Karin Jeanne Jensen

About

Karin Jeanne Jensen is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Bioengineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Biological Engineering from Cornell University. Her research focuses on education in Biomedical Engineering, with primary interests in engineering education and systems engineering principles in signal transduction and cell-fate choice. Jensen has contributed to the development and implementation of laboratory exercises and practicals in bioengineering education, including virtual cell culture labs and enzyme kinetics measurements. She has been actively involved in professional societies such as the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), serving in roles related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jensen has received multiple teaching honors, including the ASEE Biomedical Engineering Division Teaching Award and being listed as a Teacher Ranked as Excellent multiple times. Her scholarly work includes research on drug discovery, cancer biology, and systems pharmacology, with a notable focus on engineering education within biomedical engineering.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Mechanical engineering
• Sociology
• Social Science
• Aerospace engineering
• Computer network
• Engineering management
• Multimedia
• Psychology

Selected publications

• Engineering stress culture: Relationships among mental health, engineering identity, and sense of inclusion

  Journal of Engineering Education · 2021-04-01 · 218 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Background Stress is commonly experienced by college students, especially engineering students. However, the role of stress within engineering culture and its implications for engineering programs have not been fully explored in the literature. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this study was to measure and examine the relationships among self‐reported stress, anxiety, and depression; engineering identity; and perceptions of inclusion of undergraduate engineering students. Design/Method…

  PublisherDOI

• Undergraduate student perceptions of stress and mental health in engineering culture

  International Journal of STEM Education · 2023-04-24 · 91 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Background: Mental health for engineering undergraduates is an urgent topic for engineering educators. Narratives of engineering education requiring suffering may create or exacerbate problematic perceptions around stress and mental health in engineering. This study explored the roles of stress and mental health in engineering culture. We sought to explore: (1) how engineering students describe their experiences related to stress and mental health and (2) norms and expectations engineering stude…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Time is Now to Build a Culture of Wellness in Engineering

  Studies in Engineering Education · 2021-06-11 · 42 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Prior to the rapid onset of COVID-19, higher education faced a mental health crisis. The COVID-19 outbreak both created and exacerbated stressors for students, with early evidence suggesting that the pandemic has had a significant negative impact on student mental health. The response of the engineering education community to adapt instruction during the pandemic has demonstrated our ability to quickly adapt and reimagine engineering education to protect student physical health. What can we lear…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Engineering professor perceptions of undergraduate engineering student stress

  European Journal of Engineering Education · 2024-07-15 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Engineering professors are well positioned to support their undergraduate students, who often experience diminished mental health. This paper examines engineering professors' perceptions of their undergraduate engineering students' experiences of stress. The described perceptions include when they notice student stress, which stressors they perceive, and supports that these students use. In this qualitative study, we interviewed 24 engineering professors and four career advisors at 18 institutio…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Stressors and normalized stress in undergraduate engineering education culture: development of the Engineering Stress Culture Scale and Undergraduate Engineering Stressors Questionnaire

  International Journal of STEM Education · 2025-03-24 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Background Undergraduate engineering students report increased rates of mental health distress. Evidence suggests that these students experience high stress, which can perpetuate mental health challenges. Further, engineering students may engage in help-seeking and self-care activities more rarely than students in other disciplines. We hypothesize the existence of a culture of high stress that is normalized and expected by undergraduate engineering students. We leveraged interviews prev…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Workshop proposal: Building Foundations for Engineering Faculty in Engineering Education Research

  NSF · $68k · 2020–2023

• EAGER Collaborative Proposal: Building a Community of Mentors in Engineering Education Research Through Peer Review Training

  NSF · $83k · 2020–2023

• CAREER: Supporting Undergraduate Mental Health by Building a Culture of Wellness in Engineering

  NSF · $351k · 2020–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Joseph Mirabelli

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  83 shared

• Lisa Benson

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  57 shared

• Kelsey Watts

  University of Virginia

  56 shared

• Rebecca Bates

  Minnesota State University, Mankato

  55 shared

• Gary Lichtenstein

  Arizona State University

  55 shared

• Andrea Kunze

  Delta State University

  48 shared

• Kelly Cross

  Communications Technology Laboratory

  48 shared

• Evan Ko

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  43 shared

Awards & honors

• ASEE Biomedical Engineering Division Teaching Award (2020)
• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (15 times) (2015, 2016,…
• NSF CAREER Award (2019)
• Scholar Award, Women In Cancer Research (WICR), American Ass…
• Scholar Award, ARCS Foundation (2012)

Similar researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• Shuming Nieh-128
• Yi Luh-117
• Stephen Bopparth-98