Jacquelynn Horsey with her poster displayed at the American Society for Engineering Education’s annual conference

Author: Jacquelynn Horsey | Major: Biomedical Engineering | Semester: Summer 2023

I’m Jacquelynn Horsey, a senior pursuing an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. As a student in the Honors College, I was given the opportunity to apply for and receive a grant that allowed me to travel to a research conference. Without the assistance of the Honors College, I would have been unable to enjoy such a unique experience.

As a junior, I knew I needed to get involved in research. However, I was unsure which direction to proceed in and which lab I would enjoy. I eventually became connected with my professor, Dr. Mostafa Elsaadany, whose research focuses on engineering education. My first project as a research assistant in his lab was on a paper titled Work in Progress: Assessment and Impact of a Clinical Observations and Needs Finding Service-learning Course on Biomedical Engineering Outcomes. As a work-in-progress paper, this paper was limited to three pages, which proved to be a challenge. The objective of this paper was to determine the efficacy of a required, junior-level course. It analyzed the perceptions of students through Likert-scale and open-response questions in pre- and post-course surveys. This paper was accepted to the American Society for Engineering Education and invited to be presented as a poster at the annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Travel to this conference proved to be close to a disaster. After sitting on the tarmac in Arkansas for 2 hours, we were finally en route to Atlanta. It was in Atlanta that our troubles took a turn for the worse. After delay after delay, our connecting flight to Baltimore was canceled at 2 a.m. After being stranded for seven hours at the airport we were finally on a plane to the conference. This unfortunate series of events landed us in Baltimore 12 hours too late, causing us to miss our poster session. This was very disappointing as the poster session was my opportunity to share my research. Fortunately, my poster had been sent ahead and was still displayed.

This trip was a great experience for my professional and network development, despite the travel mishaps. I traveled to this conference with two professors, my mentor Dr. Elsaadany, and Dr. Tim Muldoon, who has also been instrumental in the development of this project. As for students, Mary Jia, a recent graduate of the Honors College, Dr. Ishita Tandon, a recent pH.D. graduate of the College of Engineering, and Amanda Walls, a pH.D. candidate of the College of Engineering also attended. I spent my free time bonding with these individuals and asking as many questions as I could. I used this trip as an opportunity to learn from them and seek advice. All three women were incredibly intelligent and I was fortunate to be able to travel with them. Dr. Elsaadany and Dr. Muldoon are both highly-accomplished individuals who I seek to learn as much as possible from. Although two very different personalities, they both enjoy teaching and are individuals who I look up to.

Although we missed our poster sessions, we were still able to enjoy the majority of the conference. We attended sessions primarily in biomedical engineering, as this is the most relevant to our research. At these sessions, groups from across the country presented their discoveries and research in education. During these talks, I would brainstorm ideas for future projects and take notes of things we liked or disliked in others’ works. At the larger plenary sessions, keynote speakers would talk about a new piece of technology aiding engineering education or a novel method of engaging students. In an ever-changing society, new methods of education and the improvement of current methods are crucial for the development of students.

My favorite part of the trip was attending a Baltimore Orioles game with everyone. This was such a unique experience. As someone who grew up around baseball, I have a deep appreciation for the game and MLB stadiums. There is a deep history surrounding Camden Yards that is rooted in philanthropy, historic preservation, and a love of the game. Of course, there was a rain delay 7 innings in, but instead of leaving we chose to wait it out. These are the memories that I will remember twenty years from now, not how annoyed I was at the Atlanta airport. I will remember sneaking down to the first row following the rain delay with my professors and peers to get better seats to watch the end of the game. This experience would not have been possible without the Honors College.

As this project was only a work-in-progerss paper, there is still more research to be done. We will be continuing to develop this paper while collecting more data each semester. The data from subsequent semesters will be added to the original data to generate a larger sample size, while also being independently analyzed to visual intersemester trends. In addition to the further development of this project, Dr. Elsaadany and I are considering other topics in education engineering, such as the decline of professor led office hours and how to decrease implicit bias in faculty.