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Creating a Supportive Space for Teaching-Focused Faculty to Write About their Teaching

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Conference

2021 First-Year Engineering Experience

Location

Virtual

Publication Date

August 9, 2021

Start Date

August 9, 2021

End Date

August 21, 2021

Page Count

9

DOI

10.18260/1-2--38376

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/38376

Download Count

270

Paper Authors

biography

Tracy Anne Hammond Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-7272-0507

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Dr. Hammond is Director of the Texas A&M University Institute for Engineering Education & Innovation and also the chair of the Engineering Education Faculty. She is also Director of the Sketch Recognition Lab and Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering. She is a member of the Center for Population and Aging, the Center for Remote Health Technologies & Systems as well as the Institute for Data Science. Hammond is a PI for over 13 million in funded research, from NSF, DARPA, Google, Microsoft, and others. Hammond holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and FTO (Finance Technology Option) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and four degrees from Columbia University: an M.S in Anthropology, an M.S. in Computer Science, a B.A. in Mathematics, and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Physics. Hammond advised 17 UG theses, 29 MS theses, and 10 Ph.D. dissertations. Hammond is the 2020 recipient of the TEES Faculty Fellows Award and the 2011 recipient of the Charles H. Barclay, Jr. '45 Faculty Fellow Award. Hammond has been featured on the Discovery Channel and other news sources. Hammond is dedicated to diversity and equity, which is reflected in her publications, research, teaching, service, and mentoring. More at http://srl.tamu.edu and http://ieei.tamu.edu.

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Shawna Thomas Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-9967-2493

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Dr. Thomas is an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. She is a member of the Engineering Education Faculty in the Institute for Engineering Education & Innovation at Texas A&M. She enjoys project-based learning and incorporating active learning techniques in all her courses. She received her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University in 2010, focusing on developing robotic motion planning algorithms and applying them to computational biology problems including protein folding. She continued this work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and then as an Assistant Research Scientist until transitioning to teaching. She has also worked as an algorithmic consultant in digital oral care, leveraging her research experience in modeling motion.

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Charles Patrick Jr Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3267-0733

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Charles Patrick Jr. is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University (TAMU). He is also a teaching and research fellow at the Institute for Engineering Education Innovation, TAMU and a member of the Engineering Education Faculty, TAMU. He has worked in higher education for more than 30 years at state and private universities and a NCI comprehensive cancer hospital.

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Pauline Wade Texas A&M University

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Pauline Wade was formerly the assistant director for the Craig & Galen Brown Engineering Honors and Grand Challenge Scholars programs. Previously, she was a tenured faculty member at the University of the Philippines, Cebu (UP), in the Department of Computer Science. Wade has over 25 years’ experience in the software industry working in a variety of environments, starting with working as a systems engineer for AT&T Bell Laboratories Government Systems and the AT&T Wireless Network group. After AT&T she started an IT consultancy working on a diverse set of projects including enterprise-wide systems development, business process re-engineering, software quality systems certification and software related training development. She served as the assistant vice president of a major IT outsourcing and offshoring company for Southeast Asia, heading the employee development program and development of company-wide systems. Wade established the UP-Technology Business Incubator (TBI), the only operational university based TBI in the Philippines, including developing a training program for over 60 tech start-ups. She was nominated for the Department of Science and Technology Outstanding Technology - Commercialization Award for contribution to technological development. The TBI continues to operate and was awarded the 2017 UP President’s Excellence in Public Service Award. She also established the first UP IT Training and Development Center in the region, which offers continuing education programs to IT professionals. She has facilitated strong collaborations among academe, industry and government, deploying 28 capability building programs to help prepare more than 3,000 undergraduates for industry.

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Donna Jaison Texas A&M University

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Donna Jaison is a PhD student under Dr. Karan Watson in the Multidisciplinary Engineering Department at Texas A&M College Station. She is a Graduate research assistant at the Institute of Engineering Education and Innovation(IEEI) at Texas A&M University under director Dr. Tracy Hammond. She completed her MEng. in Computer Engineering with specialization in VLSI from Texas A&M University, College Station. She completed her Bachelors in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Mathematics from Mississippi State University.

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Janie M Moore Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3138-9632

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Dr. Janie McClurkin Moore is an Assistant Professor in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at Texas A&M University in College Station. A native of Columbus, Ohio, she attended North Carolina A&T State University where she received a B.S. in Bio Environmental Engineering in 2006. She then began pursuing her graduate education at Purdue University in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, completing her Ph.D. in 2015. Her primary research areas include 1) social capital in Engineering Education and 2) innovate instructional strategies for Biological and Agricultural Engineering students. She is also a Member of the Engineering Education Faculty, Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation, Food Science Graduate Faculty, and Multidisciplinary Engineering Graduate Faculty groups at Texas A&M University.

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Lance Leon Allen White Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-1172-0500

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Lance White is a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University in Interdisciplinary Engineering with a thrust in Engineering Education. He is working as a graduate research assistant at the Institute of Engineering Education and Innovation at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station at Texas A&M University under director Dr. Tracy Hammond. Dr. Karan Watson and Dr. Pavel Tsvetkov are his co-chairs. He completed his M.S. in Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University under Dr. Yassin Hassan working on experimental thermal hydraulics, and completed his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at West Texas A&M University.

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Randy Hugh Brooks Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-8266-7428

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Howdy,

After 23 years in Telecom building LD, internet, and email platforms and networks, I observed that the front line personnel that I was hiring didn’t have what I considered to be skills that they should be bringing to the table. I began investigating why, and that led me to high school.

Alas, I began my journey in Education in 2010 inhabiting the classrooms of Lovejoy High School, where my two daughters attended.

I redubbed my PreCalculus course as Problem-Solving with Brooks and was also afforded the opportunity to lead an impactul Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Principles of Engineering (PoE) course, a project-based learning survey of the engineering discipline.

Since the Summer of 2015 I have been privileged to work with the Texas A and M Sketch Recognition Lab (TAMU SRL) to evaluate a couple of online tutorial tools (Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS)) currently under development, Mechanix and Sketchtivity, that provide immediate constructive feedback to the students and student-level metrics to the instructors. I presented on this work at the state and national PLTW Conventions and at CPTTE in 2016.

I also spent 5 semesters beginning the Fall of 2015 taking online courses learning how to construct and deliver online courses. This resulted in a MSEd from Purdue University in Learning Design and Technology (LDT).

This widely varied background prepared me well for my next big adventure. Beginning in August 2018 I became the Texas A and M Professor of Practice for the Texas A and M Engineering Academy at Blinn College in Brenham. Texas A and M Engineering Academies are an innovative approach to providing the planet with more Aggie Engineers.

I am focused on enhancing the high school through first-year college experience and am an engaged member of the Texas A and M IEEI (Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation).

My foundations were set by an upbringing on the family ranch near Joshua, Texas and 4 memorable years at Texas A and M where I met my wife, I led Bugle Rank #7 in the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band (Class of ’86 Whoop!), and dove into Telecom Engineering. Once in Telecom, my learning continued at MCI, Vartec, and Charter.

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Samantha Ray Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-3189-8899

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Samantha Ray is a Computer Engineering PhD student at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on creating intelligent systems for tasks that require human-like levels of understanding. She has previously worked on human activity recognition (HAR) systems for promoting healthy habits and educational tools using sketch recognition and eye tracking.

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Karen E Rambo-Hernandez Texas A&M University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-8107-2898

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Karen E. Rambo-Hernandez is an associate professor at Texas A & M University in the College of Education and Human Development in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture. In her research, she is interested in the assessing STEM interventions on student outcomes, measuring academic growth, and evaluating the impact of curricular change.

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Karan Watson P.E. Texas A&M University

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Karan L. Watson, Ph.D., P.E., is currently a Regents Senior Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, having joined the faculty at Texas A&M University in 1983 as an Assistant Professor. She is also serving as the C0-Director of the Institute for Engineering Education and Innovation. She has served in numerous roles at Texas A&M University, including: Provost and Executive Vice President(2009-2017), Vice Provost (2009), Dean of Faculties and Associate Provost (2002-2009), Interim VP for Diversity (2009 & 2005-2006), Associate Dean of Engineering (1996-2001), and Assistant Dean of Engineering (1991-2006).
Dr. Watson is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Her awards and recognitions include the U.S. President's Award for Mentoring Minorities and Women in Science and Technology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science mentoring award, the IEEE International Undergraduate Teaching Medal, the WEPAN Bevlee Watford Award, the College of Engineering Crawford Teaching Award, and two University-level Distinguished Achievement Awards from The Texas A&M University Association of Former Students—one in Student Relations in 1992 and in Administration in 2010, and the Texas Tech College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni. In 2003–2004, she served as a Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Engineering Center for the Advancement of Scholarship in Engineering Education. Since 1991, she has served as an accreditation evaluator, commissioner, Board of Director, then President of ABET, and is currently Secretary/Treasurer of the ABET Foundation Board of Directors. She has also served as a program evaluator for J.D. programs for the ABA, for universities’ regional accreditation for SACSCOC, and for Business Schools for AACSB. She also has served as the Chair of the ECE division of ASEE, the President of the Education Society of IEEE, and the chair of the Women in Engineering of IEEE. She served as the Treasurer and a Board of Directors member for WEPAN.

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Abstract

In Fall 2020, a large university has started several initiatives within its newly created engineering education faculty group to support APT and PoP faculty in writing and publishing about their teaching. This initiative includes a significant number of faculty teaching in our first-year engineering program. The initiatives include 1) a weekly research fellows group of 9, primarily APT faculty, 2) a teaching fellows group that looks at designing and implementing innovative activities in their classroom, 3) a weekly meeting with the engineering education faculty as a whole where faculty share what has been successful, 4) distinguished seminar series by national engineering education leaders who spend time mentoring the faculty in writing and discussing the future of engineering education, and 5) a morning writing group where faculty discuss about what they are writing and dedicate time for writing by themselves or write as a group. Since these initiatives have been started, our APT and first-year faculty have submitted and published significantly more than they did in the years previously. This paper will present the techniques used to support and encourage publication in the field of engineering education, including collaborative paper writing, as well as the qualitative and quantitative results from the participants in these initiatives. Qualitative data includes interviews from the faculty about their writing practices and the benefits they have gained from being part of the new supportive community. Quantitative data includes the increase in submitted paper counts and research initiatives in the classroom. We will also detail our future initiatives to support these faculty.

Hammond, T. A., & Thomas, S., & Patrick, C., & Wade, P., & Jaison, D., & Moore, J. M., & White, L. L. A., & Brooks, R. H., & Ray, S., & Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., & Watson, K. (2021, August), Creating a Supportive Space for Teaching-Focused Faculty to Write About their Teaching Paper presented at 2021 First-Year Engineering Experience, Virtual . 10.18260/1-2--38376

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