is a senior lead instructional designer at the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. She collaborates with faculty to conduct research, program evaluations, and learning outcomes assessments pertinent to innovative curriculum designs and educational technologies. She is responsible for fostering continuous improvement in teaching, student experiences, and educational programs through the use of development and learning theories. Her areas of focus include, among others, experiential learning, internationalizing curriculum, online learning, and educational technology innovations.

topics of interest to him include boundary layer turbulence over realistic rough surfaces, film cooling of gas turbine engines, pressure-sensitive paint, and development of new teaching methods in introductory mechanics courses. Dr. Johnson now works as a lecturer and lab manager in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE) at the University of Illinois. While remaining interested and active in the field of experimental fluid mechanics, he has chosen to spend most of his professional energy on improving the teaching of thermo/fluids laboratory courses through the development of engaging and intellectually-stimulating laboratory exercises, as well as improving introductory mechanics education and design courses in the MechSE department. AbstractUndergraduate mechanics laboratory classes have frequently been taught with a primary goal of demonstrating principles successfully through experimentation and a secondary goal of teaching proper experimental techniques, among others. Historically, this set of priorities has motivated laboratory courses to provide students with prescribed experimental methods, i.e. a "recipe" to follow. Because mechanics principles are already taught in the associated lecture portion of our mechanics classes, demonstration of them in the laboratory may be considered redundant. Research has demonstrated that labs which encourage active learning and inquiry promote the development of higher order skills and may lead to better preparation for future learning. This paper describes an intervention where lab sections were randomly assigned to either receive a recipe or to follow their own laboratory procedures. Results indicate that students who were required to utilize their own laboratory procedures outperformed students who received a recipe on their lab reports. Educational implications for these findings are discussed.

is currently pursuing a B.S. degree in Computer Science Statistics. Her research interests include natural language processing, data mining, and optimization algorithms.

His research interests include experimental fluid mechanics, measurement science, and engineering education. He oversees undergraduate laboratories in fluid mechanics, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer. Pedagogically, Dr. Johnson employs active learning, inquiry-based laboratory instruction, and any initiative that empowers students to do hands-on learning. Additional service interests include teaching and leadership training for graduate students, enhancing communication education for undergraduate engineering students, developing evidence-based design project team formation strategies, and improving engineering design curricula.

His research interests include experimental fluid mechanics, measurement science, and engineering education. He oversees undergraduate laboratories in fluid mechanics, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer. Pedagogically, Dr. Johnson employs active learning, inquiry-based laboratory instruction, and any initiative that empowers students to do hands-on learning. Additional service interests include teaching and leadership training for graduate students, enhancing communication education for undergraduate engineering students, developing evidence-based design project team formation strategies, and improving engineering design curricula.