A robust contingent of faculty from the College of Engineering and Computing traveled to Portland, Oregon at the end of June 2024. The purpose of the trip to the ASEE Annual Conference was to meet with other engineering educators, share best practices, present papers, and more.
A new booth in the Exhibit Hall showed off George Mason University’s new brand identity and provided a great home base to check in, bump into colleagues, or connect with old friends. The 10’ x 20’ booth attracted the attention of participants who were eager to learn more about George Mason.
“The conference is an excellent venue for graduate students as it gives them the opportunity to get started with presenting their research either through an oral presentation or as a poster,” said Aditya Johri, professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology. “They can get feedback from other faculty, students, and even NSF program officers. They can become a member of the Graduate Division and help with organizing different sessions for the conference. They can also attend workshops to learn more about engineering education, including many novel topics such as the role of Generative AI in engineering education.”
Johri, who has been attending conferences since 2008, said his conference highlight was the number of sessions and papers on generative AI (GenAI). Over 20 sessions addressed the topic. Johri co-organized a GenAI and engineering education workshop this year and it drew more than 150 participants.
A sampling of the program revealed the following titles and participants.
“Addressing Societal Challenges through Graduate-level Community-engaged Design Projects.” Samuel Acuña [George Mason University], Siddhartha Sikdar, Nathalia Peixoto [George Mason University], Holly Matto [George Mason University].
“Doing Before Graduating: Experiential Learning with Part-Time Internships and Grants.” Brian Ngac [George Mason University], Nirup Menon [George Mason University].
“Race to R1: An Analysis of Historically Black College or University (HBCU) Potential to Reach Research 1 Carnegie Classification® (R1) Status.” Trina Fletcher [Florida International University], Simone Nicholson [Florida International University], Christopher Carr [George Mason University], Brittany Boyd, Tina Fletcher.
“A University-County Collaboration to Excite Students about Citizen Science.” Leigh McCue [George Mason University], Brianne Bell, Elliot Foster.
Graduate Students’ Development of Teaching Skills and Identity (Jill Nelson [George Mason University], Jessica Rosenberg, Nishchal Thapa Magar [George Mason University], Marco Brizzolara [George Mason University].
“A Data-gathering Effort on STEM v. Non-STEM Faculty for Assessing Equity in Recruitment, Retention, and Promotion at a Large R1 Institution.” Milagros Rivera [George Mason University], Supriya Baily [George Mason University], Patrick Willette Healey [George Mason University], Trish Wonch Hill University of Nebraska, Lincoln], Tehama Lopez Bunyasi [George Mason University]. Leigh S McCue [George Mason University], and Girum Urgessa [George Mason University]
Mechanical Engineering Department Chair Leigh McCue, also a long-term conference participant, said she really enjoys how this conference is a mix of engineering education research and classroom implementation examples. She said, “The technical sessions I attended reflected both directions, which enables brainstorming on new classroom activities rooted in a solid pedagogical foundation.”
For parents, the free childcare on offer is a big bonus. McCue said, “I LOVED seeing so many kids there. I brought my kid to ASEE when it was in Vancouver, back before they offered childcare, and pieced together a childcare strategy that involved Virginia Tech associate dean (and future ASEE President) Bev Watford. Since they now offer childcare, it was fun to see so many families.”
Next year’s conference will be in Montreal, Canada. Faculty interested in learning more should connect with their department chairs.