Why did you chose Civil Engineering?
After completing my undergraduate degree, I worked on large-scale engineering projects. These industry experiences made me realize that our engineering education systems do not (adequately) prepare students for nontechnical skills such as ethics, sustainability, teamwork, and communication. This realization motivated me to study and research engineering education systems.
What interesting research have you included in your teaching?
In my PhD, I researched how generative artificial intelligence (GAI) helps scale qualitative analysis of textual data. I developed and incorporated introductory GAI modules in the first-year engineering curricula at Mount Union.
How is Mount Union unique?
I have opportunities to develop close connections with my students and colleagues, both within the engineering school and across the campus. We also integrate project-based learning across engineering courses. We provide the pedagogical environment for our students to think not only about technical specifications but also about cultural, social, and sustainability constraints in their engineering decision-making.
Research
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Publications
Shakir. U. Hess, J., & Katz, A. Pushing Ethics Assessment Forward in Engineering: NLP-Assisted Qualitative Coding of Student Responses. Engineering Ethics Division for the American Society for Engineering Education 2023 Conference. This is recipient of the Best Paper Award in Ethics Division, ASEE 2023
Shakir, U., Ovink, S., & Katz, A. (2022). Using Natural Language Processing to Explore Undergraduate Student’s Perspectives of Social Class, Gender, and Race. Equity, Culture & Social Justice in Education Division for the American Society for Engineering Education 2022 Conference
Katz, A., & Shakir, U. (2020,). An Investigation of When and Where Ethics Appears in Undergraduate Engineering Curricula. 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Society for Engineering Education, Virtual Conference. This was mentioned in News: ASEE PRISM Engineering Ethics