2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Using a Study Journal to Support Class Engagement and the Development of Entrepreneurial Mindset Habits

Presented at Engineering Technology Division (ETD) Technical Session 11

Engineering Technology programs were historically introduced to support non-traditional students and offer college pathways for students working and having already a developing career. This is even more true in the current academic environment, with a large percentage of students enrolled in engineering technology programs being either fully or part-time employed, active or retired military, and at different stages in their lives, usually with families to care for. Often, non-traditional students attend classes online, either synchronously or even more often asynchronously, due to their schedule constraints. Course instructors regularly face schedule or time management constraints from the students’ side, and they need to make course adjustments to accommodate the students’ needs. In this context a Study Journal assignment was introduced in several courses in an Electrical Engineering Technology program. The goal of this assignment was to assist students with their time management for the course and with developing or improving study habits. In addition, students were introduced to the concept of Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) and to the key EM habits of Curiosity, Connections and Creating Value. The journal assignment was set for students to explore these EM habits in relation to the course materials and curriculum. With this assignment, students are strongly encouraged to reflect on their study habits, time management and the weight of the EM habits in their study work. The paper will discuss the assignment and the feedback received from the students.

Authors

Dr. Otilia Popescu Old Dominion University [biography]

Dr. Otilia Popescu received the Engineering Diploma and M.S. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania, and the PhD degree from Rutgers University, all in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research interests are in the general areas of communication systems, wireless communications, control theory, signal processing and engineering education. She is currently a Professor in the Department
of Engineering Technology, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and served for seven years as the Program Director for the Electrical Engineering Technology Program. In the past she has worked for the University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at San Antonio, Rutgers University, and Politehnica University of Bucharest. She is a senior member of the IEEE.
Dimitrie C Popescu Old Dominion University [biography]

Dimitrie C. Popescu received the Engineering Diploma with specialization in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA. His research interests are in the area of wireless communication systems and include software defined and cognitive radios, spectrum sensing and dynamic spectrum access for cognitive radios, modulation classification, interference mitigation and transmitter/receiver optimization to support quality of service, vehicular networks, and signal processing for communications and radar systems. Dr. Dimitrie Popescu has served as ONR Senior Faculty Research Fellow at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, and has also held summer prositions with AT&T Labs in Florham Park, NJ, and with Telcordia Technologies (formely known as Bellcore) in Red Bank, NJ. He is an active Senior Member of the IEEE currently serving as an Associate Editor for IEEE Sensors Letters and participating regularly in the technical program and organizing committees for the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (Globecom), IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC), and IEEE Vehicular Technologies Conference (VTC). He has also served as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, IEEE Communications Letters, and the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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