Cassie Wallwey, Ph.D.

Research Statement

Engineering culture is steeped in the tradition of being exclusive by ‘weeding-out’ students that are deemed "not good enough", but in order to educate the number of engineers to meet our society's rapidly growing need for STEM professionals, this model is unsustainable. My research interests, lines of inquiry, and outputs are driven by the belief that students should be the only ones to determine if engineering is the major for them, and it is our job as faculty to support students within and through their engineering education. My research areas focus on facilitating and promoting engineering student success and learning through inclusive environments and practices in engineering classrooms, and the means and mechanisms by which these goals are achieved.

Biography

Dr. Cassie Wallwey is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. Her research interests center on student-centered and inclusive learning practices and principles including student engagement in learning, feedback and assessment, self-regulation of learning, and student motivation. Cassie got her PhD in Engineering Education from Ohio State University and her MS and BS in Biomedical Engineering from Wright State University.

Selected Publications

Selected Peer Reviewed Journal Publications

Wallwey, C., Singer, A., Hall, L., Delaine, D., & Herman, J. (2024). Considering the Development and Evaluation of Engineers as Teachers. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, 14(3).  

Wallwey, C., Dringenberg, E., Braaten, B., Li, Y., & Kajfez, R. (2024). Engineering Identity and Smartness Identity as They Relate to Women’s Participation in Engineering. IEEE Transactions on Education.

Wallwey, C., & Kajfez, R. L. (2023). Quantitative research artifacts as qualitative data collection techniques in a mixed methods research study. Methods in Psychology, 8, 100115.  

Selected Conference Presentations

Wallwey, C., (2024, October) Centering Engineering Students’ Voices Through Course Syllabus Negotiations & Co-Creation. Paper presented at the 2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). IEEE. Washington, DC. 

Wallwey, C., & Gray, D. (2024, July), Students’ Self-Reported Self-Regulated Learning Skills Across a First-Year Engineering Program (Full Paper) Paper presented at 15th Annual First-Year Engineering Experience Conference (FYEE), Boston, Massachusetts. 10.18260/1-2—48633 

Wallwey, C., & Soledad, M., & Geary, C.* (2024, June), What Do Grades Mean? A Scoping Literature Review on Students’ Perceptions of Grades and Grading Practices. Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--48266 

Wallwey, C., Kramer, A., Kajfez, R., & Dringenberg, E. (2023, October). Exploring Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Changing Beliefs About Smartness in Engineering. In 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.   

Wallwey, C., Guanes, G., Milburn, T., & Grifski, J. (2022). Engineering and Exclusionary ‘Weed-Out’ Culture: A Framework for Exploring Literature for Meaning and Influence. In 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (pp. 10 pages). Minneapolis, MN: American Society for Engineering Education. Retrieved from https://peer.asee.org/41070  

Wallwey, C., & Milburn, T., & Morin, B. (2021, July), Scaffolding Technical Writing Within a First-Year Engineering Lab Experience [Paper & Presentation] 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. https://strategy.asee.org/37696  

Wallwey, C., & Kajfez, R. L. (2020, June), Exploring Literature on How Instructor Feedback Impacts STEM Student Motivation [Paper & Presentation] 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Online. 10.18260/1-2—34643 

Kramer, A., Wallwey, C., Thanh, G., Dringenberg, E. A., & Kajfez, R. (2019) A Narrative-Style Exploration of Undergraduate Engineering Students' Beliefs about Smartness and Identity [Paper & Presentation]. In Frontiers in Education Annual Conference. IEEE.   

Selected Publicly Published Pedagogical Activities

Wallwey, Cassie. 2024. "Using the 3-C's to Scope Design Problems in First-Year Engineering". Engineering Unleashed. Thursday, April 4, 2024. https://engineeringunleashed.com/card/4018   

Wallwey, Cassie and Kristina Kennedy. 2022. "Golden Nugget Activities for Teaching Engineering Design". Engineering Unleashed. Monday, April 25, 2022. https://engineeringunleashed.com/card/3100  

Morin, Brooke, Wallwey, Cassie, and Krista Kecskemety. 2021. "First-Year Engineering Learning Tool: Parsons Problems". Engineering Unleashed. Wednesday, January 13, 2021. https://engineeringunleashed.com/card/2215   

American Society for Engineering Education

Charles “Butch” & Joan Nunnally Outstanding Engineering Education Faculty Member Award - Presented in Spring 2025 

IEEE Benjamin J. Dasher Best Conference Paper Award - Presented at 2024 Frontiers in Education Conference 

2024 Engineering Unleashed Fellow Announced in September 2024 

ERM Apprentice Faculty Grant Awardee Presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition 

New Engineering Educators Division Best Diversity Paper Award - First Place - Presented at ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Wallwey, C. (PI 100%). $10,000. (2024-2025). Using the 3-C's to Scope Design Problems in First-Year Engineering. Engineering Unleashed Fellowship

Wallwey, C. (co-PI 33%), Soledad, M. (co-PI 33%), Newcomer, J. (co-PI 33%), Ortega Alvarez, J (co-PI 25%). $5,000. (2024-2025). Creating a Community & Strong Foundation for First-Generation Engineering Students. VT CETL Instructional Innovation Grant.

Clark-Douglas, T (co-PI 33%), Soledad, M. (co-PI 33%), & Wallwey, C. (co-PI 33%). $4,965. (2024). Harnessing the power of a UTA-Integrated Instructional Team through the use of feedback loops. VT CETL Large Classroom Teaching Grant.

Wallwey, C. (co-PI 25%), Gray, D. (co-PI 25%), Newcomer, J. (co-PI 25%), Ortega Alvarez, J (co-PI 25%). $4,425. (2023-2024). Evaluating the Integration of Self-Regulatory Skill Development into a First-Year Engineering Program Curriculum. VT CETL High Impact Teaching Grant.

Grohs, J.R. (PI 19%), Lord, J (co-PI 20%), Walz, A. (co-PI 19%), Dillard, D. (co-PI 14%), Davison, S. (co-PI 14%), & Wallwey, C. (co-PI 14%). $49,750. (2023-2025). Open Textbook, Problem Bank, and Assessment Environment for Mechanics of Materials. Virtual Library of Virginia. 

Wallwey, C. (co-PI 25%), Gray, D. (co-PI 25%), Chambers, B. (co-PI 25%), Ortega Alvarez, J (co-PI 25%). $1,000. (2023). A Stakeholder-based Exploration into the Needs of a Strong Engineering Foundation . VT CETL Instructional Innovation Grant.