Two academics from Cornell University in New York State recently visited Queen Mary to foster global partnerships in Engineering Educational Research.

Dr Folashade A. Taiwo was recently awarded one of the Cornell-QMUL Global Strategic Collaboration Awards to explore Collaborative Learning Environment. The collaborative vision includes developing inclusive teaching toolkits, co-creating student-staff support guides, and fostering long term international capacity building with Cornell University.

Thanks to this award, on Monday 10th March, the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) at Queen Mary University of London had the honour of hosting Dr Alexandra Werth, Assistant Professor at the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering (Cornell) and Dr Alexandra Coso Strong, Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Systems Engineering Program (Cornell). They led a presentation and workshop discussing reflections on Engineering Educational Research from Cornell’s perspective, followed by a workshop on Collaborative Learning Environments with an emphasis on experiences related to group based projects and teamwork.

Dr Werth and Dr Coso Strong shared the current state of engineering educational research at Cornell University, presenting a variety of engaging projects and recent research findings from their respective groups. The workshop facilitated insightful discussions on student experiences with group conflicts and explored ways to provide staff support. Conducted in a hybrid format, the session allowed colleagues from our Chinese campus to attend and actively participate.

We sincerely thank Dr Werth and Dr Coso Strong for their visit and for sharing their valuable insights, which have undoubtedly enriched our academic community and opened avenues for future scholarship partnerships.