Lecture and Community Dinner with Idalis Villanueva Alarcón
Content
This spring's Distinguished Scientist & Engineer Seminar Series lecture will be presented by Dr. Idalis Villanueva Alarcón, University of Florida Chair and Professor, Engineering Education Department.
Lecture & Community Dinner -- Our Students are Multimodal Learners
Thursday, February 26, 2026
Cape Cod Lounge
Dinner buffet will open ~6:15 pm
Dessert and interactive discussion ~7 pm
RSVP: https://umassamherst.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0TFzvE0oDSi9OJg
With the advent of AI and more sensing technologies, and changing student learning needs, multimodal educational tools and research may support both practitioners and researchers to understand how students learn in real-time and what is important to them in their learning. This talk will intertwine the speakers' experiences as an engineer, scientist, and educational researcher to discuss how she created methodologies around multimodal methods to study student learning in computing and engineering. She will introduce case studies that have used her multimodal framework to understand the real-time student experience in projects, active learning, and laboratory training. The end goal is to present the complex and oftentimes unseen factors that deter student engagement and performance. The talk will culminate with practical tips for institutions of higher education on how to support the students today and in the future.
Dr. Villanueva Alarcón joins us as part of the Distinguished Scientist and Engineer Seminar Series
There will also be a Technical Talk - How Lifelong Engineers are Formed prior to the dinner. Learn more here.
About Dr. Idalis Villanueva Alarcón:
Dr. Idalis Villanueva Alarcón is Chair and Professor in the Department of Engineering Education in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at the University of Florida. A White House Office of Science, Technology, & Policy presidential awardee (PECASE), she is a renowned national and international leader in engineering education research and practice with over 20 years of experience translating her research and honors into impactful practices that support and enhance the education and professional formation of engineers. She has earned numerous national and international awards and honours spanning professional organizations such as the National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineering (IEEE), and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).