2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

An Adaptive, Improvement-Oriented Evaluation Suite for Undergraduate Research Experiences: A Reflective Case Study from an Engineering Research Center

Presented at A Deep Dive into Failure and Assessment

Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) commonly offer summer research programs such as REUs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates), RETs (Research Experiences for Teachers), and REMs (Research Experiences in Mentoring) with the goal of expanding the next generation engineering workforce. These programs are well-positioned to offer transformative experiences for students and educators. We look beyond their immediate outcomes to pose the question: how can adaptive program evaluation methods be leveraged to help support program impact within the ERC and serve a broader function across the engineering ecosystem? Using retrospective reflective case study as method (Tardi, 2019), we explore ways that theory and practice-informed program evaluation can not only provide evidence of individual impact, but also provide insights to inform program management and improvement.

Authors

Micaha Dean Hughes North Carolina State University [biography]

Micaha Dean Hughes (she/her) is a doctoral candidate in Teacher Education and Learning Sciences (Educational Psychology) at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Her research centers organizational opportunities for fostering supportive learning environments that support identity-based motivation for a flourishing, resilient youth populace. Micaha holds an M.S. in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education and a B.A. in Integrated Strategic Communication, both from the University of Kentucky.
Dr. Lindsey McGowen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0621-4184 North Carolina State University at Raleigh [biography]

Dr. Lindsey McGowen is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Psychology at North Carolina State University, where she directs the Innovation Studies Lab. Her research focuses on evaluating cooperative science and technology programs that emphasize use-inspired research and workforce development. In particular, her work examines the outcomes and impacts of research centers that foster collaboration between academia and external stakeholders across both public and private sectors.

With over a decade of experience, Dr. McGowen has led the NSF-sponsored Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) Evaluation Project and has conducted evaluations for NSF's ERC and CoPe Centers, the NSA Science of Security Lablet program, and USDA CAPs, Centers of Excellence, and SAS grantees. She holds a B.S. in Psychology & Communication from Lewis & Clark College and both an M.S. and Ph.D. in Psychology in the Public Interest from North Carolina State University.
Lindsey Payne North Carolina State University at Raleigh

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