Student Engagement
Through various active and collaborative teaching
strategies, I work to create an engaging learning environment that encourages
students to step outside of their traditional classroom comfort zone and see
their education in a different light. At
the beginning of every semester I explain to my students that I am a
facilitator of their education, and each individual student is responsible for their
learning.
In first year courses I incorporate a number of activities that help students learn about possible career paths, recognize the importance of the skills they are learning, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and provide them with tools for improvement. These activities also help the students engage with each other and build a community within the classroom.
In first year courses I incorporate a number of activities that help students learn about possible career paths, recognize the importance of the skills they are learning, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and provide them with tools for improvement. These activities also help the students engage with each other and build a community within the classroom.
Students in CET 125 playing
the "Building Communications Skills Game". |
One of my favorite activities is the “Building Communication Skills Game” which I have the students play in our gatekeeper course, “CET 125 – Civil and Environmental Drafting and Design”. In the game, students take on the role of Designer/Engineer, Draftsman/Technician, Builder and Observer. The Designer/Engineer and the Builder are set up on opposite sides of the room, behind a visual barrier and given sets of matching building blocks. The Designer/Engineer builds up the set of blocks. Then using verbal and/or non-verbal communication, the Designer/Engineer must pass on building instructions to the Draftsman/Technician. These instructions are then passed from the Draftsman/Technician to the Builder whose goal is to reconstruct the same design developed by the Designer/Engineer. The game runs for 10 minutes per round. Each round is run with people in different roles and with different variables to help the students understand how their verbal and non-verbal communication skills can impact a design/build project in the real world. Following the game, the students are asked to write a reflective essay about their experience in the game, including one effective method of communication, one inhibitor encountered, and what they would do differently in the future.
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I also work to engage students outside of the classroom supporting student events, internships and providing opportunities for students to learn and network outside of the classroom. For the past two years I have participated in the EPSCoR STEM EXPO as a faculty mentor for students interested in hosting an activity table. This includes helping them plan a STEM related activity and providing assistance wherever needed while hosting the table at the event. Also through EPSCoR, I was the faculty advisor last summer for a student intern with University of Delaware’s Water Resources Agency. As faculty advisor, I worked with the student intern as needed to support her efforts to map the locations in which her research team conducted surveys of several waterways in northern Delaware.
In addition to the EPSCoR-supported summer internship experience, I also worked independently to place a student in a paid GIS internship at the University of Delaware during the 2014-15 school year. She has been working with their department of Environmental Health and Safety to develop a geodatabase of the storm sewer system on University of Delaware’s campus in Newark, DE. This opportunity has provided the student with real-life experience as well as contacts at the University, where she intends to transfer upon graduation.
I also invite students to events throughout the state. This past year I had a student accompany me as a volunteer for Delaware GIS Day on November 19th, 2014. GIS day is an international effort to promote geography awareness and demonstrate real-world applications of GIS that affect our everyday lives. The Delaware GIS Day event is a field trip for 5th graders throughout the state of Delaware to the Dover Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base. The event exposes the 5th graders to GIS and Geography related activities like a global positioning system (GPS) and compass game, aerial imagery exploration, hands on GIS demonstrations, the Earth Balloon and so much more. The student volunteer who accompanied me worked as a tour guide for a group of 5th graders and was able to network with a number of other volunteers who are professionals in the industry.
In addition to these activities, last year our department organized and hosted the First Annual National Engineers Week Career Fair for Architecture, Civil, Construction Management and Environmental Engineering Technologies at the Stanton Campus. The event was a huge success bringing in about 38 companies and over 120 students to the conference center. The student population included students from all 3 campuses as well as high school students and previous graduates.
In addition to the EPSCoR-supported summer internship experience, I also worked independently to place a student in a paid GIS internship at the University of Delaware during the 2014-15 school year. She has been working with their department of Environmental Health and Safety to develop a geodatabase of the storm sewer system on University of Delaware’s campus in Newark, DE. This opportunity has provided the student with real-life experience as well as contacts at the University, where she intends to transfer upon graduation.
I also invite students to events throughout the state. This past year I had a student accompany me as a volunteer for Delaware GIS Day on November 19th, 2014. GIS day is an international effort to promote geography awareness and demonstrate real-world applications of GIS that affect our everyday lives. The Delaware GIS Day event is a field trip for 5th graders throughout the state of Delaware to the Dover Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base. The event exposes the 5th graders to GIS and Geography related activities like a global positioning system (GPS) and compass game, aerial imagery exploration, hands on GIS demonstrations, the Earth Balloon and so much more. The student volunteer who accompanied me worked as a tour guide for a group of 5th graders and was able to network with a number of other volunteers who are professionals in the industry.
In addition to these activities, last year our department organized and hosted the First Annual National Engineers Week Career Fair for Architecture, Civil, Construction Management and Environmental Engineering Technologies at the Stanton Campus. The event was a huge success bringing in about 38 companies and over 120 students to the conference center. The student population included students from all 3 campuses as well as high school students and previous graduates.
Thanks to a Delaware Tech student success grant, we have the Second Annual National Engineers Week Career Fair planned to include all of the Engineering Technologies at the Stanton Campus. We expect to have close to 60 engineering related companies in attendance in the Stanton campus gymnasium. It will be an exciting event.
The career fair event is designed to give our students the opportunity to speak with individuals in the fields of engineering technologies. This is a chance for the students to meet a variety of professionals in the industry and learn about the types of employment they may enjoy in the future. To support this effort, we have incorporated into each of our classes an assignment prior to the event to research the companies registered and develop questions to ask these companies. Students are required to attend the event and practice their networking skills. After the event the students are required to write a reflective essay about the event, the companies they talked with and what they learned. They are also required to write a thank you letter to at least 1 company representative that they met at the career fair. |
for Architectural, Civil, Construction Management and Environmental Engineering Technologies on Tuesday, February 18, 2014. |
The career fair event, as well as the other engagement activities I incorporate inside and outside of the classroom are designed to empower students to take an active role in their own education.