Andrea Goncher
· PhD Instructional Associate ProfessorVerifiedUniversity of Florida · English
Active 2009–2025
About
Andrea Goncher, PhD, is an Instructional Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at the University of Florida. Her primary affiliations include the University of Florida Engineering Education Office. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech, an M.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in Mathematics from Duquesne University. Her teaching areas focus on Engineering Education, Human-Centered Design, and Systems Engineering. Her research areas include Engineering Education and Text Analytics.
Research topics
- Computer Science
- Sociology
- Political Science
- Engineering
- Mechanical engineering
- Industrial engineering
- Engineering ethics
- Systems engineering
- Manufacturing engineering
- Engineering management
- Business
- Mathematics
Selected publications
2025-11-02
articleThis full research paper examines how a short 1.5-hour microelectronics workshop can influence students' experiential identity, interest, and self-efficacy in microelectronics, with a focus on gender composition in classroom settings. The microelectronics industry is critical to modern technologies, and the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 underscores the need for a diverse domestic workforce. However, women remain underrepresented in STEM fields, which may affect their educational experiences and long-term career persistence. Using a quasiexperimental design, this study explored two research questions: [RQ1] Can a short 1.5-hour microelectronics workshop influence participants' Experiential Identity, Interest, and Self-Efficacy in microelectronics? [RQ1.1] Is this influence differential for women and men? [RQ2] Does classroom composition affect the influence of the workshop on women's Experiential Identity, Interest, and Self-Efficacy in microelectronics? Thirty-three undergraduate students were randomly assigned to classrooms with varying gender composition. Results indicated overall improvements in experiential identity, interest, and self-efficacy, with the most significant gains among participants in classrooms with adequate female representation. In the Women-Represented (WR) classroom, women showed the largest increases in experiential identity (82.35%) and self-efficacy (50%), with a smaller positive change in interest <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(0.0089 \%)$</tex>. In the Mixed-Male-Represented (MMR) classroom, gains were more modest and there was no change in interest, suggesting peer composition matters. These findings align with Social Cognitive Career Theory, highlighting the importance of successful learning experiences in fostering self-efficacy and interest. The study demonstrates the value of short-term interventions and the role of gender composition in shaping equitable outcomes in microelectronics education.
2025-08-21
article2025-11-02
article1st authorCorrespondingThis full research paper examines the persistence of design fixation among engineering students participating in a global design thinking and cultural communication study abroad program. Design thinking encourages creative problemsolving across contexts; however, students often struggle to explore a broader solution space and revert to solutions and culturally ingrained design biases. The goal of this research is to explore whether immersion in a cross-cultural design environment helps students overcome design fixation.
2024-02-07
articleOpen accessSenior authorEngineering students need to be trained to deal with complex engineering problems and be capable of developing solutions that meet the needs of stakeholders at different levels, from direct users to regulation entities. Stakeholder awareness is defined as a construct concerning the ability to identify and include relevant stakeholders. A successful engineer should be able to identify various stakeholders, understand their roles, and effectively communicate with them to facilitate the identification and implementation of possible solutions. Therefore, it is important to foster the development of such skills in an introductory engineering design course. The aim of our study reported in this paper is to assess students' level of stakeholder awareness skills and identify the area(s) of development (gaps). The results provide us with insights to develop effective teaching strategies to address these gaps.
2024-10-13
article1st authorCorrespondingThis research-to-practice WIP paper reports on a study that explores the comparison between two different exposures to microelectronics in engineering and computer science classrooms. Career choices for the semiconductor sectors are critical, as there is a current shortage of a trained workforce, with legislation such as the CHIPS Act supporting this need. Microelectronics have been introduced to the classrooms with the objective of more hands-on experience, using the best instructional practices. However, using microelectronics in the classroom may affect students' learning outcomes and their career choices. Therefore, in this paper we use Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), to understand how exposure to microelectronics, and self-efficacy in computing tasks affects the interest of students in learning more about microelectronics. We found that longer exposure to microelectronics was correlated with a lower interest with microelectronics, potentially explained by the experiences of students with longer projects and troubleshooting. In addition, we found that most students felt comfortable solving computational problems, and that prior experience with microelectronics did not correlate with higher interest.
WIP: Assessing Baseline Systems Thinking in an Introductory Engineering Design Course
2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings · 2024 · 2 citations
- Computer Science
- Manufacturing engineering
- Computer Science
Prior to her current position, Mengyu worked as a product developer at a manufacturing company, where she was able to apply ISE principles and knowledges in an industrial setting. This work resulted
2024-08-04 · 1 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingAbstract One key process of Systems Design is goal formulation. It should be conducted with consideration of short- and long-term goals from both technical and contextual aspects. To be competitive in professional practice, engineering graduates should be able to engage in and complete such activities with a high level of competency. In our study, first year engineering students were asked to engage in a scenario-based task with goal formulation activities. Results from this study contribute to the development of effective teaching strategies to educate engineering students in their development of Systems Thinking Skills. Study participants were tasked to complete a scenario-based assessment proposed by Grohs, et al. (2018) that focuses on systems thinking and problem-solving by responding to a scenario. The scenario prompts (Prompt 5 and 6) asked students to formulate goals for a specific issue. Data was collected electronically and analyzed using qualitative coding methods by applying the assessment tool rubric to evaluate students' ability to identify both short-term and long-term goals from both technical and contextual aspects. We rated their answers on the expectations of a successful plan and a draft idea of it, which according to the authors, elicits students' goal formulation skills. Results show that when given design constraints (e.g., budget) and instructions (Prompt 6), more participants properly formulated their goals with consideration of short- and long-term plans from both technical and contextual aspects. However, the percentage dropped when the information was not provided, and the participants had to make reasonable assumptions (Prompt 5). The majority of the participants managed to formulate long-term goals. The findings demonstrate that most engineering students recognize that systems change and evolve with time, therefore the importance of addressing the changing problems with short- and long-term goals. However, many of them need scaffolding to assist their goal formulation activities, such as design constraints and guidelines. Systems engineering educators might consider teaching contents that would train students to gather necessary information and build scaffolding on their own through the goal formulation activities.
2024-02-06
articleAbstract Engineering Design & Society is a multidisciplinary course focused on hands-on learning through human-centered design (HCD) principles intended for first-year engineering students. The course is held in a makerspace-like classroom, where engineering students learn to use basic prototyping tools and methods. The course begins with two weeks on HCD, then six weeks of learning various prototyping technical skills, followed by a final six weeks of integrating these skills while working as teams to research, design, and build a functional physical prototype to address a human-centered societal need. HCD principles are threaded throughout the course and students engage with a HCD process to create the final prototype designs. Student teams prepare formal design reports and give presentations on their functional prototypes. This work focuses on an analysis of student perceptions of the value they attributed to various ideation and prototyping tools utilized in the introductory engineering design course. The central research question for this exploratory work is: What design course ideation and prototyping tools helped students understand the engineering profession best? The primary ideation tools covered in class included: Flowcharts, Decision Matrix, Empathy Mapping Tool, Engineering Design Notebooks, and Team Markerboards. The prototyping tools used in the class included: Arduino Starter Kits, Tinkercad Circuits Software, Onshape Solid Modeling Software, 3D Printers, and Hand Tools/Power Tools. This exploratory study used multi-method approaches to explore first quantitatively, which ideation tools and prototyping tools students ranked as being most important to facilitating learning about engineering in this introductory design course. Then, written reflective responses examined students' qualitative descriptions and feedback to help clarify their reasoning behind their ranking choices. This exploratory study sheds light into how introductory engineering design course ideation and prototyping tools could influence students' perceptions.
2024-02-06 · 1 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingHe teaches professional skills like systems thinking, design thinking, problem-solving and algorithmic thinking.Dr
The Role and Use of Theory in Engineering Education Research
Routledge eBooks · 2023 · 6 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Political Science
- Sociology
- Engineering ethics
This chapter discusses the role of theory in engineering education research (EER) and elaborates upon the utility of using theory and related underpinnings, such as paradigms and concepts, in EER. The chapter is targeted towards newcomers as well as existing scholars within EER so that they can better use theory and discuss theoretical developments. To shed light on recent developments in the use of theory within EER, an empirical analysis is undertaken of a small dataset that includes dissertations and research projects in the field in the past decade. Subsequently, three theories – social cognitive career theory, situated learning, and intersectionality – that are commonly used within EER, each one corresponding with either the postpositivist, interpretivist, or critical paradigms, are discussed. Finally, the use of the theories in research is illustrated through exemplar case studies. Throughout the chapter, external resources are suggested and readers are encouraged to refer to other chapters in the handbook that discuss and use theories to learn more.
Frequent coauthors
- 40 shared
Mengyu Li
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
- 22 shared
Wageeh Boles
Queensland University of Technology
- 20 shared
John Mendoza-Garcia
University of Florida
- 16 shared
J. Mendoza
Purdue University System
- 13 shared
Aditya Johri
George Mason University
- 9 shared
Dhammika Jayalath
- 7 shared
Sam Cunningham
Queensland University of Technology
- 3 shared
Lalantha Senevirathna
Charles Sturt University
Education
- 2015
Ph.D., Engineering Education
University of Florida
- 2011
M.S., Engineering Education
University of Florida
- 2009
B.S., Mechanical Engineering
University of Florida
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Andrea Goncher
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup