Conference Session

Graduate Student Writing and Communication

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Juan M. Cruz, Virginia Tech; Mayra S. Artiles , Virginia Tech; Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Tech; Gwen Lee-Thomas, Quality Measures LLC; Stephanie G. Adams, Old Dominion University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

intended to imply a degree of severity or sequential progression. The first obstacle categorywas the task of writing the dissertation. Students facing this obstacle were commonly in the veryfinal stages and described experiencing ‘writer’s block’ or inability in expressing their researchresults in writing. The second category was students who believed they lacked motivation.These students expressed a lack of self-efficacy in being able to commit to the work necessary tocomplete the degree. They described often procrastinating because they no longer wanted toconduct the research (or related activities), and in more advanced cases, inability to communicateclearly with the doctoral advisor. The third category was students that struggled in

Conference Session

Graduate Student Writing and Communication

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah Jane Bork, University of Michigan; Joi-lynn Mondisa, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

that social support, such as having regular contact with friends or having ahigher functioning relationship with one’s advisor, decreases graduate and professional students’needs [4]. This literature, overall, shows how social support can influence student mental health.This paper, therefore, is focusing on graduate student’s ability to engage in these socialinteractions. To do so, the three following measures are being pursued: self-sufficiency, sense ofbelonging, and social self-efficacy. Self-sufficiency for this study is being defined as an individual’sability to operate independently on a day-to-day basis. In this context, this could be perceived as astudent’s ability to perform their daily work duties as well as any social obligations

Conference Session

Improved Pathways to Graduate Studies

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jacques C. Richard, Texas A&M University; So Yoon Yoon, Texas A&M University; Maria Claudia Alves , Texas A&M University; Vikram K. Kinra, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

experiences, and overall program experiences.The format of the measures varied, including open-ended questions, ranking, and seven-pointLikert scales, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Among several measures,we analyzed four common measures in both pre- and post-surveys, aligned with the NSF REUprogram objectives, such as (a) career goals after graduation, (b) self-efficacy in decision-makingtoward graduate school, and (c) perceptions of research knowledge, skills, and engineeringcareer paths, and (d) research expectations and experiences that enabled us to explore thedifferences of the impact of the REU programs on national versus international students.D. Data AnalysesFirst, we applied descriptive statistics for frequency

Conference Session

Graduate Student Support

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ellen Zerbe, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Catherine G.P. Berdanier, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

scales included in the survey, the Inventory of Graduate Writing Processes and theGraduate Concepts of Academic Writing surveys developed and validated by other researchers.Inventory of Graduate Writing Processes [26]. The Inventory of Graduate Writing Processesscale asks multiple questions using a Likert scale regarding the student’s approach to the writingprocess. Results from the questions were sorted into their factors and averaged with the other in-factor items to find each student’s primary and secondary approaches. The factors are describedbelow.  Elaborative—writing is a personal investment and part of knowledge creation  Low Self-Efficacy—lack of confidence in ability to articulate thoughts  No Revision—avoids or resists

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division Poster Session

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yuting W. Chen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Hyun Hannah Choi, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Blake Everett Johnson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Mattox Alan Beckman, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Lucas Anderson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

be measurable through improved undergraduate student evaluations, and2) publications and conference presentations by the instructional team for the benefit of the broaderengineering education community. 4OutcomesProgram Outcomes are classified according to short-, intermediate-, and long-term targets. In theshort-term, the individual participants should develop increased self-efficacy about their teaching,as well as an awareness of how their leadership skills can be enhanced through effective teach-ing.In the intermediate-term, our goal is to improve trends in undergraduate student feedback andfaculty satisfaction with GTA performance. An accompanying goal is that GTAs on the campuswill exhibit

Conference Session

Improved Pathways to Graduate Studies

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carol S. Gattis, University of Arkansas; Manuel D. Rossetti P.E., University of Arkansas; Kim LaScola Needy P.E., University of Arkansas; Edgar C. Clausen, University of Arkansas; Wenjuo Lo, University of Arkansas

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

experience cannotbe required, but it is encouraged. SIIRE workshops focus on performing research and on how tocommunicate research. In addition, SIIRE supports students as they perform their graduatestudies, which often includes a thesis.Borrego et al. [20] apply social cognitive career theory to examine the underpinnings of whyengineering students choose graduate school. They developed constructs aligned with socialcognitive career theory such as self-efficacy, outcome expectations, supports, barriers and choiceactions. These constructs present a more holistic view of the many factors involved in makingthe choice to attend graduate school. For example, Borrego et al. [20] used self-efficacy torepresent “a person’s beliefs about their ability to

Conference Session

Aligning Graduate Programs with Industrial Needs

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Priyesh Uday Mehta, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Catherine G.P. Berdanier, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

their self-efficacy. Another paper from the group [12] investigates the importance of timing in effectiveness of DFAM education. An important observation is made that introducing DFAM concepts at an earlier stage improves students perceiving utility. A valuable take away from their work is that introducing Additive manufacturing education at an early-career level proves to be advantageous and aids in effective learning. Additional potential overarching research questions the Engineering Education research community could contribute to solving include  How can online, remote, or virtual educational environments be designed to harness best practices in active learning developed for residential