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Board 362: Reimagining Civil Engineering Graduate Programs: A Research-to-Practice Approach for Shaping Future Transportation Engineers

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topic

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

10

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/46945

Download Count

1

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Paper Authors

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Brittany Lynn Butler-Morton Rowan University

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Darby Rose Riley Rowan University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-9973-8635

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Darby Riley is a doctoral student of engineering education at Rowan University. She has a special interest in issues of diversity and inclusion, especially as they relate to disability and accessibility of education. Her current research is focused on the adoption of pedagogy innovations by instructors, specifically the use of reflections and application of the entrepreneurial mindset. Her previous research experience includes examination of implicit bias in the classroom and application of VR technologies to improve student engagement. Darby hopes to pursue a career in STEM education and educational research.

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Eduardo Rodriguez Mejia M.Sc Rowan University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0009-0007-5522-0069

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Eduardo is a Rover Scout, and professional Electronic Engineer with a Masters degree in Electronic Engineer from Javeriana University at Bogotá-Colombia. He is an adjunct teacher is his alma mater and a Ph.D. student in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University.

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Cheryl A Bodnar Rowan University

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Dr. Bodnar is an Associate Professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University. Her research interests relate to the incorporation of active learning techniques such as game-based learning in undergraduate classes as well as innovation and entrepreneurship.

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Yusuf Mehta Rowan University

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Dr. Mehta is a Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rowan University and Director of the Center for Research and Education in Advanced Transportation engineering Systems (CREATEs). Dr. Mehta has extensive experience in t

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Kaitlin Mallouk Rowan University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-4367-1165

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Kaitlin Mallouk is an Associate Professor of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University. Prior to beginning that role, she spent five years an Instructor in the Mechanical Engineering and Experiential Engineering Education Departments at Rowan.

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Abstract

The existing curriculum and models for civil engineering graduate programs assume that graduating Ph.D. students will primarily pursue career opportunities in research or academia. However, the number of civil engineering Ph.D. graduate students continues to increase, while the number of opportunities in academia for civil engineers remains stagnant. As a result, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the civil engineering graduate programs must be reevaluated to assist students entering industry after graduation. As part of a larger research study funded through the NSF Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE), we aim to answer the following research questions: 1) How can a research-to-practice model assist students in preparing for a transportation engineering career outside of academia?, 2) What impacts does the research-to-practice graduate model have on the development of transportation engineering doctoral students’ professional identity?, 3) How does the cognitive apprenticeship framework prepare doctoral students for professional practice in transportation engineering?, and 4) What influences does the research-to-practice model have on doctoral students’ motivation toward degree completion?

As part of the first phase for the project, two surveys were developed: a graduate engineering student motivation survey based on Expectancy-Value-Theory, and an instrument based on the Cognitive Apprenticeship framework. The motivation survey was based on an instrument designed and validated by Brown & Matusovich (2013) which aimed to measure undergraduate engineering students' motivation towards obtaining an engineering degree. The survey prompts were reviewed and rewritten to reflect the change in context from undergraduate to graduate school. Revised survey prompts were reviewed with a group of graduate engineering students through a think aloud protocol and changes to the instrument were made to ensure consistency in interpretation of the prompts (Rodriguez-Mejia and Bodnar, 2023). The cognitive apprenticeship instrument was derived from the Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire (MCTQ), originally designed to offer clinical educators feedback on their teaching abilities, as provided by medical students during their clerkship rotations (Stalmeijer et al., 2010). To tailor it to the context of engineering graduate students, the MCTQ's 24 items were carefully examined and rephrased. A think aloud was conducted with three civil engineering graduate students to determine the effectiveness and clarity of the cognitive apprenticeship instrument. Preliminary results show that minimal clarification is needed for some items, and suggestions to include items which address support from their mentors. The other part of the project assessment involves students completing monthly reflections to obtain their opinions on specific events such as seminars or classes, and identify their perceptions of their identity as professionals, scientists, or researchers. Preliminary results suggest that the students involved place an emphasis on developing critical thinking and planning skills to become an engineering professional, but de-emphasize passion and enjoyment. This paper will report on initial findings obtained through this first phase of the IGE project.

Butler-Morton, B. L., & Riley, D. R., & Rodriguez Mejia, E., & Bodnar, C. A., & Mehta, Y., & Mallouk, K. (2024, June), Board 362: Reimagining Civil Engineering Graduate Programs: A Research-to-Practice Approach for Shaping Future Transportation Engineers Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46945

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