A Comparison of Student Design Activity Preferences Before and After a Design-Based Wilderness Education Experience

Aikaterini (Katerina) Bagiati, Ph.D.: After graduating with a Diploma in Electrical and Computers Engineering and a Masters degree in Advanced Digital Communication Systems from Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, Katerina Bagiati was in 2008 one of the first graduate students to join the pioneer School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. In 2011 she acquired her Doctorate in Engineering Education, followed by a post-doctoral associate appointment within the MIT-SUTD Collaboration at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and she is currently a research scientist working at the MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the MIT Office of Digital Learning. She is actively involved in the development and the assessment related to MIT’s national and international educational projects and collaborations, and conducts research at the K12 and higher education levels, in the efficacy of innovative learning mechanisms and pedagogical approaches used in all initiatives mentioned above. Furthermore she collaborates with the team of engineers working on MIT’s edX platform and on the development of software modules that support teaching and learning. Dr. Bagiati’s research interests are in the areas of early engineering, STEM curriculum development and teacher training, and Design Based Learning