About

Dr. Sarah Jayasekaran (Dr. J) is an Instructional Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and her M.S. in Structural Engineering from the University of Florida, and her Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Anna University, Chennai. Born and raised in Chennai, India, she came to the United States to pursue her passion for teaching. Her teaching goals include fostering a supportive learning environment and helping students succeed and persist in the field of engineering. Her research interests include engineering education, leadership, and the application of smart concepts in educational settings. Dr. J is also passionate about animal rescue and welfare, and she enjoys devoting time to fitness and mindfulness.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Mathematics education
• Medical education
• Engineering
• Psychology
• Multimedia

Selected publications

• Exploring the Impact of Class Start Times on Student Engagement and Academic Performance in Second-Year Engineering Courses

  2025-08-21

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Visualizing and Modeling a Growth Mindset in an STEM design course

  2025-08-21

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Systematized Literature Review of “Work-Life Balance” and “Women” in Engineering

  2025-11-02

  articleSenior author

  Contributions: This research-to-practice article explores the ongoing challenges of work-life balance in academia, especially for women in engineering who must navigate demanding expectations across research, teaching, service, and personal responsibilities. Background: This systematized literature review examines how the concepts of “work-life balance,” “women,” and “engineering” intersect in existing scholarship. Methodology: Using targeted title-level searches in Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest, we identified and analyzed seven relevant peer-reviewed studies. Thematic analysis revealed three key findings: (1) institutional and social support for women engineers is often inconsistent and insufficient; (2) the negotiation of work and personal life continues to impact psychological well-being and career retention; and (3) structural barriers limit women's empowerment and access to leadership. Though most literature focuses on industry contexts and non-U.S. settings, the insights offer actionable guidance for academic environments. Conclusions: We propose institutional responses that include auditing support structures, reframing work-life policies, and re-imagining academic success to promote equity and sustainability. Our findings call for collective responsibility rather than an individual burden.

  PublisherDOI

• Impact of Extra Credit for Practice Questions on Programming Students’ Participation and Performance

  2024-02-07 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Dr. Anwar has over 13 years of teaching experience, primarily in the disciplines of engineering education, computer science and software engineering.Her research focuses on studying the unique contribution of different instructional strategies on students' learning and motivation

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Discussing the Impact on Student Learning Experiences in a Renovated Technical Drawing (AutoCAD) Course Using an Online Delivery Format

  2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings · 2024-02-20 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract This work in progress paper aims to compare the student learning experiences before and after an innovative online platform was initiated. Computer-aided design (CAD) was the test case in this research paper. To ensure that the online platform provides the students with the same quality classes as the traditional classroom the course has to be structured to meet the quality standards. Quality matters at the University of Florida is the resource used to ensure that best practices in learning are being implemented. The elements of UF+QM Rubric matters rubric was used to provide the students with an effective learning experience. The various elements used were factors which focus on 1) Preparing for Success 2) Guiding Students and Their Learning & 3) Teaching Effectively Online The online platform used to deliver the course has been canvas. The course shell was modified from the previous semester (Summer 2020) to meet the elements of the UF+QM Rubric. To create an effective online platform (Fall 2020), it takes a lot of planning and innovative organization. This work in progress will focus on the element of making Teaching Effectively Online and the measure the impact of this reformed creative platform on student engagement and student learning. The element was selected as new events led to Universities transitioning to online learning. Apart from meeting the standards of the UF+QM Rubric, the course shell was organized in an innovative fashion to provide explicit directions, learning path & weekly directions to students. The objective of this paper is to compare the impact on the learning outcomes of the course before this transition and after this transition. The impact of this transition on student learning will be gauged by evaluating the overall performance of the course.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Sasha: A Narrative of a Learning Journey of an Instructor

  2024-10-13

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Contribution: The American dream leads many immigrants to transfer from many countries to the United States of America in hopes of better education, jobs, and resources. United States of America is known for its opportunities, ambitions, and adventurous possibilities. However, besides the American dream, the land poses many challenges to all international immigrants, specifically students and faculty members, who work hard to find their place in society and culture. Background: This research paper contributes to understanding the immigrant experience through Sasha's story. This is worth telling and reading as her perspectives are unique due to her identity as a Christian minority from India, a woman of color, a first-generation engineering student, and an international student, teacher, and researcher with no existing connection or community support in the United States. Besides the unique aspects, these experiences may provide many accounts shared in many other journeys that often remain unheard and unseen. This paper presents a story highlighting some aspects of this journey using a lived narrative experience of a South-Asian girl, Sasha (pseudonym). This paper is an inspirational story of a young girl who journeys from a large south-Asian country to the United States to find opportunities and her place. This narrative describes her ambitions, resilience, and perseverance in three roles: student, teaching track professor, and researcher. The story weaves her inspirations, motivations, challenges, and mitigation in all these roles. Research Questions: The paper addresses two research questions: 1) What are Sasha's main challenges as a woman of color, graduate student, instructor, researcher, and professor? 2) From Sasha's perspective, what has helped Sasha overcome these challenges? Methodology: The paper uses Sasha's recorded self-reflections as the main accounts of her story. She maintained regular journals of her journey, and they will be the primary source of data for this study. In her journals, Sasha expressed her emotions, struggles, issues, mitigation, and coping strategies. She also expressed and celebrated her successes during the entire journey. Findings: Using Sasha's reflections and the following narrative inquiry, we will present this journey to new faculty and researchers so they can relate to and adapt to her success, struggles, and emotions.

  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of In-person Instruction on Student Performance Using a STEM Technical Design Course

  2024-08-04

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract There has been a comprehensive shift in our instruction modalities in the last few years. Instructors modified and improvised their course materials and methods of teaching to accommodate the effects of the pandemic, which brought the world to a standstill. This study investigates how in-person instruction influences student performance in a scenario where all instructional materials are provided online. Since the pandemic, the instruction modes have transitioned rapidly from in-person to online to hybrid to in-person again. Students have been exposed to the benefits of online modes, rendering coming to class rather pointless. In this study, we will observe how students' presence in the class changed over time during the 15-week semester. Data is collected from Fall 2022, Spring 2023, and Fall 2023 STEM courses. The data will include their attendance and performance in exams, labs, and visualization exercises. This study is a timely need because it will focus on the Impact of student presence in a STEM classroom on students' performances. For this year-long study, we will use different statistical techniques, such as the Pearson correlation and regression analysis, to understand the relationship between students' attendance in class and their performance. Repeated measures of ANOVA will be conducted to understand the trends of students' class attendance and performance. The full paper will describe the results of this analysis and provide evidence of the Impact of in-person attendance on students' performance. The full paper will discuss the results with implications, limitations, and future direction of the study.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Relationship of Students' Engagement with Learning Management System and their Performance- An Undergraduate Programming Course Perspective

  2024 · 10 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Multimedia

  The Covid-19 pandemic forced the closures of universities across the United States, resulting in multiple modes of instruction.These transitions required both students and instructors to adequately use educational technology tools and applications.Most instructors used a learning management system (e.g., Canvas, Blackboard) and an online conference tool (e.g., Zoom, Teams) to ensure students' access to course material, class participation, and engagement.In the new normal time, although the in-person classes started in many universities, the hybrid of Hyflex mode (i.e., students in both in-person and on zoom sessions) is more prevalent.Students and instructors find educational technology tools as an easier way to disseminate the course information (e.g., videos), material (e.g., course videos, study guides, and notes), and assessments (e.g., quizzes).Considering the reliance on technology tools, it is crucial to understand the relationships between students' application engagement and performance.This paper examined the relationship between students' engagement with an educational Learning Management System (LMS) and their performance.In addition, we also evaluated the way students' engagement with the LMS changed over time during a semester (15 weeks).For this purpose, we collected the data from two sections, 84 students of the introductory engineering programming (MATLAB) course.For students' engagement with the LMS (Canvas in this case), we collected the timestamps each week, indicating the number of hours spent by each student on the LMS.As the timestamps were cumulative, we collected the data at the end of each week at the same time and calculated the weekly time spent by each student on the LMS.We used students' performance scores in two exams for students' performance.We used Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis for this semester-long study to understand the relationship between students' engagement with the LMS and students' performance.We also conducted the repeated measures ANOVA to understand the trends of students' engagement with the LMS.The study results bring an interesting perspective indicating a significant relationship between students' app engagement in three weeks and programming parts of exam1 and four weeks on the programming part of exam2.Although instructor-based variations were significant in PartII of both exams, app engagement significantly predicted exam2 and PartII of exam1.The paper discusses these results with course content, limitations, and future directions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Identifying Factors That Influence Engineering Students' Outcome Expectancy and Learning Self-Efficacy in a Flipped CS1 Course

  2024-02-07 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Dr. Anwar has over 13 years of teaching experience, primarily in the disciplines of engineering education, computer science and software engineering. Her research focuses on studying the unique contribution of different instructional strategies

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The impact of different modes of instruction and its impact on students' performance during Covid-19 in an AutoCAD Design Course

  2024-02-06 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  In this Work in progress (WIP) study, we discuss the impact of the comprehensive shift in the modes of instruction since the onset of Covid-19.The need for variant modes required the instructors to be creative and flexible in their teaching methods.The designers of the engineering courses had to be creative to retain student attention and add flexibility based on changing needs.This research study was a timely need as it identifies the impact of various modes of instruction, i.e., emergency remote instruction (ERI), online instruction, and HyFlex (Hybrid+flexible) through a technical design course.The evaluation of varying methods of instruction and their impact on learning and student performance is a timely necessity.This study statistically analyzes the implication of the changes in instruction modalities, which happened to make imparting education a possibility.In this paper, we have studied the relationship between student performances and the modes of instruction.For this purpose, data has been collected throughout different semesters from 236 students in an AutoCAD design course.For this year-long study, we have used regression analysis to understand the impact of the different modes of instruction on students' performances.We also conducted ANOVA to compare the mean difference in students' performance during different modalities.The results indicate that students in emergency remote instruction (ERI) outperform students in online instruction and HyFlex (Hybrid+flexible) modality.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Saira Anwar

  University of Florida

  50 shared

• Syeda Fizza Ali

  University at Buffalo, State University of New York

  16 shared

• G. Pitts

  University of Florida

  9 shared

• Umer Farooq

  9 shared

• Ashish Aggarwal

  University of Florida

  9 shared

• Fazil Najafi

  University of Florida

  8 shared

• Kwansun Cho

  University of the Punjab

  4 shared

• Nick Safai

  Salt Lake Community College

  4 shared