in several undergraduate classes. This program was developed in 2013 in two engineering departments and expanded to the entire College of Engineering in 2017. In 2022, due to their practitioner experiences, these students were offered to participate in earning a certification in Scholarship of Teaching, Research and Learning from a Nationally Recognized Program.
To obtain the certification, students are required to engage in two seminar classes: Seminar One, covering the Fundamentals of Engineering XXXX (XXXX) and Seminar Two, Engineering XXXX (XXXX), which delves into Advanced Topics of XXXX. In Seminar One, the primary focus is on instructing students about research and learning essentials while aiding them in shaping their teaching philosophy. In Seminar Two, students are challenged to participate in more advanced workshops and concentrate on the development, creation, and execution of a teaching action research project. Upon the successful completion of both seminar classes and the research project, students will attain their undergraduate XXXX certification.
This study, a continuation from previous assessments and studies[1], will focus on the second seminar class, analyzing the students research efficacy.
Description of Second Seminar Course
Furthering the knowledge and comprehension of engineering and computational learning, Teaching Assistances in the realms of teaching, learning, and research, participants engaged in various workshops and seminars centered on the latest and most effective practices in Engineering and Computing education

Since this course is primarily hands-on, students take on the role of peer advisors for new students in the first seminar course. They actively participate in guiding and fostering advanced learning and research in Engineering and Computing Education. These students are anticipated to delve into more complex subjects related to teaching, research, and learning. The topics covered in Engineering XXX encompassed the following (but not limited to), Completing a Research project related to a topic around Scholarship, Research, Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Peer Mentoring and Team lead and facilitating one of the first seminar discussions/lectures.

This study focuses on the second seminar class and examines the research skills of two groups of students who have already finished the first seminar class. It assesses their capacity to lead and navigate research in the field of engineering and computer science education, specifically looking at aspects like idea generation, research implementation, and presenting their findings. We are currently conducting analysis using a validated survey, which will be completed before the initial draft. So far, students participating in these seminars are demonstrating strong efficacy in most areas.

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. 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 (future faculty), and the community at all levels (k12, undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate and internationally). 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 earned a virtual mobility Erasmus+ grant in 2023 to continue global engineering work and connection with University of Porto and Universidad Católica Portuguesa where she was invited to serve on their advisory board. This work also expands to Germany where she is creating a Global Engineering Certificate in collaboration with Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS). 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 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 at UMBC. She is also leading and redeveloping a Global Engineering elective. She has also served as this year’s Program Chair for the Pre-College division and on the task force for Weaving in students versus weaving them out with the President of ASEE. This year she was elected as a team leader for CRITL national and the Editorial Board for the Engineering Education Review an International Journal.
Michael M. Malschützky http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5328-1529 Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Germany [biography]

Michael M. Malschützky is a Research Associate at the Centre for Teaching Development and Innovation (ZIEL) as well as Affiliate Faculty at the Department of Management Sciences at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS), Germany. He received his Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) in Mechanical Engineering from H-BRS in 2005. After working as Test & Validation Engineer (TIER-1) and Program Management Engineer (OEM) in the automotive industry, he returned to academia in 2013, receiving his BSc (2017) and MSc (2023) in Business Psychology from H-BRS.

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