Undergraduate Researchers
Dorian Bobbett
Chemical Engineering
Program & Project Year: McNair Scholar Summer 2021 - Summer 2023
Project Advisor: Dr. Grace Panther
Project Title: RAPID: Faculty Adaptability and Community Engagement when Teaching in a Crisis
Description: Instructors at colleges and universities around the world had to rapidly alter their teaching methods due to the COVID-19 pandemic to accommodate remote and hybrid learning. Instructors had to constantly make adjustments from Spring 2020 through Spring 2021 semesters due to the ever evolving situation. The purpose of this case study was to examine how one engineering faculty member responded to the change in teaching format through the lens of adaptability. The research questions include: (1) How did the challenges that one instructor faced during emergency remote teaching impact their behaviors? (2) How did the instructor's behavioral adaptability lead to teaching successes during emergency remote teaching?
Project Dissemination: Poster1 Poster2
Bobbett, D., Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2022). Engineering faculty experience during emergency remote teaching & beyond: A case study. Proceedings of the 129th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. doi:https://peer.asee.org/40739
Bobbett, D. Diefes-Dux, H. A., & Panther, G. (2023). Detecting dimensions of significant learning in syllabi using a course change typology. Proceedings of the 130th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Baltimore, MD. doi:https://strategy.asee.org/43009
Emily Stratman
Biological System Engineering
Program & Project Year: Undergraduate Research Summer 2021 - Spring 2022, UCARE Fall 2022 - Spring 2023
Project Advisor: Dr. Heidi Diefes-Dux
Project Title: Metacognitive Dimensions Found in First-Year Engineering Students' Self-Reflections
Description: New engineering educators are often unaware that students struggle to reach a deep level of metacognitive processing when reflecting on thinking/learning strategies. Differently worded reflection prompts have the potential to elicit distinctive student responses in terms of their engagement in thinking about their weekly performance in a course and the learning strategies they use to meet course objectives. The research question being addressed in this study is: How do reflection prompts impact the type (planning, monitoring, and evaluation) and level of metacognition expressed by first-year engineering students in weekly reflections on their learning? How do first-year engineering students’ metacognitive strategies change over the course of a semester when reflecting on their learning via weekly reflection prompts?
Project Dissemination:
Poster1 Poster2 [2023 Student Research Days College of Engineering Competition Winner]
Stratman, E., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2022). Impact of differently worded reflection prompts on engineering students’ metacognitive strategies. Proceedings of the 129th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. doi: https://peer.asee.org/40572 [New Engineering Educators Division (NEE) 3rd Place Best Paper Award]
Ney, K., Stratman, E., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2022). Low and high performing first-year engineering students’ learning and metacognitive strategies. Proceedings of the 129th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. [First-year Programs Division (FPD) 2nd Place Best Paper Award]
John Carpenter
Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Program & Project Year: Undergraduate Research Fall 2022
Project Advisor: Dr. Logan Perry
Project Title: Transfer of Engineering Learning Between Capstone and Work
Description: At the core of education is a need for students to transfer their learning beyond the classroom. This is particularly true for the transition between school and work, a period where recent graduates are expected to apply their educational knowledge to real-world engineering problems. In engineering programs, capstone courses are typically designed to bridge this gap, providing a chance to engage in open-ended projects that ask students to apply previously-attained knowledge and simulate real-world work experiences. Few studies have thoroughly examined the transition between capstone and work, and even fewer have begun to ask what knowledge, skills and attributes are transferring between the two. As such, the purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of transfer between work and school among recent engineering graduates entering the workforce.
Kayla Osen
Agricultural & Biological Engineering, Purdue University
Program & Project Year: Research Experiences for Undergraduates Summer 2022
Project Advisor: Dr. Grace Panther
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to deliver online instruction. Instructors had to change their teaching methods. Do differences exist in engineering instructors' adaptability based on gender, position, tenure status or department?
Project Dissemination: Poster
Osen, K., Diefes-Dux, H. A., & Panther, G. (2023). A measure of engineering instructors’ adaptability based on cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dimensions. Proceedings of the 130th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Baltimore, MD. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--42420
Morgan McArthur
Biological System Engineering - Biomedical Engineering
Program & Project Year: Undergraduate Research Summer 2021 - present
Project Advisor: Dr. Heidi Diefes-Dux
Project Title: Virtual/Augmented-Reality-Based Discipline Exploration Rotations (VADERS) in Architectural Engineering
Description: Students in Architectural Engineering (AE) often struggle with to select a subdiscipline due to their low exposure and engagement with topics that would inform their decision. A lack of early university-level exposure to the real-world practice of AE may undermine students’ self-efficacy with a subdiscipline and contribute to ongoing attrition, particularly among underrepresented groups. Previous research indicates that the immersive nature of VR/AR can increase student engagement in and motivation for learning course content and making career path decisions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a VR/AR intervention on first-year AE students’ understanding of the AE subdisciplines and choice for future study, with particular attention to demographic subgroup differences.
Project Dissemination: Poster1
McArthur, M., Diefes-Dux, H. A., Erdogmus, E., Ryherd, E., & Armwood-Gordon, C. (2022). Impact of a VR/AR module on first-year students’ understanding of Architectural Engineering: A comparison across demographics. Proceedings of the 127th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--40575
Abdullah Hamad
Software Engineering
Program & Project Year: Undergraduate Research Fall 2020 - Summer 2021
Project Advisor: Drs. Grace Panther & Heidi Diefes-Dux
Project Title: RAPID: Faculty Adaptability and Community Engagement when Teaching in a Crisis
The unfolding response to the COVID-19 mandate to teach remotely (online) provides a unique, one-time opportunity for ground-breaking research to study how crisis-induced changes to instruction influence faculty’s teaching experience. Two research questions guide the project: 1) During a crisis, how do engineering faculty and staff experience a sudden change in course delivery (with a focus on cognition, emotions, and community engagement)? and 2) How do these experiences vary throughout the duration of the crisis?
Project Dissemination: Poster1
Hamad, A, Hamada, B., Diefes-Dux, H.D., & Panther, G. (2021, March 1-3). Pandammit! Forcing engineering instructors to deliver courses remotely - challenges and successes [Poster Presentation]. X-DBER Conference, Virtual.
Hamad, A., Rehmat, A., Panther, G., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2021). Challenges and successes of engineering instructors when forced to deliver courses remotely. Proceedings of the 51st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Lincoln, NE. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637332
Lucy Atkinson
Engineering, Swarthmore College
Program & Project Year: Research Experiences for Undergraduate Summer 2021
Project Advisor: Dr. Grace Panther
Project Title: RAPID: Faculty Adaptability and Community Engagement when Teaching in a Crisis
Description: The crisis-induced changes in instruction during the pandemic presented a unique opportunity to study instructor adaptability, a possible contributor to future adoption of teaching-related best-practices. The purpose of this research is to identify the self-reported activities of engineering instructors, the perceived normality of instructors’ engagement in these activities, and how these two factors changed over the course of three semesters during the COVID pandemic. The research question addressed in this study is: In what ways do instructors’ activities change over the course of three semesters (Spring 2020, Fall 2020, & Spring 2021) of teaching during the COVID pandemic?
Project Dissemination: Poster1
Panther, G., Diefes-Dux, H. A. , & Atkinson, L. (2022). Behavioral adaptability of engineering faculty instructors engaging in emergency remote teaching during three semesters of the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the 127th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--41177
Victor Moreno Lozano
Biological System Engineering - Biomedical Engineering
Program & Project Year: Undergraduate Research Summer 2021
Project Advisor: Dr. Heidi Diefes-Dux
Project Title: Metacognitive Dimensions Found in Upper-Division Engineering Students' Self-Reflections
Description: Through reflection students express their awareness of their learning and can describe their thinking in a way that allows them to close the gap between what they know and what they need to learn. What types of metacognitive strategies are expressed by upper-division engineering students in weekly reflections on their learning?
Project Dissemination: Poster1
Bilal Hamada
Computer Engineering
Program & Project Year: Undergraduate Research Fall 2020
Project Advisor: Drs. Grace Panther & Heidi Diefes-Dux
Project Title: COVID: RAPID: Faculty Adaptability and Community Engagement when Teaching in a Crisis
The unfolding response to the COVID-19 mandate to teach remotely (online) provides a unique, one-time opportunity for ground-breaking research to study how crisis-induced changes to instruction influence faculty’s teaching experience. Two research questions guide the project: 1) During a crisis, how do engineering faculty and staff experience a sudden change in course delivery (with a focus on cognition, emotions, and community engagement)? and 2) How do these experiences vary throughout the duration of the crisis?
Project Dissemination::
Hamad, A, Hamada, B., Diefes-Dux, H.D., & Panther, G. (2021, March 1-3). Pandammit! Forcing engineering instructors to deliver courses remotely - challenges and successes [Poster Presentation]. X-DBER Conference, Virtual.
Kayla Ney
Biological System Engineering - Biomedical Engineering
Program & Project Year: SNERP 2020
Project Advisor: Dr. Heidi Diefes-Dux
Project Title: Structured Self-Reflection Prompts for Guiding Engineering Students’ Actions and Plan
Students do not always engage in self-reflection when assessing their learning. This makes it difficult for students to plan and act to improve their ability to learn. Different types of structured self-reflection prompts were implemented in an engineering course to provide students with an explicit opportunity to assess their learning. The research question to be addressed is: How does the type of reflection prompt impact the nature of students’ responses in terms of articulated actions and plans across a semester?
Project Dissemination: Poster
Ney, K., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2021). First-year engineering students’ reflections: Plans and actions for meeting course learning objectives. Proceedings of the 51st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Lincoln, NE. doi: 10.1109/FIE49875.2021.9637379
Ney, K.2 & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2021). Work in progress: First-year engineering students’ reflections: Plans in response to perceived performance on course learning objectives. Proceedings of the 12th Annual First Year Engineering Experience Conference, Virtual Conference. https://peer.asee.org/38380
Ney, K., Strattman, E., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2022). Low and high performing first-year engineering students’ learning and metacognitive strategies. Proceedings of the 127th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. [First-year Programs Division (FPD) 2nd Place Best Paper Award]
Izzy Brown
Architectural Engineering
Program & Project Year: SNERP 2020
Project Advisor: Drs. Grace Panther & Heidi Diefes-Dux
Project Title: COVID: RAPID: Faculty Adaptability and Community Engagement when Teaching in a Crisis
The unfolding response to the COVID-19 mandate to teach remotely (online) provides a unique, one-time opportunity for ground-breaking research to study how crisis-induced changes to instruction influence faculty’s teaching experience. Two research questions guide the project: 1) During a crisis, how do engineering faculty and staff experience a sudden change in course delivery (with a focus on cognition, emotions, and community engagement)? and 2) How do these experiences vary throughout the duration of the crisis?
Project Dissemination: Poster
Victoria "Tori" Nelson
Mechanical Engineering
Program & Project Year: SNERP 2020
Project Advisor: Dr. Grace Panther
Project Title: Assessing the Impacts of a Middle School Spatial Visualization Intervention
Spatial skills have been found to be a better predictor of STEM degree attainment than SAT or ACT scores but spatial visualization is never explicitly taught. This project aims to better understand the impacts of a spatial skills intervention in middle schools. The research questions to be addressed include: 1) Is there a difference between Rural and Urban students on spatial tests initially and after the intervention? and 2) What do the teachers’ experiences about teaching the curriculum tell us?
Project Dissemination: Poster, Nebraska Rural Radio Segment