EmPOWERing a Sustainable Energy Future through Interconnected Curricular and Co-Curricular Pedagogies

Jeffrey M. Bielicki; Yun-Han Weng; Emily T. Creamer; Matthew Judkins Mayhew

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Environmental Engineering Division (ENVIRON) Technical Session 1 - Sustainability & Environmental Justice
Tagged Division: Environmental Engineering Division (ENVIRON)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47241

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Paper Authors

biography

Jeffrey M. Bielicki The Ohio State University orcid.org/0000-0001-8449-9328

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Dr. Bielicki is the Program Director and Principal Investigator of the OSU EmPOWERment Program on convergent graduate training for a sustainable energy future. He is also research lead for Sustainable Energy for the OSU Sustainability Institute and he runs the Energy Sustainability Research Laboratory where he and his students research issues in which energy and environmental systems and policy interact, specifically on topics related to carbon management, renewable energy, and the energy-water nexus.

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Abstract

In 2019, a National Research Traineeship (NRT) grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation seeded the establishment of a new model for graduate education at Ohio State University – a large, public, land-grant R-1 university in the U.S. Midwest. This grant application involved faculty from seven different colleges within this university (engineering; public affairs; arts and sciences; food, agriculture, and environmental sciences; business; law). The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program in convergent graduate training for a sustainable energy future enrolls Ph.D. students studying any aspect of energy from degree programs any college in Ohio State and engages them in several curricular and co-curricular elements that are designed to dovetail with their Ph.D. degree program requirements in ways that do not extend their time to graduate. The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program established at Ohio State an energy Student Community of Practice and Engagement (SCOPE), a Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization (GIS), and an undergraduate Research in Sustainable Energy (RISE) summer research experience. Over time a JOULE energy seminar series (JOULE) was added to elevate intellectual engagement in for trainees in The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program and broaden their engagement with researchers across this university. This paper investigates the development and accentuation of innovation capacities of Ph.D. trainees in The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program relative to other Ph.D. students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines at Ohio State who do not participate in the Ohio State EmPOWERment Program. This work considers three different constructs for each of three scales (Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Cognitive). Of the nine different constructs, six pass assumption tests and pre-test scores for innovation self-concept, proactivity, social networking, risk-taking or tolerance, creative capacity, and intention to innovate are significant predictors of post-test capacities. Overall, participating in The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program appears to be beneficial and may increase innovation self-concept, proactivity, creative, and intention to innovate capacities.

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Bielicki, J. M., & Weng, Y., & Creamer, E. T., & Mayhew, M. J. (2024, June), EmPOWERing a Sustainable Energy Future through Interconnected Curricular and Co-Curricular Pedagogies Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47241

TY - CPAPER
AB - In 2019, a National Research Traineeship (NRT) grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation seeded the establishment of a new model for graduate education at Ohio State University – a large, public, land-grant R-1 university in the U.S. Midwest. This grant application involved faculty from seven different colleges within this university (engineering; public affairs; arts and sciences; food, agriculture, and environmental sciences; business; law). The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program in convergent graduate training for a sustainable energy future enrolls Ph.D. students studying any aspect of energy from degree programs any college in Ohio State and engages them in several curricular and co-curricular elements that are designed to dovetail with their Ph.D. degree program requirements in ways that do not extend their time to graduate. The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program established at Ohio State an energy Student Community of Practice and Engagement (SCOPE), a Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization (GIS), and an undergraduate Research in Sustainable Energy (RISE) summer research experience. Over time a JOULE energy seminar series (JOULE) was added to elevate intellectual engagement in for trainees in The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program and broaden their engagement with researchers across this university. This paper investigates the development and accentuation of innovation capacities of Ph.D. trainees in The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program relative to other Ph.D. students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines at Ohio State who do not participate in the Ohio State EmPOWERment Program. This work considers three different constructs for each of three scales (Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Cognitive). Of the nine different constructs, six pass assumption tests and pre-test scores for innovation self-concept, proactivity, social networking, risk-taking or tolerance, creative capacity, and intention to innovate are significant predictors of post-test capacities. Overall, participating in The Ohio State EmPOWERment Program appears to be beneficial and may increase innovation self-concept, proactivity, creative, and intention to innovate capacities.
AU - Jeffrey M. Bielicki
AU - Yun-Han Weng
AU - Emily T. Creamer
AU - Matthew Judkins Mayhew
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - EmPOWERing a Sustainable Energy Future through Interconnected Curricular and Co-Curricular Pedagogies
UR - https://peer.asee.org/47241
ER -