Faculty Spotlight - February 2023

College of Arts & Sciences: Faculty Spotlight Series

Dr. Mienie Roberts, Associate Professor of Mathematics,
Beck Family Senior Faculty Fellow

Presentation: February 21, 4:30 p.m.

Talk by Dr. Mienie Roberts

Location: Founders Hall, Bernie Beck Lecture Hall (Doors open at 4:15 p.m.)
All are welcome to attend. Appetizers and light refreshments will be served!

“Creating a Culture of STEM and Data Science Applications”

Dr. Roberts' talk will cover the evaluation study applied to the HSI "Creating a culture of STEM" grant and her recent publications in collaboration with Dr. Harvey's group on solar technologies. ”

Abstract:

A model to improve graduation rates of underrepresented groups in the STEM-fields.

The “Creating a culture of STEM”-HSI grant from the U.S. Department of Education aims to increase enrollment and success rates of underrepresented groups majoring in STEM-fields. The purpose of this study is to collect data from students enrolled in the STEM-fields at Temple College, some of which will transfer to Texas A&M University – Central Texas. The study implements a model to recruit underrepresented students into the STEM fields and adds additional support services to improve graduation rates. We discuss the evaluation study which will use a fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD). As a quasi-experimental design, a fuzzy RDD design provides an option that captures the advantages of the random assignment characteristic of a true experimental design, such as a randomized controlled trial (RCT), but allows for the deliberate assignment of students into groups based on using the College Student Inventory (CSI) Predictive Academic Difficulty (PAD) Score. We are currently in the second year of the five-year grant and will share updates on data collected and additional student services implemented at both institutions.
Phelps S., Roberts, M., Munguia, E., Wolf, M.

The application of statistical models to analyze cathodoluminescence data obtained from a photovoltaic cell.

We use the Shiny package in the R statistical analysis software to analyze data obtained from a scanning electron microscope’s image of a photovoltaic cell to characterize the lumenscence of the solar cells.

Mienie Roberts, Taylor Harvey, James Sullivan, & Aida Torabi. (2020). Analyze and visualize cathodoluminescence data obtained from images of a photovoltaic cell using the R language. Journal of Education and Social Development, 2020, 4(1), 18-24.
http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3961030

Aida Torabi, James Sullivan, Carey Reich, Melissa A. Wunch, Juan Alexandro Garcia, Claudia Beck, Amit H. Munshi, Tushar Shimpi, Mienie Roberts, Walajabad Sampath, and Taylor B.

Harvey. Quantitative Cathodoluminescence Mapping: A CdMgSeTe Thin-Film Case Study. ACS Omega 2022 7 (41), 36873-36879.
http://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c05640

Dr. Mienie Roberts is an Associate Professor in Mathematics in the Department of Science and Mathematics and a Beck family Senior Faculty Fellow. She is also a co-principal investigator on the HSI “Creating a culture of STEM”-grant in collaboration with Temple College. Her scholarship is characterized by applying data science principles to solar cell technologies and gene expressions in bladder cancer. Dr. Roberts is also the lead faculty member for the undergraduate mathematics programs. She received her Ph.D. from Kent State University in 2008.