Board 89: Work in Progress: Promoting Undergraduate Student Success through Faculty Mentoring in Engineering Education

Juan Alvarez; Olga Mironenko; Yang Victoria Shao

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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: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48389

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Paper Authors

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Juan Alvarez University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Juan Alvarez joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Illinois faculty in Spring 2011 and is currently a Teaching Assistant Professor. Prior to that, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at York University, Canada, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Chemical Physics Theory Group at the University of Toronto, Canada, and a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Saskatchewan. He obtained his Ph.D. and M.S. from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois in 2004 and 2002, respectively. He teaches courses in communications, signal processing and probability and carries out research in engineering education.

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Olga Mironenko University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign orcid.org/0000-0002-1239-185X

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Dr. Olga Mironenko is a Teaching Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She received a specialist degree in Physics from Omsk F.M. Dostoevsky State University, Russia in 2009, and she received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Delaware in 2020. Her current interests include improvement of introductory analog signal processing and power systems courses, training for graduate teaching assistants, and mentoring of under-represented students in ECE.

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Yang Victoria Shao University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Yang V. Shao is a teaching assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering department at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She earned her Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Dr. She has

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Abstract

The transition from high school to college can present significant challenges for students, creating a need for a strong support system. In modern engineering education, mentoring has emerged as an important component in supporting the growth and success of undergraduate students. It is generally recognized that relationships with faculty members impact student success[1]. Mentoring has gained significant attention for its role in providing personalized guidance and fostering a sense of belonging within the community.

Mentors can help students to deal with academic challenges and make informed decisions[2]. Furthermore, the mentor-mentee relationship establishes a nurturing atmosphere dedicated to enhancing academic performance. Most of the research in this area focuses on mentoring research activities between students and advisors, as well as peer advising. However, there has been limited attention given to a more general advising role. This role includes assisting in course selection, technical interests, finding internships or research opportunities, graduate school applications, extracurricular activities, study abroad, offering support for personal or mental health concerns, etc. Some work has been done in this direction[3].

This work in progress aims to understand the needs and expectations of students who are supported by a faculty mentoring process in an Electrical and Computer Engineering department in a large public university. Currently, the program involves students meeting their assigned faculty mentors once per semester. However, the approach varies among different faculty members. Meetings can take the form of one-on-one private conversations or group sessions, allowing for peer mentoring. They can also occur either in person or online. The topics covered during these sessions are diverse, as previously mentioned. One-on-one mentoring can provides highly personalized guidance and support, while group mentoring can offer diverse perspectives from the student peers and provide networking opportunities. Peer mentoring has been shown to increase both retention and self-esteem among college students [4]. These mentoring meetings are mandatory for students, and failing to attend the meeting results in a hold on their upcoming semester's class registration. Students are responsible for scheduling appointments based on faculty members' availability calendars.

Three faculty members within the department requested their mentees to voluntarily participate in a survey aimed to understand their experiences and preferences regarding various aspects of the mentoring process. This includes topics covered during the meetings or that would be beneficial to cover, resources provided or that would be beneficial to provide, as well as the duration and frequency of these meetings, among other aspects. Additionally, these three faculty members themselves completed a survey to gain a better understanding of their perspective on the mentoring process. In this work, we discuss the findings from these surveys and include recommendations for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the mentoring process.

References:

[1] M. S. Jaradat, and M. B. Mustafa, “Academic Advising and Maintaining Major: Is There a Relation?,” Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 151, 2017.

[2] Lucietto, A. M., & Dell, E., & Cooney, E. M., & Russell, L. A., & Schott, E. (2019, June), Engineering Technology Undergraduate Students: A Survey of Demographics and Mentoring Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida.

[3] Banerjee, J. K. (2020, June), Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Engineering Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34968

[4] R. Collings, V. Swanson, and R. Watkins, “The impact of peer mentoring on levels of student wellbeing, integration and retention: a controlled comparative evaluation of residential students in UK higher education,” Higher Education, vol. 68, no. 6, pp. 927- 942, 2014.

Citation
Format

Alvarez, J., & Mironenko, O., & Shao, Y. V. (2024, June), Board 89: Work in Progress: Promoting Undergraduate Student Success through Faculty Mentoring in Engineering Education Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48389

TY - CPAPER
AB - The transition from high school to college can present significant challenges for students, creating a need for a strong support system. In modern engineering education, mentoring has emerged as an important component in supporting the growth and success of undergraduate students. It is generally recognized that relationships with faculty members impact student success[1]. Mentoring has gained significant attention for its role in providing personalized guidance and fostering a sense of belonging within the community.

Mentors can help students to deal with academic challenges and make informed decisions[2]. Furthermore, the mentor-mentee relationship establishes a nurturing atmosphere dedicated to enhancing academic performance. Most of the research in this area focuses on mentoring research activities between students and advisors, as well as peer advising. However, there has been limited attention given to a more general advising role. This role includes assisting in course selection, technical interests, finding internships or research opportunities, graduate school applications, extracurricular activities, study abroad, offering support for personal or mental health concerns, etc. Some work has been done in this direction[3].

This work in progress aims to understand the needs and expectations of students who are supported by a faculty mentoring process in an Electrical and Computer Engineering department in a large public university. Currently, the program involves students meeting their assigned faculty mentors once per semester. However, the approach varies among different faculty members. Meetings can take the form of one-on-one private conversations or group sessions, allowing for peer mentoring. They can also occur either in person or online. The topics covered during these sessions are diverse, as previously mentioned. One-on-one mentoring can provides highly personalized guidance and support, while group mentoring can offer diverse perspectives from the student peers and provide networking opportunities. Peer mentoring has been shown to increase both retention and self-esteem among college students [4]. These mentoring meetings are mandatory for students, and failing to attend the meeting results in a hold on their upcoming semester&#39;s class registration. Students are responsible for scheduling appointments based on faculty members&#39; availability calendars.

Three faculty members within the department requested their mentees to voluntarily participate in a survey aimed to understand their experiences and preferences regarding various aspects of the mentoring process. This includes topics covered during the meetings or that would be beneficial to cover, resources provided or that would be beneficial to provide, as well as the duration and frequency of these meetings, among other aspects. Additionally, these three faculty members themselves completed a survey to gain a better understanding of their perspective on the mentoring process. In this work, we discuss the findings from these surveys and include recommendations for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the mentoring process.

References:

[1] M. S. Jaradat, and M. B. Mustafa, “Academic Advising and Maintaining Major: Is There a Relation?,” Social Sciences, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 151, 2017.

[2] Lucietto, A. M., &amp;amp; Dell, E., &amp;amp; Cooney, E. M., &amp;amp; Russell, L. A., &amp;amp; Schott, E. (2019, June), Engineering Technology Undergraduate Students: A Survey of Demographics and Mentoring Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference &amp;amp; Exposition , Tampa, Florida.

[3] Banerjee, J. K. (2020, June), Mentoring Undergraduate Students in Engineering Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34968

[4] R. Collings, V. Swanson, and R. Watkins, “The impact of peer mentoring on levels of student wellbeing, integration and retention: a controlled comparative evaluation of residential students in UK higher education,” Higher Education, vol. 68, no. 6, pp. 927- 942, 2014.

AU - Juan Alvarez
AU - Olga Mironenko
AU - Yang Victoria Shao
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Board 89: Work in Progress: Promoting Undergraduate Student Success through Faculty Mentoring in Engineering Education
UR - https://peer.asee.org/48389
ER -