Special Sessions

Engineering programs at small, teaching-focused institutions often face constraints in resources, faculty, and infrastructure but serve a critical role in educating future engineers, particularly those from underrepresented or first generation backgrounds. 

Psychological safety is a relatively understudied concept in graduate education, especially in engineering. Despite this, psychological safety may provide a lens through which to better support graduate students’ success by fostering creativity, innovation, self-advocacy, and supporting mental health. 

The increasing integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools in education presents new opportunities for enhancing curriculum design and evaluation. This Special Session explores the application of GenAI, specifically tools like ChatGPT, for designing and assessing course learning objectives (LOs) and ensuring their alignment with instructional content and assessments. 

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins, internet of things (IoT), extended reality (XR), and Robotics have the potential to enhance engineering education. The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence into the workplace and daily life calls for engineering educators to leverage these tools in research and teaching.

Space Teams Academy (STA) aims to provide an immersive, hands-on STEM education experience that fosters creativity, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, while also expanding access to higher education materials. 

This special session addresses a gap in integrating learning sciences and research design into engineering research by introducing key theories and demonstrating how they can be practically integrated into research design, curriculum development, and teaching practice.

This special session introduces engineering educators to practice-based research (PBR) as a methodological framework for investigating and improving curriculum design through reflective teaching practices. 

Engineering and computer science education (EngCSEd) research and teaching groups aim to revolutionize engineering departments through the implementation of existing research, use of organizational and cultural change theories, and production of new knowledge. 

This special session will explore how each of us fits into the engineering education community and how we envision the engineering education community of the future. By using the LEGO® Serious Play®  facilitation model, attendees will be able to share their ideas and curiosities about the engineering education community. The goal is to identify some ways engineering education might look like in the future, potential collaborations, and shared visions. 

PROGRAM ADDENDUM

This Special Session has been canceled and will not be taking place during the conference. 

Early mathematics proficiency is a pivotal determinant of long-term success in engineering and computing disciplines, yet disparities in math education persist, particularly for underrepresented populations. 

This 80-minute special session introduces the FIE community to a new book by author Dr. Sarah L. Rodriguez entitled, Supporting Latina Students in Engineering and Computing: A Chicana Feminist Approach (Harvard Education Press, 2025). 

This Special Session explores the challenges facing learners for the Engineering Profession in a future where Artificial Intelligence Tools are likely to be crucial to career success. We explore professional and academic expectations of the impact that AI will have on the major branches of engineering during the next decade, leveraging the expertise of the professions attending this special session.