personalized learningmodel (PLM) for graduate education within the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. Thismodel aims to transform and modernize graduate STEM education through a personalized, inclusive, andstudent-centered approach, which will, in turn, advance existing knowledge on the relationship betweenpersonalized learning and student outcomes.The principles of personalized learning guide the PLM. It is comprised of five components. The first threecomponents provide an intentional approach to learning: Instructional Goals developed for each studentbased on a learner profile and individual development plans (IDP), a purposeful Task Environment thatbreaks the traditional three-credit coursework into modules and co-curricular
and then appliedthese skills directly to their current research projects (thesis). Applying PM skills to researchbenefits both the student and their research team by improving time management, taskcompletion, and communication. Ultimately, we anticipate that PM skills will increase students’likelihood of completing their degrees and equip students with transferable knowledge for theirfuture work.To assess the effectiveness of the course in meeting our goals, we developed a comprehensiveevaluation plan that included pre- and post-class surveys. These pre- and post-surveys askedstudents to rate their familiarity with and use of PM skills. In this paper, we provide a detaileddescription of the course and highlight the results of the pre-and post
. 1. Connection Plan – Future GR.A.D.S. utilized a ten-week connection plan that laid out the schedule with goals and tasks for each week. This connection plan included tasks for both the mentor and mentee regarding the goals, meetings, and surveys. For some tasks, email notifications were sent to the participants to remind them of the timeline. For other tasks, the platform also sent multiple reminders if the task went uncompleted. 2. Messaging Portal – The messaging portal allowed participants to communicate in a thread viewable in their connection. This single continuous thread is convenient for tracking. 3. Meeting Tracker – Participants were encouraged to link their calendars to their profile in the
the unique challenges faced by students changing orintegrating multiple disciplinary backgrounds and identities. If the student might seekemployment outside of academia, they may need mentors external to their institution and theacademic network of their research supervisor.Students may not establish the professional networks necessary to cultivate such a variety ofmentor relationships without explicitly planned networking activities and skill development. Tobuild these networks and seek out meaningful mentor relationships that are key to theirsuccessful identity development, a graduate student needs a strong sense of self-efficacy,motivation, and autonomy [7]. Independence, motivation, and self-direction have also beenshown to be vital for
degreesacross engineering disciplines at Penn State. Students will receive 2-year scholarships andparticipate in programming designed to impact academic and social success. Project activities willinclude intentional strategies to increase interest, applications, and enrollment in engineeringmaster’s programs. In addition, retention activities such as mentoring (group and individual), andprofessional development programming will be offered for the two years of the scholars’ programsof study. Finally, the project plans to build skills in inclusive mentoring for 54 faculty membersthat will have an impact beyond the duration of this project.A primary goal for the first years of funding has been to further develop intra- and inter-institutional partnerships
. Theformative feedback included short surveys after each session and a plus/delta (+/Δ) activityduring the last session. During this activity participants were asked to list positive aspects of theprogram (+) and suggested changes (Δ). All feedback was anonymous. Additionally, theorganizers met weekly to discuss how each session went and plan future sessions whileincorporating any feedback received.In the spring of 2023, we asked an evaluator to follow up with the participants of the pilotprogram to determine how their job search had progressed since completing the program and getfeedback on the program after having participated in a faculty job search. This survey wasadministered in Qualtrics by the program evaluator. The quantitative data was
coaching for and by language teachers (e.g., peer coaching, critical friending in educational contexts). Ari has planned and facilitated language and literacy workshops and lectures, as well as curriculum development, in Ghana, Israel, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, and the USA. As a private person, Ari travels to the Israeli occupied West Bank of the Jordan river where he documents Israeli settlers who engage in violence, agricultural theft, intimidation, and threats. Ari’s videos, notes, and presence support a coalition of non-government organizations working in solidarity with Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley to prevent the destruction of Palestinian villages and to prevent the
from the perspective the mentees, roughly thesame objectives apply from the perspective of the mentors, which we discuss further inAssessment.Design approach: assessmentThe assessment segment of backward integrated design is typically a major focal point for coursedesign because assessment of student learning in classrooms is often a high stakes endeavor anddifferentially impacts students, such as affecting grades and therefore financial aid andpersistence in degree programs. In professional development program assessment, however,participants’ outcomes are not “graded,” and our assessment is used primarily for internalimprovement and contributing to the body of research in the program area. Thus, we created anassessment plan that can convey
which 39.4% were awarded to URMs and 35% to women.Over a six-year period, N.C. A&T has awarded a total of 314 doctoral degrees, including 204doctoral degrees in STEM, 134 to women, and 139 to URMs. Building on past strategicsuccesses, the University’s current strategic plan—A&T Preeminence 2023: Taking theMomentum to 2023—sets several goals relevant to developing competitive graduate studenttraining programs. Of note are Goal 3, “Position the university to be a national, premier research-intensive, doctoral, science and technology-focused learning institution,” and Goal 5, “Foster amore diverse and inclusive campus community by promoting cultural awareness and collegiality,and by cultivating respect for diverse people and cultures.” To
startedlooking into the feasibility of making the graduate engineering program more accessible. Thiswould not only allow us to meet the growing demand for engineers in West Michigan, but itwould be well aligned with our program’s student-centric focus. To prepare the students for thegraduate-level engineering work, an exhaustive list of prerequisite undergraduate classes thatstudents must take has been approved. While each applicant’s curriculum is tailored, GVSU’sSchool of Engineering developed a general plan to onboard students from a variety of non-engineering undergraduate backgrounds. Applicants are granted conditional admission to thegraduate program predicated on completing the prerequisite classes with a B or better grade.These plans allow the
surveys from the Graduate Student Experience in the Research University (gradSERU)online service. The fellows recognized several gaps in Purdue’s graduate mentoring experiencethat needed to be addressed: an engineering-specific individual development plan (IDP), surveysof faculty members, and educating students about taboo mentorship topics.An IDP was created for PhD or master’s students in the College of Engineering. The document isintended to guide students through four steps: a skillset self-assessment, goals for Year 1 ofgraduate school, a meeting between student and advisor, and progress updates after the first year.The IDP was published on the university website and distributed among the engineeringdepartments in August 2022 and has since
stakeholders. Students who are in theprogram are surveyed and interviewed, and students not in the program are invited to participatein surveys. Interviews and initial survey results have been published elsewhere [12].Launch InitiativesDuring the first two years of the PAtENT project, primary activities have centered onrecruitment, marketing, and investigating student and faculty perceptions about the program.The year one focus was on relationship building with campus resources and community, andestablishment of data measurements and collection plan. The management team collectedresponses from faculty about project status for potential doctoral candidates, and finalizedstudent cohort one. Additionally, the team connected with the Ventureprise and the
plan tasks and suggested activities was also assessed as well as reference materials,communications, relationship with mentor and mentees, weekly group meetings, and discussionboard.At this point, mentors were contacted by the team to learn from them how things were going andto give another opportunity for learning between groups. The most common point of discussionwas how to engage members and issues related to attendance. Some advice from facilitators tocombat these issues centered on communication and planning as well as shifting some of theplanning responsibilities to the group. This recommendation was made because when that shifttakes place and mentees are driving the group connection, they participate more fully in themeetings and
study shows that supporting thefuture professoriate’s interdisciplinary identity development begins with addressing siloededucation at the undergraduate level and involves increasing institutional capacity for advisinginterdisciplinary students, institutionalizing development plans for interdisciplinary researchers,and aligning university incentives for scholars with convergent research aims.BackgroundThe research site for this study is an interdisciplinary graduate program centered on resilience(referred to in this paper as the IR program), currently funded through a National ScienceFoundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) grant, located at a large land-grant university. IRis designed to spur collaboration and develop convergent research
. The amount of time given away from researchover the summer to study for quals is dependent on one’s advisor; students may have to advocatefor the amount of time they estimate they will need. After reviewing material individually forseveral weeks, students generally transition to studying in pairs or groups, using a compendium ofpast problems to mock-examine each other. During the two weeks immediately preceding quals,senior graduate students self-organize to offer mock exams as well.When students arrive at their exam, they are provided with the exam questions, and allowed up toten minutes of silent time to peruse them. Students may use this time to plan their responsewithout verbal communication or use of the blackboard. Although the
in our state, where they met with FEW stakeholders. In summer2023, NRT trainees traveled to a different region of our state, where they met with FEWstakeholders and visited a livestock farm, a dairy farm, and the wastewater treatment plant thatuses anaerobic to convert wastewater to biogas. The field experiences were organized in thesummer to avoid conflict with trainees’ course schedule and fall or spring breaks as well asconflict with producers harvesting or planting times. Transportation to the field sites and backwas provided from campus.To prepare NRT trainees to engage with policy that sustains the use of natural resources, NRTtrainees were introduced to different water management plans and learned how to engage withpolitical
,resource constraints, and differing student goals contribute to nuanced responses, demonstratingthe complex considerations faculty members must navigate in shaping doctoral trainingexperiences.4.5. Unstructured commentsThe last question in the survey asked participants to provide additional information that theybelieved could enhance doctoral training. Two themes emerged from their responses. The firsttheme pertains to the refinement of academic course plans. For instance, one faculty memberhighlighted the need for a revision in academic coursework to incorporate more relevantproblem-solving, data analytics, and writing skills. This sentiment aligns with another suggestionemphasizing that academic courses often focus excessively on “technical
customers and coworkers, providing thoughtful, courteous, and knowledgeable service. 10. Teamwork: Assumes shared responsibility for collaborative work and respects the thoughts, opinions, and contributions of other team members. Professional competencies 11. “Big picture” Thinking: Understands one's role in fulfilling the mission of the workplace and considers the social, economic, and environmental impacts of one's actions. 12. Career and Life Management: Plans, implements, and manages
/highschool (MHS) summer experience, the graduate school through University of Maryland,Baltimore County (UMBC), and UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology(COEIT). Together, these three groups established an innovative fellowship opportunity focusedon advancing scholarly research, teaching, and learning as well as graduate student careerpreparation. Departing from traditional training methods, this innovative professionaldevelopment program aims to involve engineering graduate students in crafting evidence-basedlesson plans for MHS summer programming. Drawing inspiration from the most effectiveapproaches in both higher education and P12 settings, this initiative also fosters an understandingof how to effectively interact with both
Alabama. She also has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in industrial engineering from Anna University and Auburn University, respectively.Ms. Kourtney Rogers Gruner, Texas A&M University Ms. Kourtney Gruner is the Assistant Director of the Master of Industrial Distribution (MID) program in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution (ETID) in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. With over 17 years of higher education program experience in Engineering, Kourtney has a wide range of experience in recruitment and outreach, learning and development, event planning, advising, student services, and faculty development. She serves the MID Program and its students through
not share any classes. Consequently, this author was often theonly black student in their courses. They found it much more difficult to find students who werewilling to work on assignments with them. They would often reach out to their classmates andother students would say that they “weren’t working with anyone” or “weren’t available” at thetimes this author planned to work. Those same students would later be seen working together atthe same times and locations where they were working. Another author noted having the same experience and also struggled to find students to studywith for qualifying exams. The few Black students who entered this author’s PhD program beforewarned her that the qualifying exam experience is often quite
departments on participating & identifying students once they accept offer to graduate school April 15 Graduate School Decision Day; Graduate school coordinators in Physics and Chemistry identify students from accepted cohort April 15 – June 1 GREaT GradS offer letters are emailed May - June Planning of summer activities July 1 GREaT GradS Program starts August 15 GREaT GradS Program endsGREaT GradS Programming – GREaT GradS primary goal is to offer students a six-week immersive researchexperiences with programming in resources recognition, personal preparation, career preparation,and network building (Table 2, organized by the primary goal). The programming goal is
model [10]. A pervasive message of thisextensive report is, “.. the ideal, modern graduate STEM education will require substantial culturalchange throughout the system. As discussed throughout this report, the system must become morestudent-centric and must increase the value it places on best practices of mentorship andadvising… The mind-set that seems to most heavily value preparing students at the Ph.D. level foracademic research careers must readjust to recognize that some of the best students will not pursueacademic research but will enter careers in other sectors, such as industry or government.” Simplystated, the primary goal of PhD education must be the training of students and preparing them forthe career they plan to pursue, not
, thisis rarely the case for interpersonal relationships. There are documented benchmarks forgraduate students such as degree plans, proposals, and theses. Although important for thedocumentation of work completed towards the degree, they are very rarely qualitative orquantitative of the experience had by the student. Just as a degree plan or a proposal setsexpectations and outlines a plan of action for work, an Individual Development Plan (IDP)additionally documents the expectations and action items for the working relationshipbetween a faculty mentor and their student. The IDP was developed by the AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Science and experts from multiple universities as a toolfor students to assess their skills and career
Graduate Women Lunches and Diversity Community activities The Professional Development Fellow would organize the College of Engineering Graduate Lunch and Learn seminars twice a month The Symposium Fellow would assist in planning the Engineering Graduate Research Symposium, which showcases the work of graduate students across the College.Fourteen graduate students applied for this new Engineering Leadership Fellows program:eleven from doctoral programs and three who were pursuing master’s degrees. Applicants camefrom seven of the eleven areas of engineering offered as graduate majors at MSU. As part of theapplication students were asked to provide basic contact information along with a briefparagraph indicating which
and guiding student teams through the capstone design and a translational course following capstone design. In her Director role, she works closely with the departmental leadership to manage the undergraduate program including: developing course offering plan, chairing the undergrad- uate curriculum committee, reviewing and approving course articulations for study abroad, serving as Chief Advisor, and representing the department at the college level meetings. She is also engaged with college recruiting and outreach; she coordinates three summer experiences for high school students visit- ing Bioengineering and co-coordinates a weeklong Bioengineering summer camp. She has worked with the Cancer Scholars Program
these advising practices cater to the diverse needs of all students and promote an inclusive and equitable environment? 2. How are expectations communicated to faculty and students regarding graduate student advising? 3. Could you describe a particularly successful advising relationship within your department and what you think contributed to its success?RQ2: Current Departmental Adoption of Mentoring Tools 1. Can you tell us about any mentoring tools (e.g., Individual Development Plans, aligning expectations worksheets, mentoring compacts/agreements, etc.) currently in use in your department to support graduate student advising? 2. Are there formal or informal ways faculty share mentoring tools, resources, and best
convergence research,as an established and robust educational infrastructure within WPI. Additionally, the GlobalSchool can provide trainings on travel safety and interpersonal relations to prepare graduatestudents for their advisory roles.Stakeholders for the proposed program include the graduate students and their research advisors,the department head, the FORW-RD Program, and the faculty and staff of the Global School.These entities agreed on the merit of the preliminary graduate student experience and supportedthe endeavour. Long term commitments—supported with a sustainable financial plan—would benecessary to ensure the longevity of the proposed graduate student immersive pedagogyexperience.OverviewThe proposed graduate student experience was
proposed course plan, includingthe topic of the research they would like to perform with the SPECTRA scholars or examples ofpotential research projects. Four ACE Fellows were working in the program at the time of ourstudy; all four Fellows had had the opportunity to lead a research project, but at the time ofinterviews only two had had the chance to teach at a partnered technical college. During theresearch course, the students and ACE Fellows work closely together to produce and implementstudent-led research projects facilitated by the ACE Fellow. The relationship between the ACEfellow and the SPECTRA scholars resembles a near-peer mentoring relationship. This paper aims to observe the relationship between the students and the ACE
discussions.Even with evidence cited in the vision papers from the NAE and specific disciplines, there stillexists a lack of teaching and learning opportunities to address this gap.BackgroundIncluded in the vision of the University’s strategic plan is the aspiration to impact the worldthrough solutions-oriented approaches to major societal issues. The university recognized a needfor an interdisciplinary approach as many of the solutions lie at the interface between law,policy, and engineering. The University established the Law, Policy and Engineering (LPE)initiative in 2018 to foster collaboration between of the College of Engineering, the Law School,and the School of International Affairs. A result of this initiative was the design and approval tobegin