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Board # 63 : Algae for STEM Education

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Conference

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Columbus, Ohio

Publication Date

June 24, 2017

Start Date

June 24, 2017

End Date

June 28, 2017

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topic

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

11

DOI

10.18260/1-2--27894

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/27894

Download Count

543

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Paper Authors

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Kauser Jahan Rowan University

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Kauser Jahan, is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rowan University. She received her B.S.C.E. from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, an MSCE from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Her passion as an educator and mentor has been recognized by many professional organizations over the years. She is the recipient of the Gloucester County Women of Achievement Award, Lindback Foundation Teaching Award, the NJ ASCE Educator of the Year award, the Gary J. Hunter Excellence in Mentoring Award, the ASEE Environmental Engineering Division Meritorious Service Award, the ASEE Women in Engineering Division Sharon A. Keillor Award and the WEPAN Women in Engineering Initiative Award. She has been instrumental in establishing the Attracting Women into Engineering, the Engineers on Wheels and Engineering Clinics for Teachers programs at Rowan University. She has served as the Institutional Representative and Advisory Board Chair for the Women's Professional Network at Rowan University for six years and currently is an advisory board member of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Council on Education (ACE) Office of Women in Higher Education (OWHE). She received a Fulbright award in 2015.

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Stephanie Farrell Rowan University

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Dr. Stephanie Farrell is Professor and Founding Chair of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University (USA) and was 2014-15 Fulbright Scholar in Engineering Education at Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland). From 1998-2016, Stephanie was a faculty member in Chemical Engineering at Rowan. Dr. Farrell has contributed to engineering education through her work in experiential learning, focusing on areas of pharmaceutical, biomedical and food engineering. She has been honored by the American Society of Engineering Education with several teaching awards such as the 2004 National Outstanding Teaching Medal and the 2005 Quinn Award for experiential learning.

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Ying Tang Rowan University

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Ying Tang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Northeastern University, P. R. China, in 1996 and 1998, respectively, and Ph.D degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, in 2001. She is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. Her research interests include virtual reality and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and modeling and scheduling of computer-integrated systems. Dr. Tang is very active in adapting and developing pedagogical methods and materials to enhance engineering education. Her most recent educational research includes the collaboration with Tennessee State University and local high schools to infuse cyber-infrastructure learning experience into the pre-engineering and technology-based classrooms, the collaboration with community colleges to develop interactive games in empowering students with engineering literacy and problem-solving, the integration of system-on-chip concepts across two year Engineering Science and four year ECE curricula, and the implementation of an educational innovation that demonstrates science and engineering principles using an aquarium. Her work has resulted in over 100 journal and conference papers and book chapters.

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Cheryl A Bodnar Rowan University

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Cheryl A. Bodnar, Ph.D., CTDP is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University. Dr. Bodnar’s research interests relate to the incorporation of active learning techniques in undergraduate classes as well as integration of innovation and entrepreneurship into the engineering curriculum. In particular, she is interested in the impact that these tools can have on student perception of the classroom environment, motivation and learning outcomes. She obtained her certification as a Training and Development Professional (CTDP) from the Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) in 2010, providing her with a solid background in instructional design, facilitation and evaluation. She was selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium in 2013 and awarded the American Society for Engineering Education Educational Research Methods Faculty Apprentice Award in 2014.

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C. Stewart Slater Rowan University

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C. Stewart Slater is a professor of chemical engineering and founding chair of the Chemical Engineering Department at Rowan University. He has an extensive research and teaching background in separation process technology with a particular focus on membrane separation process research, development and design for green engineering, and pharmaceutical and consumer products. He received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S.in chemical and biochemical engineering from Rutgers University. Prior to joining Rowan University he was a professor at Manhattan College.

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Mariano Javier Savelski Rowan University

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Professor and Chair of Chemical Engineering

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Parth Bhavsar Rowan University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-3202-8836

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Parth Bhavsar, is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rowan University. His research interests include Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), Connected, Autonomous, and connected-automated Vehicle Technologies, Transportation Data Analytics, and Alternative Fuel Vehicles. Dr. Bhavsar has published in peer reviewed journals such as the Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technology, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and the Environment and Transportation Research Record Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Dr. Bhavsar was previously a postdoctoral fellow in a connected vehicle research program in the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering at Clemson University, where he worked on several connected vehicle technology research projects. Dr. Bhavsar received his Ph.D. degree in 2013 and his M.S. degree in 2006 from Clemson University. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on development of an evaluation framework for connected vehicle technology supported alternative fuel vehicles. Dr. Bhavsar also has three years of experience in the private sector in developing transportation engineering and planning solutions, specifically traffic micro-simulation projects.

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Angela D Wenger Center for Aquatic Sciences

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Angela Wenger has worked in informal science education since 1991. She has been involved in many facets of the museum experience, including designing and presenting many of the museum’s public programs and exhibits, youth development programs, programs for underserved audiences, and professional development experiences. Her background includes 23 years of scientific research in a myriad of science topics, as well as psychology and family learning in museums. She has taught general biology, chemistry, aquatic science, and ecology for 20 years.

Ms. Wenger is active in a variety of professional informal education organizations and is co-founder and chairperson of the Mid-Atlantic YouthALIVE! Regional Network. She has co-authored two publications focused on family learning. Ms. Wenger is deeply commitment to diversity issues and broadening access to science for underserved audiences. She is also passionate about professional development of youth and staff working in science centers and museums.

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Patricia Lynn Hurley Rowan University

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Roisin Breen Rowan University

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DeMond S Miller Department of Sociology and Anthropology

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DeMond S. Miller is a Professor of Sociology and Director of The Program in Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

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Kara Ieva Ieva Rowan University

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Dr. Kara Ieva is currently an Associate Professor in the Counseling in Educational Settings program at Rowan University. Kara’s areas of research interest include counseling children and adolescent of underserved populations regarding college and career readiness particularly in STEM and group counseling. Further, she was the principal investigator and project director for the Rowan University Aim High Science and Technology Academies (grant funded; $998,259), that aids first generation and low-income college students access and preparation for post-secondary education in STEM. She currently serves a Co-Pi on a grant from the Forman S. Acton Foundation ($198,000) to evaluate funded college access programs.

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Megan Casey Mittenzwei

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Abstract

This project is an innovative initiative involving the College of Engineering at Rowan University and the Center for Aquatic Sciences (CAS) at Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey to enhance STEM education at all levels. Three other educational institutions will have a direct impact from our proposed activities. These include the Rowan College at Gloucester County (RCGC), Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) and the STEM Academy at Glassboro High School. The project uses algae to introduce engineering students to the Global Grand Challenges of the 21st Century with a strong focus on combining critical reflection through activities that invest in the humanities especially literary readings, sociology, environmental justice and public policy. While everyone recognizes algae as a photosynthetic organism that is ubiquitous, it is rare that that students make a connection to the prospect of this microbe playing a significant role in impacting the future of this world. The use of algae can range from biofuels, carbon sequestration, nutrient removal to use in the nutraceutical industry. The algae production facility is the backbone of CAS activities at the Adventure Aquarium as it is food for various zooplankton, filter feeders or larval fishes. Students are engaged in the scientific discovery process using both exciting hands-on activities and cyberlearning experiences that introduce chemical, mechanical, electrical engineering, civil and environmental principles such as mass and energy balances; fluid flow; work, energy, and efficiency; water quality and treatment; unit physical, chemical and biological processes; microbiology; power and electrical signal processing. The algae theme also adds to the need for an understanding of biological systems, ecosystems, pollution, alternate energy and sustainable development. A strong unique focus of this project is in combining critical reflection through activities that invest in the humanities.

Jahan, K., & Farrell, S., & Tang, Y., & Bodnar, C. A., & Slater, C. S., & Savelski, M. J., & Bhavsar, P., & Wenger, A. D., & Hurley, P. L., & Breen, R., & Miller, D. S., & Ieva, K. I., & Mittenzwei, M. C. (2017, June), Board # 63 : Algae for STEM Education Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--27894

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