Conference Session

Professional Development and Advising for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katy Luchini-Colbry, Michigan State University; Theresa Lynn Gonzalez

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

andprofessional success as individuals, and their ability to succeed after graduation in research,academic, and industry careers.11,12 Specific areas where graduate students often need supportinclude: building community inside and outside their home departments;5,6,13,14 understandingand accessing campus resources;5,15–17 and planning for careers.11,18,19 While graduate studentsneed to develop academic and professional skills in order to complete their coursework andresearch, it is also essential to develop “soft skills,” such as interpersonal communications,conflict resolution, time management, and team work.20This paper describes a multi-year effort to develop professional development activities forEngineering graduate students at Michigan State

Conference Session

Professional Development and Advising for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Farshid Marbouti, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Cyndi D. Lynch, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

. The RDF is a professional development framework for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers in higher education. It articulates the knowledge, [behaviors] and attributes of successful researchers and encourages them to [realize] their potential”.Research goal/questionsThe goal of this study is to investigate PhD students’ competency level at different skillsand expertise they need to be successful at their jobs after graduating from university byanswering the following questions: • To what extent do PhD students acknowledge the importance of necessary skills they need to be successful at their jobs? • What is the self

Conference Session

Discipline Specific Topics and Techniques

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Katy Luchini-Colbry, Michigan State University; Korine Steinke Wawrzynski, Michigan State University; Megan A. Shannahan, Michigan State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

completed online, in response to an email distributed through the surveysoftware. In an effort to encourage faculty mentor participation (and avoid the appearance of“checking up” on the mentors), it was decided to conduct both surveys anonymously. The pre-experience survey explored the research mentors’ preparation for working with undergraduateresearchers. Mentors were asked about how they planned to communicate with theirundergraduate researchers, and whether they had discussed general expectations (e.g., student’srole in the research, working hours) and more specific concerns (e.g., responsible conduct ofresearch, lab safety or procedures). For classification purposes, the pre-experience survey askedmentors about their prior experiences with

Conference Session

Teaching and Pedagogy Issues in Graduate Education

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Aaron P. Wemhoff, Villanova University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

thestudents showed essentially no interest in ME graduate research. These students were in theclass to earn the “easy credit” to gain full-time status. Additional survey questions indicated that100% of the class was planning to graduate in Spring 2013, one-third of the students wereenrolled in the department’s 5-year BS-MS program, and approximately one quarter of thestudents in the class had performed undergraduate research in the department. Page 24.533.5 A. To satisfy curiosity regarding graduate research ongoing in the ME Dept B. To fulfill the minimum of 12 credits required for full-time status

Conference Session

Teaching and Pedagogy Issues in Graduate Education

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark Shaurette, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Randy R. Rapp, Purdue Building Construction Management Dept.

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Technology Master of Science ProgramAbstractPurdue University offers a Master of Science in Construction Management (CM) throughdistance delivery that includes a course only plan of study culminating in a capstone writingproject. Students enter the program after completing traditional engineering, architecture, andconstruction management undergraduate degrees from a diversity of universities around theglobe. Entering students are required to have five or more years of experience working in theconstruction industry. As is common in many engineering or technology graduate programs, thewriting proficiency of entering students is frequently inadequate to meet the demands of graduatelevel scholarly writing. Because much of the scholarly writing that is

Conference Session

Future Career and Professional Success for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Renetta G. Tull, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Miguel Alfonso Nino, Virginia Polytechnic and State University; Kimberly Monique Holmes, George Mason University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

specific workshops to address career options, in response to the 2012report by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), “Pathways Through Graduate School and IntoCareers.” The CGS report and plans for our expanded graduate school sponsored career-focusedactivities, have been shared with graduate program directors, the Career Services Center, and thePresident's Council. We expose STEM graduate students to different kinds of careers, e.g., non-profit, government, and industry, and while maintaining a commitment to train future faculty fordifferent kinds of academic institutions. Our signature career seminars for graduate students areroundtable networking sessions, in which participants have the opportunity to interact withdiverse professionals with

Conference Session

Preparing Future Educators

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linda M. Head, Rowan University; Melanie Basantis, Rowan University; Steven H. Chin, Rowan University; Bernard Pietrucha, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

preparations are targeted to the backgroundand skills level of the students. Classroom/laboratory delivery requires that the TF: a) present in Page 24.1271.5a professional manner, b) maintain a classroom environment that is conducive to learning for allstudents, c) monitor student attention and apparent understanding of the course content, d) assiststudent groups with activities, and e) assess learning and plan for future sessions.While summer programs for middle and high school students typically do not have the samerigorous treatment of academic content that is found in a college course, the learningenvironment can mimic many of the same situations

Conference Session

Discipline Specific Topics and Techniques

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mandy Wheadon, Purdue University; Nathalie Duval-Couetil, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Page 24.1124.1423. Golde, C. & Dore, T. At cross purposes: What the experiences of today’s doctoral students reveal about doctoral education. 1–58 (2001).24. Nerad, M., Aanerud, R. & Cerny, J. in Paths to Profr. Strateg. Enrich. Prep. Futur. Fac. (Wulff, D. H. & Austin, A.) 137–58 (Jossey-Bass, 2004).25. Dees, J. G. The meaning of social entrepreneurship. Duke Univ. Fuqua Sch. Business, Cent. Adv. Soc. Entrep. 1–5 (2001). at 26. Magner, D. Critics urge overhaul of Ph.D. training, but disagree sharply on how to do so: How graduate school alters students’ career plans. Chron. High. Educ. 46, 19 (2000).27. Carnevale, A., Rose, S. & Cheah, B. The college payoff: Education, occupations, lifetime

Conference Session

Preparing Future Educators

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rachel McCord Ellestad, Virginia Tech; Cory Hixson, Virginia Tech; Ella Lee Ingram, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Lisa D. McNair, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

appointment) and still be able tomaintain suitable progress in the fellow’s Ph.D. plan of study. For this implementation, fellowsapplied in early spring, were selected by late spring, and arrived on the RHIT campus coincidentwith new faculty orientation. The fellows were placed in receptive departments and were invitedto participate in the daily life of the organization. Both fellows attended the new facultyorientation activities as appropriate (e.g. the annual teaching workshop, but not the HR benefitsseminar), and were introduced alongside other new staff and faculty at the annual opening daysymposium. During the fellowship, the fellows attended departmental or institutional meetings,participated in Homecoming activities, ate in the faculty/staff

Conference Session

Preparing Future Educators

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Lynn Brannon, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

for SmartTeaching” and decided to adopt this book for the GTA seminar. Page 24.189.4Course ObjectivesEach of the class sessions focuses on a teaching and learning topic, 1) setting the tone - classclimate, 2) understanding your students - who are your students?, 3) how students learn;teaching culturally diverse students, 4) motivation, 5) strategic course planning - learningobjectives, 6) instructional methods, 7) assessment of learning, peer learning techniques,practice and feedback, and 8) teaching ethics and ethical teaching. The instructor wanted tomaintain these topics, so to make the use of the book valuable; the instructor redesigned

Conference Session

Future Career and Professional Success for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rachel Louis Kajfez, Ohio State University; Lisa D. McNair, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

anticipated, but all of the results should be interpreted with the size as a majorconsideration. The other limitation is generalizability. This study was only conducted at one(R1) university with only three fields studied, so the results cannot be generalized beyond thepopulation.Future WorkWe plan to evaluate and analyze the lifelong learner results carefully so that reliable lifelonglearner items can be created, either as new questions or as questions that relate orthogonally tolifelong learning in teacher and researcher roles. We also plan to revise and distribute the surveynationally to all graduate fields of study to see how the additional fields view these roles. Also,we plan to follow up with the same population to discern any changes that may

Conference Session

Future Career and Professional Success for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Janie McClurkin, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Velvet Fitzpatrick, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Catherine G.P. Berdanier, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica Farmer Cox, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Cyndi Lynch, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

application in the professional developmentmodules, the learning objectives of the course are presented at the beginning of themodule, and by planning the questions and responses (which are formative feedbacksources for the researchers), the instructor is forced to think about the alignment of theDemonstrate (summative assessment) component with the other aspects. After thequestions are formed, content is easily distributed within the framework to help studentsachieve the desired learning objectives of the module.The objective of this work was to develop an online learning tool that provides industrylearning experiences for highly trained technical people (engineering Ph.D. students) andformat the modules such that they complement the working culture

Conference Session

Teaching and Pedagogy Issues in Graduate Education

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Justin M. Foley, Applied Physics Program, University of Michigan; Ashley M. Verhoff, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan; John J. Pitre Jr., Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan; Kathleen Marie Ropella, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

above.Addressing these concerns may include holding the same workshop several times over the courseof the semester and having interested instructors develop a workshop series where themes can beincorporated.d. Program improvement and future Page 24.1404.10The workshop format and group of students interested in teaching provide a foundation forexpanding the current curriculum development opportunities. We plan to collaborate with afaculty member who relies on a computer-based skill, such as MATLAB, but may not have theclass time necessary to teach the skill. This can provide an opportunity to develop a mini-coursefor further course development experience

Conference Session

Discipline Specific Topics and Techniques

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tasha Zephirin, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Catherine G.P. Berdanier, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica Farmer Cox, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Suely M. Black, Norfolk State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

Research module provides a framework to acquaint students with research in IGERT-MNM’s interdisciplinary content areas, and to expose them to the processes researchers use to plan scientific investigations. The challenge of preparing research proposals marks the transition from the dependent to the independent stage in graduate students’ education. This transition is critical and prompts the development of a set of new skills and behaviors necessary for the successful completion of the doctoral degree and future professional career. This module offers instructional scaffolding to promote students’ mastery of the skills and thinking patterns associated with the creative

Conference Session

Preparing Future Educators

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elena Nicolescu Veety, North Carolina State University; Mehmet C. Ozturk, North Carolina State University; Renata S. Engel P.E., Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Carolyn A. Vallas, University of Virginia; Meghan McGlinn Manfra, North Carolina State University ; Tom Snyder, North Carolina State University; Chunlei Wang, Florida International University; Veena Misra, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

•  Perceived value of Skill •  Quality of Activity Reflection Skill Assessment • Open-ended reflection on •  Collection and evaluation of learning outcomes and added student products from every value of the activity activity Figure 3: TESP Evaluation Plan Page 24.1281.10reflection. Finally, for every activity, samples of student work, including mind maps, inventiondisclosures, and publications are collected and analyzed to

Conference Session

Future Career and Professional Success for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Catherine G.P. Berdanier, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Sara E. Branch, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Jeremi S. London, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Benjamin Ahn, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica Farmer Cox, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

calls for alternative doctoralpedagogies for students planning to succeed in industry.It is difficult to directly compare the results of this study with numerical results shown in similarstudies. We are particularly interested with comparing our numerical findings through thissurvey with numerical findings about the most important skills for Ph.D.-holding engineeringgraduates in academia and industry. However, most studies look particularly at the experiencesand employer expectations of baccalaureate-level engineers entering the field. For example,Lang et al. (2009) conducted a survey of engineers in industry regarding the necessary attributesfor entry-level (baccalaureate) engineers using a survey instrument asking participants about

Conference Session

Professional Development and Advising for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Erika Mosyjowski, University of Michigan; Shanna R. Daly, University of Michigan; Diane L Peters, Kettering University; Steve Skerlos, University of Michigan; Adam B. Baker, University of Michigan

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

to directly assess theimpact of the advising relationship on various measures of student success. Our future plansinclude the analysis of the larger survey to better understand returners’ decisions to pursue aPhD, the unique challenges they face, and coping strategies they utilize and how these compareto those of direct pathway students. We also conducted in-depth interviews with 53 returning anddirect pathway students from across the country and plan to analyze that data for a betterunderstanding of the development of students’ research and how their past experiences influencetheir PhD work. Finally, we will conduct focus groups with various stakeholders in industry,government, and academia, including faculty advisors, to better understand

Conference Session

Professional Development and Advising for Graduate Students

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Robin Adams, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Catherine G.P. Berdanier, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Paul Andrew Branham, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Neha Choudhary, Purdue; Trina L. Fletcher, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Molly H Goldstein, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Cole Hatfield Joslyn, Purdue University; Corey A Mathis, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Emilie A Siverling, Purdue University; Natascha Trellinger Buswell, Purdue University, West Lafayette; M. D. Wilson, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

studyinghumans. The faculty provided stories of these challenges as well as the strategies theyused to overcome them. As Corey explains, “I wanted to find out how everyone dealtwith situations that I had difficulty in…I want to be prepared for my research, and Ifound it helpful to know obstacles are presented to all of us.” Similarly, Catherine shareshow toward “the middle of the semester, as we became more comfortable withmethodologies through other courses, I became more interested some of the issues withthe research that didn’t go as planned.” Molly and Emilie provide a broad overview ofthe kinds of “realities” faculty shared: “Getting to talk candidly with the authors of these papers made EER seem much more accessible, but also opened my eyes