2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This lessons learned paper explores how engineering instructional faculty from different higher education institutions in the southeast U.S. respond to a specific professional development training on mentoring undergraduate students. This work builds upon a one-of-a-kind mentoring hub titled as “RITA Mentoring Hub” funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of this mentoring hub is to provide professional development to new instructional engineering faculty from experienced faculty members and professional trainers, equipping them with skills to guide future mentees in the academic community. This study is a collaboration between three distinct types of higher education institutions. These institutions include the University of Florida, Virginia Tech University, and Morehouse College. Using participatory action research (PAR) approach, twelve (12) engineering instructional faculty members were recruited purposively and strategically from these institutions. In January 2024, the International Mentoring Association (IMA) at University of Florida organized an online IMA Mentor training titled “RITA Mentor Training - Building Futures” for these participants upon request of the principal investigators of this NSF project. The workshop was divided into four modules: theory, skills and strengths, responsive mentoring, and assessment. This paper focused on the second module which focused on the skills and strengths that drive effective mentoring. A special focus was put on an important mentor skill module titled ‘designing powerful questions’ in which the participants were introduced to eight different types of questions. The data was collated from the research team notes, participants’ responses to the survey, and participants’ expressed thoughts during and at the end of training. This study revealed that many participants had not incorporated effective questioning techniques while mentoring their students or mentees to provide empathetic and effective support. It also highlights the need for structured mentoring programs for engineering faculty in educational institutions. This study has implications not only for the instructional faculty that participated in online training but for new and experienced faculty members and graduate students that serve as mentors in different capacities. This paper will be presented as a lightning talk.