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1. Navigating Process-Product Tensions using a Design Canvas

   Thompson, M. S.; Cheville, R. A. (April 2018, ASEE annual conference & exposition proceedings)

   National surveys of design courses find many similarities between the way capstone courses are structured and implemented, although more programs focus on the design process rather than creating a product. What is not as well understood are the methods and techniques used to inform students of interrelationship between product and process. This paper discusses the use of multiple formal design representations as a means to focus learning on the interrelation between design processes and products. The ability to utilize multiple representations has been demonstrated to be effective in improving student learning in math education, a discipline that can be highly process-oriented. Similarly representational fluency impacts engineering modeling. In the context of teaching design the term representation here refers to a written or graphical expression of some aspect of the design process and/or product. Ideally the set of representations would form a minimal and complete orthonormal basis set; that is the ensemble of representations captures the design in its entirety and the representations are not redundant. Since the design work of many engineers is a set of plans or diagrams (forms of representation) the complete set of representations has the potential to capture both the process of design and serve as a product of design work. Over a four year period a set of representations was developed and trialed in a year-long senior capstone course in electrical and computer engineering at a small, private liberal arts institution. Using an iterative, action research approach that included student input a set of representations was developed by modifying or eliminating ineffective representations and introducing new formats based on analysis of the students’ response and success. To minimize redundancy and work towards completeness (i.e. a lean, 360° view of the process and product) representations were organized using a “design canvas” modeled after the Business Model Canvas. The Design Canvas classifies representations by actionable questions on two axes—system development and design choices— which in turn are organized hierarchically by scale. Results of the project and examples of representations for the current iteration of the Design Canvas are presented along with the Design Canvas development process. 

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2. A Practical Research Methods Course That Teaches How to Be a Successful Biomedical Engineering Graduate Student

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s43683-024-00135-9  

   Acuña, Samuel A (July 2024, Biomedical Engineering Education)

   Abstract Should your department offer a course on how to be a scientist and a successful graduate student? We offer this course at George Mason University as a mandatory part of the graduate curriculum, but this is not common practice for graduate biomedical engineering programs. Graduate education in biomedical engineering is evolving rapidly, with an increasing demand for fundamental research skills, interdisciplinary skills, and professional development. We believe that graduate students will be more successful in their research activities if they are explicitly taught these skills at the beginning of their graduate coursework. This paper describes the design of this course in our bioengineering department. 

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3. Decision making in graduate physics coursework: What is being assessed versus what is expected

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.21.010148  

   Robbins, Michael E; Davis, Nathan D; Burkholder, Eric W (May 2025, Physical Review Physics Education Research)

   There is currently little physics education literature examining thinking and learning in graduate education and even less literature characterizing problem solving among physics graduate students despite this being an essential professional skill for physicists. Given reports of discrepancies between physics problem solving in the undergraduate classroom and “real-world” problem solving, we sought to investigate whether this discrepancy exists at the graduate level. We first investigate the problem-solving skills present in first-year graduate physics assignments. A recent framework that characterizes problem solving as decisions-to-be-made was used. Assignments were taken from the four core courses of one academic year at one research-intensive university and coded by two researchers. We found that only 4 of the 29 decisions in the framework were present in most of the assignments. We then interviewed 11 instructors from 3 universities and asked which decisions they expected of first-year graduate students. Eleven decisions were expected by eight or more of the participants, but only four of these decisions were commonly practiced on assignments. Therefore, there seems to be a mismatch between instructor expectations and practice of problem solving on assignments. This suggests that graduate physics courses may not be aligned with the problem-solving skills that physics graduate students will need in their research or future careers. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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4. Framework to Enhance STEM Education for Community College Students

   https://doi.org/10.24018/ejedu.2022.3.3.331  

   Zeid, Abe; Duggan, Claire (May 2022, European Journal of Education and Pedagogy)

   Community colleges (CCs) play a critical role in advancing the education of all learners. Approximately 40% of first-time college freshman begin in Community Colleges. The proposed framework seeks to support and excite CC students to persist in their STEM education to increase the pipeline for the STEM workforce. Its vision is to provide CC students engineering skills and to excite them about engineering research. The framework enables students to spend 10 summer weeks at Northeastern University to increase skills, confidence, and learn firsthand about research. Each student will join a research lab, working with faculty and graduate student mentors. Also, students will be mentored after summer to further support their successful graduation and/or transfer to a 4-year institution and beyond. The site is guided by two of the grand challenges of the National Academy of Engineering: personalized learning and scientific discovery. Unique aspects of the proposed framework include: a hands-on short course in engineering topics and software tools; formal mentor training including modules for mentoring CC students; daily student meetings with mentors; extensive professional development seminars; formal research training including daily reflection journals, poster presentations and technical writing with a faculty member; and recruitment from a unique pool of highly talented URM students. 

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5. A Community of Practice Approach to Integrating Professional Skills Training with Graduate Thesis Research

   Jiang, S; Gansemer-Topf, A; Reuel, N; Okudan-Kremer, G; Li, Q; Mort, R. (October 2020, ASEE North Midwest Section Annual Conference 2020)

   null (Ed.)

   Background. It is well recognized that current graduate education is too narrowly focused on thesis research. Graduate students have a strong desire to gain skills for their future career success beyond thesis research. This obvious gap in professional skill training in current graduate study also leads to the common student perception that professional skills beyond academic knowledge should only be gained after completion of thesis research. Purpose. A new program is being developed to rigorously integrate professional skills training with thesis research. The approach is to establish learning communities of Graduates for Advancing Professional Skills (GAPS) to incorporate project management skill training from industry into academic research. The GAPS program seeks to address two fundamental education research questions: How can project management skill training be integrated with thesis research in graduate education? What is the role/value of learning communities in enhancing the training and retention of professional skills and the effectiveness of thesis research? Our proposed solution is that graduate student learning communities engaging in a blended online and classroom approach will promote learning of professional skills such as project and time management in thesis research activities. The purpose of this session is to establish the connection between project management and thesis research, and demonstrate the beginning progress of the GAPS program towards. Methodology/approach. The following progress is being made to establish GAPS learning communities through which to teach and practice professional skills. A website has been developed to introduce the program, recruit participants, provide information on the online modules, and survey results of participants’ current levels of knowledge and skills related to project management. A new course, “Introduction of Project Management for Thesis Research”, has been added to the course catalog and open to enrollment for students from different majors. In addition, learning modules including project charter, scheduling, communication, teamwork, critical path method, and lean concept are developed. Case studies and examples have been developed to help students learn how to utilize project management skills in their thesis research. Conclusions. The concept of integrating professional skills training with thesis research through learning communities has been demonstrated. There are multiple advantages of this approach, including efficient utilization of the current resources, and faculty buy-in. Preliminary data from the first cohort are being collected and analyzed to identify students’ needs, benefits of the program, and areas of improvement for future cohort iterations. Implications. The GAPS program will improve professional skill training for graduate students through communities of practice. This new learning model has the potential to fundamentally change the culture of graduate education. We believe the method demonstrated here can be broadly applied to different engineering majors, and even broadly to all thesis research. 

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