The Elizabethtown College School of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) was well-represented on a national scale this summer as faculty members presented at several notable conferences.
In June, Etown co-hosted the annual American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference in Baltimore, Md. Six faculty members and one recent graduate attended and participated in the conference.
Dr. Sara Atwood, Dean of Etown’s School of ECS facilitated a roundtable focused on faculty mental health. Atwood also convened with the Engineering Dean’s Council Executive Committee, of which she is a nationally elected member.
Associate Professor of Engineering and Physics Dr. Tomás Estrada, who is the Diversity, Equity and Belonging Ambassador for the school of ECS, attended ASEE conference sessions related to increasing diversity in the field of engineering and computer sciences.
Assistant Professor of Engineering and Physics Dr. Mark Brinton and alumna Meghan Williams ’23 presented their paper, “Work in Progress: Design of Mastery-Based-Learning Course Structure to Assess Student Anxiety and Belonging,” during a session on teaching tools. The paper, which the pair of Blue Jays co-wrote with Etown Professor of Psychology Dr. Elizabeth Dalton, was the result of a 2022 Summer Creative Arts and Research Program (SCARP) project that examined whether assessments using mastery-based-learning (MBL) could lower students’ anxiety levels and increase their sense of belonging in the classroom.
Professor of Engineering and Physics Dr. Kurt DeGoede and Associate Professor of Engineering and Physics Dr. Jean Batista Abreu won a best presentation award in the Mechanics Division of the ASEE Conference for their paper, “Context Matters: Continued Study of Results of Common Concept Questions at Several Diverse Institutions.” The paper focused on concept-based instruction, in which teachers use open questions to help students gain a deeper understanding of concepts.
DeGoede and Engineering major Thomas Urrunaga ’25 published a paper in the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB), “Impact Forces on Five Common Running Surfaces,” which was presented at the 46th ASB Annual Meeting in Knoxville, Tenn. in early August. The paper, which was part of the duo’s 2022 SCARP project, examines whether surface hardness impacts the risk of injury in runners.
