Jacobs School faculty, student earn Integrity Awards

Four Jacobs School of Engineering faculty and one graduate student were named Integrity Champions at the UC San Diego 2021 Integrity Awards. They were among the nine recipients across campus honored for their substantial contributions to academic, research and professional integrity over the previous 12-month period. The event is organized by the Research Ethics Program and the Academic Integrity Office in collaboration with the Executive Vice-Chancellor's Office. 

Videos with each of the recipients, as well as a recording of the ceremony, are available here: https://academicintegrity.ucsd.edu/events/integrity-awards/index.html

 The Jacobs School’s Integrity Champions are:  

Stephanie Fraley, associate professor of bioengineering, was recognized for her work to maintain academic integrity during the remote teaching necessitated by the pandemic. She led the Department of Bioengineering’s transition to remote instruction, developing a range of streamlined material and approaches for the department to use. In her own courses, Fraley developed new teaching approaches that both promoted novel ways of learning, and simultaneously ensured that academic integrity could be maintained in the new remote learning environment.

  

Huihui Qi, assistant teaching professor of mechanical engineering, and Curt Schurgers and Saharnaz Baghdadchi, assistant teaching professors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, were recognized for their efforts to develop pedagogy to transition assessments in large courses from written to oral exams. While the switch was instigated by the move to remote learning, the faculty believe that oral exams actually allow more adaptive questions, more insightful and helpful feedback for students, and encourage a more thoughtful approach to academic integrity, and are developing plans to continue to use oral exams and other more authentic assessment methods even after a return to in-person learning, to enhance academic integrity in their large courses. Qi, Schurgers and Baghdadchi were also honored for volunteering considerable time to assist other faculty transition their courses and assessments to virtual.

  

Ross Turner, a Materials Science and Engineering PhD student, was recognized for serving as a mentor and role model for other students, demonstrating what it means to prioritize ethics and integrity in all his research and projects. Turner led a group of graduate students in developing, packaging and delivering at-home activity kits for students in San Ysidro Unified School District when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a transition to remote learning. He also served as a student voice as the Jacobs School transitioned to remote instruction, advocating for alternative testing schedules for students in different time zones. As an advocate for ethics and integrity, Turner was instrumental in organizing and providing graduate student feedback on initial draft's of the Jacobs School of Engineering's Research Ethics Initiative guidelines. He was also selected as a Science Policy Fellow through the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy program to dig into the policy implications of his scientific research on directed energy and high-energy lasers.