The Engineering Learning Environment: A Proposed Model

Her research involves an integration of systems and engineering ecology with engineering education, resulting in a deeper understanding of student learning through a complexity lens.In particular, she is developing the Ecological Inspiration for Engineering Education research program, which involves an innovative approach of borrowing concepts from healthy, ecological systems and applying these to engineering education systems.Ecological concepts such as distributed cognition, systems, networks, riparian zones, and niche construction promise to help develop a deeper understanding of how students learn.She also teaches at the undergraduate level within the Biological and Agricultural Engineering department, is a Lilly Teaching Fellow, and is a key faculty appointed to design a culturally inclusive Environmental Engineering program of study that will begin in the Spring of 2009.