Shawn Farrington

Research Skills and Disseminating Knowledge

Summary of Mentoring and Research Impact

My commitment to mentoring has included guiding over 100 students a year in designing solutions through a human-centered approach and supporting over 60 instructors in effectively teaching design thinking. Collectively, we mentor over 1,500 students annually. Additionally, I’ve managed and mentored over 100 undergraduate TAs (UTA) so they can guide their peers in successful completion of Tech 12000. I often retain UTAs for their entire Polytechnic careers because they enjoy working with students and instructors. Some of my instructors have received teaching certifications through the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) and the Teaching and Learning in Engineering Graduate Program. My instructors have gone on to careers in user experience/research, engineering, K-12 education in the US and abroad, and as university faculty. I’ve shared my teaching expertise to the Teaching Excellence Collaborative in the Polytechnic, to K-12 educators at International Teaching Conferences, and the Teaching and Learning Community of Practice (TLCoP). My efforts as co-PI in NSF-funded research have been disseminated in Educational Technology, Research and Development (ETRD), the Journal of Technology Education, and the Technology and Engineering Teacher. I’ve led presentations at AECT, AERA, ITEEA, and ISLS in Hiroshima, Japan.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:

  • Mentzer, N., Mammadova, E., Koehler, A., Mohandas, L., & Farrington, S. (2024). Analyzing the impact of basic psychological needs on student academic performance: a comparison of post-pandemic interactive synchronous hyflex and pre-pandemic traditional face-to-face instruction. Educational technology research and development, 1-24.
  • Mentzer, N., Mohandas, L., Farrington, S., & Laux, D. (2022). Course Quality Improvement in Design Education. Journal of Technology Education, 33(1).
  • Mentzer, N., Farrington, S., & Tennenhouse, J. (2015). Strategies for teaching brainstorming in design education. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 74(8), 8.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Papers:

  • Mohandas, L., Mentzer, N., Jaiswal, A., & Farrington, S. (2020, June). Effectiveness of Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in a First-Year Design Course. In 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access.
  • Molinari, G., Raes, A., Zeng, L., Bridges, S., Mentzer, N., Farrington, S. W., … & Weinberger, A. (2022). How to promote optimal individual and collaborative learning in remote and hybrid environments? A focus on motivational and emotional factors. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning-CSCL 2022, pp. 501-508. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
  • Mentzer, N., Farrington, S., Koehler, A. & Mohandas, L. (2022). Interactive Synchronous HyFlex: From Pandemic to Praxis, Presented at the NSF ITEST PI conference, Washington: D.C.
  • Mentzer, N., Farrington, S. & Koehler, A. (2022). HyFlex as a Pedagogical Approach to Engaging Learners Post Pandemic. Ethical Approaches to Digital Leadership Round Table participant at Ahead by BETT, UK.
  • Mentzer, N., Mohandas, L., Farrington, S. & Koehler, A. (2022). Synchronously Blending F2F and Remote Learners. Presented at the Council on Technology and Engineering Teacher Education/International Technology and Engineering Educators Association 2022, Orlando, FL
  • Mohandas, L., Mentzer, N., Koehler, A., Farrington, S., & Mammadova, E. (2023, June). Understanding Students’ Self-regulation in a HyFlex Design Thinking Course. In 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
  • Mohandas, L., Mentzer, N., Koehler, A., Mammadova, E., & Farrington, S. (2024, June). A Synthesis of Discoveries Spanning Ten Semesters of HyFlex. In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

Invited Presentations:

Presentations and Invited Lectures

  • Oral Presentation, “To Be Face-to-Face Today or to be Remote Today: That is the Question” American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, 04/14/2023
  • Oral Presentation, “Expanding Accessibility of Learning through HyFlex Synchronous Instruction of F2F and Remote Students” Technological University of Dublin, 11/2021.
  • Invited Presenter, “Expanding Accessibility of Learning through HyFlex Synchronous Instruction of F2F and Remote Students” Purdue University Teaching and Learning Community of Practice, 09/2022
  • Workshop, “Design Thinking Crash Course,” Pre-conference workshop for the 82nd annual International Technology and Engineering Education Association Conference, March, 2020.
  • Keynote Address, “Design Thinking: Developing socio-technical solutions to real-world problems”, Giant Leap in Human Trafficking Event, 2019.