JSEE 2021: Preliminary evaluation of a transdisciplinary international undergraduate program in engineering

I designed the overall evaluation approach and conducted natural language processing based analysis of the evaluation data. I also drafted the submitted paper. After working on this, I have built confidence in my ability to quickly start-up a research project, especially since I had the support of several faculty members.

Co-occurrences of words from student mindmaps

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Details

Title: Preliminary evaluation of a transdisciplinary international undergraduate program in engineering

Authors: Alvin Christopher Galang Varquez, Jeffrey S. Cross, May Kristine Jonson Carlon, Eden Mariquit Andrews, Mehrdad Sadeghzadeh Nazari, Sunkyung Choi, Shinya Hanaoka

Venue: 69th Japanese Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference

Date: September 9, 2021

Abstract

The Global Scientist and Engineers Program (GSEP) is Tokyo Institute of Technology’s purely English instruction-based undergraduate program in transdisciplinary science and engineering specifically designed for international students with minimal to no Japanese communication ability. The program faces multiple challenges not just those relating to multiculturalism but also in providing education in a newly emerging academic field. This research evaluates the program through questionnaires, mind mapping workshop, and focus group discussion conducted with the program’s first cohort who graduated in March 2020. The program was evaluated on how well the graduating students have gained confidence in important areas relevant to their field of study and the amount of support they received while in the program. The first cohort showed satisfaction being graduates of the program, expressed confidence in their transdisciplinary knowledge, and see themselves as global citizens. With enhanced engagement with Japanese students, the program has the potential to become a top-notched international undergraduate engineering degree program based in Tokyo.