Minneapolis, MN
August 23, 2022
June 26, 2022
June 29, 2022
9
10.18260/1-2--41339
https://peer.asee.org/41339
242
Dr. Holly Golecki (she/her) is a Teaching Assistant Professor in Bioengineering at the University of
Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an Associate in the John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied
Sciences at Harvard University. She holds an appointment at the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine in the
Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences. She is also a core faculty member at the Institute
for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in the College of Engineering. Holly studies biomaterials
and soft robotics and their applications in the university classroom, in undergraduate research and in
engaging K12 students in STEM. Holly received her BS in Materials Science and Engineering from
Drexel University and her PhD in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University.
Rebecca M. Reck is a Teaching Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research includes alternative grading, entrepreneurial mindset, instructional laboratories, and equity-focused teaching. She teaches biomedical instrumentation, signal processing, and control systems. She earned a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Jessica received her B.S.E., M.S.E., and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan. She then worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, followed by three years as a research specialist at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Since August of 2016, she has held a lecturer position at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In her current role, Jessica teaches the junior-year lab classes in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, as well as a summer course focused on writing in engineering.
John Popovics is a Professor, Associate Head, and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His interests include writing instruction for engineering students.
In the laboratory classroom, students have opportunities for design, problem solving, and exposure to real-world issues that are not usually present in traditional hand-written homework assignments. However, to operate effective laboratories, engineering departments and colleges must address challenges such as budget constraints, space limitations, class size, and limited teaching resources. The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these issues and added more with the need for online and remote learning experiences without sacrificing the benefits of experiential learning. Laboratory and design courses were significantly impacted by the sudden move to remote delivery during pandemic lockdowns. Instructors and departments made decisions for adapting each course based on specific needs. Throughout that time, instructors in lab and design courses identified both the successes and the continuing challenges to remote and hybrid delivery. When courses returned to in-person modalities, instructors considered what lessons learned can inform the future of experiential learning-based courses. This paper describes development of a Community of Practice (CoP) of lab and design course instructors to develop strategies and best practices across one engineering college as we enter a new era of teaching and learning, post-COVID. This paper describes formation of the lab and design CoP, practical operating details of the CoP, as well as lessons learned from delivery of workshops and meetings. In addition to providing a road map for instructors to form a similar working group at their institution, we will share knowledge gained, commonalities across course types, and a summary of answers to the questions that inspired the formation of this CoP.
Golecki, H., & Reck, R., & Schmitz, C., & Ansell, K., & TerBush, J., & Popovics, J. (2022, August), Development of a Community of Practice for Rethinking Best Practices in Post-COVID Experiential Learning Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41339
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