UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science has hired its first designated expert in engineering education.
Sarah Blackowski joined the college in August, bringing expertise in increasing student engagement in the classroom, preparing first-generation and minority students for engineering degrees, and more. She is an assistant professor in civil & environmental engineering.
“I hope to support students at UWM to feel included and valued in the engineering classroom,” she said. Among her priorities: to develop an engineering class that’s project-based around problems facing the greater Milwaukee area.
Blackowski arrives at a time when the college seeks to further improve undergraduate student retention with teaching innovation and personalizing student services. Her academic preparation will help the college implement the latest research in engineering education and her presence and efforts will help the college compete for federal grants in engineering education.
Strength lies within diversity of students’ backgrounds
Blackowski’s areas of expertise within engineering education are extensive and include: student motivation, self-regulated learning, and metacognition; research-based instructional strategies; and leveraging knowledge to benefit diverse students and faculty in core engineering courses.
To significantly improve engineering students’ experiences and outcomes, Blackowski said, an institution must support both students and faculty in the classroom.
“Engineering students enter the classroom with varying levels of engineering-related beliefs, motivations, and experiences,” she said. “UWM students bring a wide range of diverse backgrounds and experiences—a strength that can be used to craft student-focused courses.”
In addition, she hopes to better prepare PhD students for their potential roles as professors, noting that those who go on to tenure track jobs typically enter the classroom with little to no teaching experience, as few graduate programs prepare early-career faculty to teach. “Teaching is a core skill and it’s crucial to support faculty members in this role,” she said.
NSF-funded projects addressed engineering student experience, faculty development, K-12 engagement
Blackowski comes to UWM from Virginia Tech’s Department of Engineering Education, where she earned a PhD in Engineering Education. She has experience as an instructor of record for the first-year engineering sequence and won the Graduate School Teaching Excellence Award in Spring 2022. Her dissertation explored how early-career, tenure-track engineering faculty at R1 institutions learn about teaching through narrative methods.
She has seven years of experience in engineering education research and has worked on National Science Foundation-funded projects that addressed K-12 engineering engagement, undergraduate engineering student experience, graduate student success, engineering faculty development and more.
In addition, she has co-authored three peer-reviewed journal publications and 15 conference papers.
Blackowski earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in Astronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL. She has worked as a flight simulator technician for Level D flight simulators and a chief engineer on a theoretical project to explore Mars’ largest moon, Phobos.
Contact Sarah Blackowski
Email: blackows@uwm.edu
Office: E1107