successful in anyprofessional career;43.- Students need to develop an innovative mindset to be successful in any professionalcareer;44.- Entrepreneurship training should begin from the first years of university;45.- I believe that I can foster creativity and critical thinking in my students, even ifinnovation is not an explicit objective of my subject;46.- I believe that I can integrate elements of innovation into my classes through minormodifications in my activities and assessments;47. I would like to have more tools and resources to incorporate innovative activities in myteaching, but I don't know where to find them.48.- I believe that students are capable of developing innovative skills in any subject ifgiven the opportunity;49.- Lack of time is
Alejandro Mejia, University of Cincinnati Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is a Professor of Engineering Education in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education at the University of Cincinnati. His work examines the intersections of engineering, social justice, and critical pedagogies. He focuses on dismantling deficit ideologies in STEM, centering Latino/a/x student experiences—especially of those along the U.S.-Mexico border. His work draws on Chicana/o/x studies, raciolinguistics, and bilingual education to explore how language, race, and socialization shape engineering pathways and engineering practice. In 2025, Dr. Mejia received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE
Digital Asset Management in the Gordon Library at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. Jason holds an MSLIS from the Simmons University School of Library Science, where he is pursuing a PhD. Before his career in librarianship, Jason earned an MA from the New School for Social Research (The New School), focusing on visual culture, critical theory, Science/Technology Studies, and epistemology. Furthermore, from 2010 to 2023, he taught Political Science, Sociology, and Macroeconomics at the City University of New York (CUNY), primarily at Bronx Community College and Hunter College, respectively. Jason’s research interests include primary source-based STEM education, science communication, citizen
feltcompletely capable”). Figure 2 shows the responses to these questions.Figure 2. Students' perceptions regarding their ability to read and understand a scientific article.Most students indicated that they felt capable of reading and understanding scientific articles.Before the project, 87.3% of students selected a score between 3 and 5. After completing theproject, this percentage increased to 98.0%. The average score improved from 3.5 to 4.1,suggesting that the project enhanced students' familiarity with scientific articles. One studentremarked that the project encouraged “the development of reading scientific articles. Veryimportant for the career”. However, two students from the Industrial Engineering program statedthat they still felt unable to
courses examined in Group 1multiple times in their career. From earlier work [1]: “They approach this study from theperspective of an educator who loves to teach, but feels disappointment (and perhaps sorrow)over their own perceptions of how student interactions have changed since the COVID-19pandemic. They feel that prior to the pandemic students were more interested in classroominteraction amongst themselves as well as their instructor, whereas currently they feel manystudents would prefer to watch lecture recordings rather than interact with their instructor andfellow students in the classroom. The author has become interested in devising ways to improvestudent-teacher relationships and classroom community to repair these important
comparison to the U.S. students with majors such aschemical or electrical engineering which typically did not require the use of CAD. This disparityin perceived relevance could potentially cause the U.S. students to lose motivation in learning askill not applicable to their future career goals.Regarding the ability to complete an interdisciplinary project, the U.S. institute offered multipleprojects during the second term to accommodate different majors, all while maintaining a focuson engineering design. Students at the U.S. institution reported feeling more confident in theirability to complete interdisciplinary projects, as they had the opportunity to work with peersacross various engineering disciplines. In contrast, students abroad all majored
, academic planning, and career pathways. Through these info sessions, students receive essential counseling and advisement, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions regarding their educational futures. Moreover, these gatherings provide a platform for students to interact with academic advisors and current students, further demystifying the transfer process and alleviating any associated anxieties. The sessions were offered to students from both CSULA and ELAC, ensuring that prospective transfer students had access to accurate and relevant information regardless of where they were in their academic journey.2.5 Challenge 5: (Both pre- and post-transfer) Lack of community support
, 1954.[7] M. Gopalan and S. Brady, "The role of sense of belonging in STEM education:Implications for underrepresented students," J. STEM Educ., vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 15–21, 2019.[8] B. Buckley et al., "Sense of belonging in engineering education: A review of theliterature," J. Eng. Educ., vol. 112, no. 2, pp. 184–201, 2023.[9] P. Stayhorn, "The importance of sense of belonging in the transition to engineeringcareers," J. Career Dev., vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 250–265, 2023.[10] Lawrence, C. U., & Lee, E. (2024, June), [Work-in-Progress] Sense of Belonging inSTEM Higher Education: Developing a Scoping Review Protocol and Strategy Paper presentedat 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--46414[11
professional.Dr. Vanessa Svihla, University of New Mexico Dr. Vanessa Svihla is a Professor in Organization, Information & Learning Sciences and in Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Svihla received the National Academy of Education / Spencer Postdoctoral Scholarship and the NSF CAREER Award, which President Biden also recognized with a PECASE. Their scholarship has been recognized for its contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion by the American Society for Engineering Education and the Professional and Organizational Development Network. Dr. Svihla, a disabled and chronically-ill scholar, studies how people learn as they frame problems in power-laden systems and how these
office, it is anticipated that those students who werenot focused on just earning a particular grade but instead were willing to attempt a variety ofthese alternative learning approaches with course averages exceeding 100%, will have a higherlikelihood of a timely graduation within the confines of the RPG guidelines. Hopefully, someencouraging results for the future (both locally and beyond) will be implemented from this study,especially if the hypothesis proves any veracity.IntroductionAre there worthwhile indicators that would accurately predict superior success for freshmanuniversity students pursuing an engineering career while navigating the challenges of an arduous,yet rewarding, degree in engineering? Attrition in undergraduate
Singapore Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) to achieve alignmentbetween engineering activities. This tool, which was developed in 2017, SIRI, was designed tobe a comprehensive tool to help industrial companies harness the potential of Industry 4.0 [10].Cheng focuses on creative engineering design courses as an example to introduce various designmethods into interactive teaching by using the problem/project-based learning (PBL) andscience, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) model [11]. The findings oftheir study show that students prefer to work in groups, interact with peers to learn in real-time,and apply what they learn for future career development. The authors find that their educationmodel integrates academic theory and
Paper ID #45591A Faculty Flowchart for Student Disengagement and Mental HealthMaureen Tang, Drexel University Maureen Tang joined the faculty of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Drexel University in 2014 and obtained tenure in April 2020. She received her BS in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007 and her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 2012. Dr. Tang completed postdoctoral work at Stanford University and research internships at Kyoto University, the University of Dortmund, and DuPont. She is the recipient of a NSF CAREER award. Her research at Drexel studies materials and
regulations, preparing them to design projects that meet legal and ethical standards. Thecourse emphasizes the importance of protecting public health by addressing environmentalhazards, ensuring clean water, air, and soil for communities.Integrating environmental education into the undergraduate engineering curriculum is crucial forraising environmental awareness early in students' careers [1]. It teaches students how to analyzeproblems, identify causes and effects, and understand the conditions under which certainprocesses occur and their impact on environmental quality. The growing recognition of theimportance of introducing concepts such as environmental engineering, green engineering,pollution prevention, and design for the environment to
University Pelumi Abiodun is a current doctoral student and research assistant at the department of Civil Engineering, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland. Pelumi got his BSc and MSc degree in Physics from Obafemi Awolowo University, where he also served as a research assistant at the Environmental Pollution Research unit, in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. As part of his contribution to science and engineering, Pelumi has taught as a teaching assistant both at Morgan State University and Obafemi Awolowo University. With passion to communicate research findings and gleaned from experts in the field as he advances his career, Olaitan has attended several in-persons and virtual conferences and workshop, and at some of them, made
behavior [3], [11]. By embedding these elements into the curriculum,higher education institutions aim to prepare students not only to excel in their careers but also tocontribute meaningfully to an interconnected and culturally diverse world. The focus onperspective-taking supports the development of transferable skills, such as interculturalcommunication and ethical reasoning, which are essential for addressing global challenges [12].Despite these initiatives, the effective teaching of perspective-taking skills remains a challenge .Research demonstrates that perspective-taking significantly influences ethical reasoning anddecision-making, yet how to teach and retain this ability effectively is less understood [4].While theoretical frameworks and
turn, confirmed for them that they were pursuing the right degree path and, for one, helped refine career goals within the field of engineering. The peer mentors felt they had experienced personal growth in relating to supervising faculty, expanded their repertoire of social skills (e.g., team leadership, team trouble shooting), and had taken on an informal and continuing role as a sounding board for and guide to some of the students from the course in which the robotics project was implemented. They improved their understanding of course topics, reinforced past learning
perception," Nature Portfolio, 2024.[16] P. a. M. M. Babcock, The falling time cost of college: Evidence from half a century of time use data, 2 ed., vol. 93, Review of Economics and Statistics, 2011, pp. 468-478.[17] R. B. Landis, Studying Engineering: A Road Map to a Rewarding Career, Discovery Press, 2013.
college and then two years at University of Massachusetts (Amherst) studying the biomechanics of biting in bats and monkeys, also using finite element modeling techniques. In 2010, he started his career teaching in all areas of mechanical engineering at the University of Southern Indiana. He loves teaching all of the basic mechanics courses, and of course his Vibrations and Finite Element Analysis courses.Dr. Amie Baisley, University of Florida Amie Baisley is currently an Instructional Assistant Professor at the University of Florida teaching primarily 2nd year mechanics courses. Her teaching and research interests are alternative pedagogies, mastery-based learning and assessment, student persistence in their first
hubs for cross-disciplinary learning and innovation.These findings align with the FREE Competency Taxonomy, demonstrating that student-ledmakerspace workshops effectively cultivate technical, professional, and personal competenciescritical for engineering graduates.Future research should explore longitudinal tracking of workshop participants to assess whetherinterdisciplinary mindsets persist beyond graduation, as well as multi-institutional studies tovalidate these findings across different educational settings. Additional questions remain aboutthe depth of discipline achieved, the specific competencies most impacted, and how theseexperiences influence career pathways or entrepreneurial pursuits. Addressing these gaps willstrengthen the case
Engineering Mechanics where he studied the vestibular organs in the inner ear using finite element models and vibration analyses. After graduating, he spent a semester teaching at a local community college and then two years at University of Massachusetts (Amherst) studying the biomechanics of biting in bats and monkeys, also using finite element modeling techniques. In 2010, he started his career teaching in all areas of mechanical engineering at the University of Southern Indiana. He loves teaching all of the basic mechanics courses, and of course his Vibrations and Finite Element Analysis courses.Dr. Jiehong Liao, Florida Gulf Coast University Dr. Jiehong Liao is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Florida Gulf
in thus class.” “Too much chemistry fro a civil engineer that doesn't have chem two under their belt” “i am interested in wastewater, but uninterested in chemistry in engineering” “I think that I am more interested in the topic overall. Seeing some of the applications of chemistry in wastewater made me more excited to learn more and use chemistry knowledge in this context” “After taking this class, I realized that this is a subject/ field of study that I can see myself getting a career in. I loved using chemistry to solve engineering problems.” “The chemistry portion of the course we did was very limited, but it did help with understanding conceptually what was happening.”DiscussionThese results suggest that the two modules improved
the belief that brillianceis a predominantly male attribute at a young age. Once internalized, this stereotype begins to shape their interestsand can significantly constrain the range of careers they consider in the future [9, 10]. When, from an early age,girls are exposed to the pervasive stereotype that men possess superior abilities in mathematics and science; thiscan negatively impact their experiences and opportunities across multiple stages of their lives [11]. This usuallyresults in girls exhibiting diminished interest in STEM related fields and are less inclined to pursue them. To mitigate the effects of this ”STEM is for guys” stigma, it is imperative to expand access to as well as en-gagement with technology and STEM fields within
platform with which admissions data may be used to predict student suc-cess and better track student progress over their academic career through data driven analysis.IntroductionThe graduate admissions committee at a top-ranked university reviews over 1,000 applicants an-nually and is a cornerstone of academic excellence, but the admissions process remains labor-intensive. Staff are required to manually review numerous student documents, particularly aca-demic transcripts, which contain essential data such as grades and course credits that must bemeticulously analyzed to ensure fair and consistent decisions. Since transcripts hail from a vari-ety of institutions globally, each with different formatting nuances as well as curriculum, difficul-ties
, “Predicting Student Depression With Measures of General and Academic Anxieties,” Front. Educ., vol. 4, Feb. 2019, doi: 10.3389/feduc.2019.00011.[22] S. Hurtado and C. Guillermo-Wann, “Diverse Learning Environments: Assessing and Creating Conditions for Student Success - Final Report to the Ford Foundation,” University of California, Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, 2013.[23] G. P. Chrousos and A.-F. A. Mentis, “Imposter syndrome threatens diversity,” Science, vol. 367, no. 6479, pp. 749–750, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1126/science.aba8039.[24] C. Woolston, “How burnout and imposter syndrome blight scientific careers,” Nature, vol. 599, no. 7886, pp. 703–705, Nov. 2021, doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03042-z
project itself. The community and engineers should work forthe same objective. Besides addressing communities’ problems and understanding their needs,HE programs offer pedagogical advantages, students can develop intangible qualities such ascommunication skills and cultural awareness [33]. Contribution to humanitarian engineering andstudent’s engagement with the program also adds motivation for their studies, develop personaland professional skills and help them identify career opportunities [34].Finally, there is evidence that low humility could put in danger the project. There are somebarriers and competencies that should be taken into consideration to improve the interactionbetween engineers and community members. The five guiding principles
children. The curriculum taught 2Dto 3D conversion, scientific method, iterative design, prototyping, and structural testing throughsketching and hands-on activities. It included math calculations and aimed to showcasereal-world engineering applications while boosting STEM career interest. Key project elementsinvolved sketching, shape folding, testing, and personalization (Figure 1). Figure 1: Pilot Piñata Project in the XXX Summer Camp 2023The four-day piñata project at the camp introduced students to the engineering design process,math concepts, and 2D-3D shape identification. Using Spatial Kids software [31], childrenpracticed sketching and spatial skills with automated feedback. Teams built and tested five piñatashapes
climate crisis.20 The coursework for the program isrooted in environmental science, geographic information systems, public policy, and urbanstudies. The program is intended to prepare students for careers in public administration,environmental science, environmental law, and related fields. The first cohort of students in theClimate Resilience program matriculated in the fall semester of 2024.At this point, there is no institutional equivalent to the Climate Resilience degree to impartengineering students at WIT with a complementary set of skills and perspectives. Engineeringstudents can enroll in the Sustainability Minor, and advisors frequently recommend thatinterested students do so, but additional coursework outside the degree program can
various educationaltools and platforms, including chatbots, virtual reality labs, and career guidance systems,is also a focus (e.g., [86–88]). Some studies examine how AI tools are changing students’information-seeking and learning behaviors ( [89, 90]. Ethical considerations and challenges,such as ensuring equitable access to AI technologies and addressing potential misuse, arerecurring concerns discussed across papers in this category (e.g., [90–92]). Finally, manyresearchers highlight the need for future work, including long-term studies on learning out-comes, addressing current AI limitations, and developing best practices for AI integrationin education (e.g., [83, 84, 91]). This body of research thus demonstrates both the signifi-cant
form of an extended research report, usuallyaround 5,000 words, on a topic of their choosing.Yasmin occasionally finds being one of very few women on the course isolating. In her prioreducation she had attended an all-girls secondary school, followed by a mixed-gender FurtherEducation college, where she was one of only a handful of girls in her maths and physicsclasses. She found this experience “completely different” and “weird,” having been used toall-female environments. During her time at the Further Education college she had attended aday of talks and workshops for women in STEM, aimed at encouraging girls aged 16-19 topursue careers in STEM fields. She found this made STEM careers feel more “relatable” toher. At university, she has no