Darcie Christensen

Education

• B.S. Utah State University - Biological Engineering (2017)
• M.Eng. Utah State University - Environmental Engineering (2019)
• Ph.D. Utah State University - Engineering Education (2021)

Bio

Dr. Darcie Christensen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrated Engineering at Minnesota State University Mankato. She teaches for the Iron Range Engineering Program on the Mesabi Range College Campus in Virginia, MN.

Dr. Christensen received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Utah State University in the Summer of 2021. The title of her Dissertation is “A Mixed-Method Approach to Explore Student Needs for Peer Mentoring in a College of Engineering.”  During this dissertation research under a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, she focused specifically on students' peer mentoring needs, providing a foundation for the development of peer mentoring initiatives within a college of engineering.

Darcie holds a Master of Engineering degree in Environmental Engineering (2019) and Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Engineering (2017), both from Utah State University. She is passionate about student success and support, both inside and outside of the classroom. She also strongly believes that all people should take a water treatment class so you know how you get tap water and where it goes after it goes down the drain!

Outside of her formal studies, she was involved in many extracurricular activities such as Tau Beta Pi, Society of Women Engineers, Engineering Council and Engineering Ambassadors, which were some of her favorite and most valuable experiences in her education both in gaining experience and building relationships. They were also the activities that helped her most in learning to manage time and succeed academically. She also spent a lot of time yelling and cheering at Aggie sporting events. Her favorite season of the year is winter because there is nothing better than skiing Utah powder.

She enjoys hiking, baking, curling, celebrating food holidays, taking pictures, planning and going on trips, visiting National Parks, laughing, watching March Madness and HGTV, playing tennis and pickleball and spending time with family and friends.

Courses Taught

• ENGR 332 - Fluid Mechanics
• ENGR 336 - Thermodynamics.
• ENGR 431 - Heat Transfer
• ENGR 452 - Mass Transfer
• ENGR 452 or 457 - Fundamentals of Wastewater Treatment
• ENGR 451-479 - Literature Review in Egineering
• ENGR 457 - Introduction to Sustainable Engineering
• ENGR 301 - Design I

Research Interests

• Mentoring
• Peer Mentoring
• Advising
• Integrated Engineering
• Work-based learning
• Student Experience

Publications

• Darcie Christensen, Lauren Singelmann, and Emilie A. Siverling. Exploring the Motivation and Impact of an Alternative Grading Redesign in a Four-Semester Professionalism Sequence, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 21-24, 2026, Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Lauren Singelmann, Darcie Christensen, Catherine McGough Spence, Elizabeth Pluskwik, and Andrew Lillesve. Exploring the Motivation and Impact of an Alternative Grading Redesign in a Four-Semester Design Sequence, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 21-24, 2026, Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Ellen P. Thompson, Jack Elliott, Darcie Christensen. Work-in-Progress: Alumni & Employer Perceptions of Workplace Preparedness in Graduates of a Co-Op-Based Engineering Program, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 21-24, 2026, Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Justine Chasmar, Sarah Jane Grigg, and Darcie Christensen. Work in Progress: Preliminary Assessment of a Problem-Solving Think-Aloud Project using the PROCESS Framework, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 21-24, 2026, Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Cody Mann and Darcie Christensen. Defining the Supporting Roles of Facilitators in Project-Based and Work-Based Learning, International Research Symposium on Problem-Based Learning, November 17-21, 2025, Pretoria, South Africa.
• Lauren Singelmann, Catherine M. Spence, Darcie Christensen, and Ellen P. Thompson. Student and Faculty Perceptions of Standards-Based Grading in Undergraduate Engineering Courses, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 22-25, 2025, Montreal, Canada.
• Cody Mann, Darcie Christensen, Andrew Lillesve, and Luke Nyberg. The Complementary Relationship between Facilitators and Professors in a Practice-based Engineering Program, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 22-25, 2025, Montreal, Canada.
• Justine Chasmar, Sarah Jane Grigg, and Darcie Christensen. WIP: Scaffolding the Metacognitive Problem-Solving Process in an Undergraduate Engineering Peer-Review Project, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 22-25, 2025, Montreal, Canada.
• Jack Elliott, Darcie Christensen, Justine Chasmar, and Katie Scherf. Methods/Theory Research Brief: Findings from a Scoping Review of Social Network Analysis in Engineering Education, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 22-25, 2025, Montreal, Canada.
• Darcie Christensen, Cody Mann, Abigail Lauer, Aidan Wesley, and Idalis Villanueva Alarcón. Is it a Need or a Want? Perceptions of the Need for a Peer Mentor from Undergraduate Engineering Students Without One, European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), September 2-5, 2024, Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Edwin Marte Zorrilla, Idalis Villanueva Alarcón, Darcie Christensen, Jenefer Husman, and Matthew Charles Graham (2024). Unraveling the Nexus: Engineering Student Effort, Coding Protocols, and Academic Performance, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 23-26, 2024, Portland, Oregon.
• Darcie Christensen, Alexander Steven Victor Krummi, Arynn J. Lorentz, Cody Mann, Kaitlyn Mann, and Andrew Lillesve (2024). Preparing Students to Thrive in Industry: The Critical Role of a Learning Coach, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 23-26, 2024, Portland, Oregon.
• Lauren Singelmann, Darcie Christensen, Elizabeth Pluskwik, and Yuezhou Wang (2024). Validating the Use of Epistemic Network Analysis to Describe the Nature of Learning in Practice-Based Learning Settings, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 23-26, 2024, Portland, Oregon
• Darcie Christensen and Idalis Villanueva Alarcón (2023). Descriptions of Peer Mentors as told by Undergraduate Engineering Student Mentees, European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), September 11-14, 2023, Dublin, Ireland.
• Darcie Christensen, Lauren Singelmann, Cody Mann, Bart Johnson, and Ron Ulseth (2023). The Bell Academy: A Bridge Semester Where Engineering Students Transform Into Student Engineers Who Thrive in Industry Placements, European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), September 11-14, 2023, Dublin, Ireland.
• Darcie Christensen, Lauren Singelmann, Rob Sleezer, and Emilie A Siverling (2023). A Self-Study of Faculty Methods, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Oral Engineering Exams, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 25-28, 2023, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Lauren Singelmann, Yuezhou Wang, and Darcie Christensen (2023). A Self-Study of the IRE 5-Point Grading Scale for Promoting Growth-Mindset, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 25-28, 2023, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Darcie Christensen, Idalis Villanueva Alarcón, and Quinn Alessandro Corrigan (2023). What Makes an Effective Peer Mentor? Perceptions of Undergraduate Engineering Students During COVID-19, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 25-28, 2023, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Darcie Christensen and Idalis Villanueva Alarcón (2022). Peer Mentorship: Exploring the Unmet Needs of Current Mentees, European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), September 18-22, 2022, Barcelona, Spain.
• Darcie Christensen and Idalis Villanueva Alarcón (2022). What Do Undergraduate Engineering Students at the Onset of Emergency Hybrid Learning During COVID-19 Say About Peer Mentorship?, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 26-29, 2022, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Rebecca A. Bates, Catherine Spence, Darcie Christensen, Rob Sleezer, Jodi Nelson, Ryan Walerius, and Rachel M. Johnson (2022). An Integrated Engineering Model for Advising, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), June 26-29, 2022, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
• Matthew C. Graham, Jenefer Husman, Reinhard Pekrun, Idalis Villanueva, Darcie Christensen (2022). The Dynamic Experience of Taking an Exam: Ever Changing Cortisol and Expectancy for Success. British Journal of Educational Psychology.
• Idalis Villanueva, Jenefer Husman, Darcie Christensen, Kate Youmans, Md Tarique Hasan Khan, Paul Vicioso, Shawn Lampkins, and Matt Graham (2019). A Cross-disciplinary and Multi-modal Experimental Design for Studying Near-real-time Authentic Examination Experiences. Journal of Visualized Experiments, (151), https://doi.org/10.3791/60037.