ConGrad: A Graduate Education Framework for Convergence Research and Experiential Learning
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
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Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 6: Programs in Graduate Education
- Tagged Division
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Graduate Studies Division (GSD)
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/47062
Paper Authors
Tess Bisbee Meier
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
orcid.org/0000-0002-8223-6521
Tess Meier is a PhD Candidate in Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Her research there focuses on wearable assistive and rehabilitation robotics but has a newfound interest in teaching & scholarship, and education research. As a Future of Robots in the Workplace – Research and Development NRT Fellow, Tess is being trained in designing, advising, and executing convergence research projects. She is interested in educating the next generation of engineers to be ethical, human-centric, collaborative, communicative, and transdisciplinary. As a graduate student she has advised international interactive qualifying projects (IQP) and a senior capstone design project (MQP). As she pursues a career in academia, Tess strives to combine her interests in medical robotics and engineering education.
Ceren Yilmaz Akkaya Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Dr. Yilmaz Akkaya is a postdoctoral researcher in Nanoenergy Group under the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). She holds BS degrees in Chemistry and Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bogazici University. She completed her Master’s and PhD Degrees in Materials Science and Engineering at Koc University. Her research focuses on improving people’s lives by providing solutions to environmental and medical problems, and promoting diversity and equity in higher education.
Yunus Doğan Telliel Worcester Polytechnic Institute
I am an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I am in the Humanities and Arts Department and affiliated with the Interactive Media and Game Development Program and the Robotics Engineering Department. Before arriving at WPI, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and I received my PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the City University of New York. My current research project is an ethnographic study of the interplay between ethics and imagination in engineering research. As an extension of this work, I am closely collaborating with engineers and other technologists on issues related to the future of work and technology. In addition, I am a co-PI on an NSF-funded graduate research training program on robots in the future workplace, and a co-PI on an NSF-funded research project on platform design for nonprofits.
Abstract
ConGrad: A Graduate Education Framework for Convergence Research and Experiential Learning
Graduate STEM programs are designed to produce the next generation of experts in industry and academia. In parallel to recent advances in science and engineering, convergence research - the merging of diverse knowledge - is being called upon to solve complex problems at the intersection of science and society. To align graduate STEM education with the need of convergent approaches, graduate students are expected develop skills in problem solving, collaboration, systems thinking, and communication. This article describes ConGrad, a convergent graduate education framework that combines transdisciplinary methodologies, experiential learning, and learning by teaching, within the context of a project-based curriculum. Using the ConGrad framework, we propose a program in which graduate students advise interdisciplinary undergraduate projects with societal impact. With such an opportunity to practice convergence research methodologies via project-based learning, graduate students will acquire new capabilities of solving complex problems as leaders of trandisciplinary teams, further removing the barriers against convergence research in industry and academia. We present one graduate student's experience as preliminary qualitative evidence in support of the proposed program built with the ConGrad education framework.
Meier, T. B., & Yilmaz Akkaya, C., & Telliel, Y. D. (2024, June), ConGrad: A Graduate Education Framework for Convergence Research and Experiential Learning Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47062
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