Cheryl Beauchamp, Ph.D.

Bio

Before working in academia, Dr. Cheryl Beauchamp worked professionally in many areas of computer science, enabling her to bring varied experiences to her students. She has written programs for the banking industry, designed software systems for the military, and managed online solution projects for major newspaper corporations.

Beauchamp’s transition to educator stems from her children’s love of LEGO bricks. She is also involved in NSF-funded research in Engineering Education programs to further student interests in engineering and STEM. Switching careers was her answer to God’s calling on her life; that decision reflects the happiness and fulfillment she experienced when saying yes to God’s plans.

Beauchamp’s faith and relationship with God are her centers, and she and her family are active members of their Catholic Church community. Her current hobbies include community outreach efforts to promote student engagement in STEM, Computer Science and Cybersecurity. She also enjoys knitting, cooking, robotics, and reading.

Credentials

Ph.D.:

• Engineering Education, Virginia Tech University

Master’s:

• Education, Regent University
• Computer Science, George Mason University

Bachelor’s, Notre Dame University of Maryland:

• Physics
• Computer Science
• Mathematics (minor)

Publications

• Beauchamp, C. and Matusovich, H. M. (2024). A mixed-method study exploring student motivation participating in cybersecurity CTF competitions. Cybersecurity Pedagogy and Practices Journal
• Beauchamp, C. and Matusovich, H. M. (2023). A mixed-method study exploring cyber ranges and educator motivation. Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice
• Vicente, S., Beauchamp, C., Hall, J.L., Matusovich, H. M., Carrico, C., & Adams, S. G. (2023). The glue in leadership: Investigating how women leaders in engineering education value people and connections. International Journal of Engineering Education
• Beauchamp, C. and Matusovich, H. M. (2023). Educational Cyber Ranges: A mixed-method study of significant learning experiences using cyber ranges for cybersecurity education. Cybersecurity Pedagogy and Practices Journal
• Kouo, J. L., Dalal, M., Lee, E., Berhane, B. Emiola-Owolabi, O., Ladeji-Osias, J., Beauchamp, C., Reid, K. J., Klein-Gardner, S. S., & Carberry, A. (2023). Understanding the impact of professional development for a cohort of teachers with varying prior teaching and engineering experience. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research
• Dalal, M., Klein-Gardner, S. S., Kouo, J., Reid, K., Beauchamp, C., O’Neal, B, Lopez-Roshwalb, J.R., & Pines, D.J. (2021). Stereotypes and implicit biases in engineering education: Will students need to “Whistle Vivaldi”? The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) Conference
• Reid, K., Ladeji-Osias, J. K., Beauchamp, C., Dalal, M., Griesinger, T., and Eagle, E. E. (2020). Design by thread: The e4usa engineering for us all curriculum. Proceedings of 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference
• Berhane, B., Dalal, M., Klein-Gardner, S., Carberry, A., Reid, K., Beauchamp, C., Kouo, J., & Pines, D. (2020). Understanding the ‘us all’ in Engineering 4 Us All through the experiences of high school teachers. The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) Conference
• Kouo, J., Dalal, M., Berhane, B., Emiola, O., Ladeji-Osias, J.K., Reid, K., Beauchamp, C., Carberry, A., & Klein-Gardner, S. (2020). WIP: Initial investigation of effective teacher professional development among experienced and no-experienced engineering teachers. 2020 American Society for Engineering Education Virtual Annual Conference Experience.
•  Reid, K., Dalal, M. & Beauchamp, C. (2020). A music teacher teaches engineering and uses CAD: A case study. In D. Schmidt-Crawford (Ed.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 1311-1316). Online: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
•  Beauchamp, C. L., Edwards, C. D., Lee, W. C., Knight D. B., & Young Collins, G. D. (2019). Exploring student perceptions of teamwork in a summer outreach program. Proceedings of the 2^nd Annual Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) Conference, Arlington, VA

Affiliations

• Computer Science Teacher Association, Member
• American Society of Engineering Education, Member
• Association for Computing Machinery, Member

Awards

• Best Cybersecurity Paper Award, Information Systems & Computing Academic Professionals Conference, 2023
• Bevlee Artis Watford Outstanding Dissertation Award, Virginia Tech, 2023
• Meritorious Paper Award, Education Special Interest Group Conference, 2022
• Nomination for Graduate School’s Outstanding Dissertation Award, Virginia Tech School of Engineering, 2022
• The Dean's Faculty Award, Regent University’s College of Arts & Sciences, 2022
• Outstanding Green STEM Curriculum Design Award, Pitsco Education, 2014

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• STEM, Engineering, Computer Science and Cybersecurity Teaching Pedagogy
• Group Work Skill Development in Technology
• Female Persistence in STEM, Engineering, Computer Science, and Cybersecurity Education

Teaching Philosophy

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." - Albert Einstein

My life has been a daily testament that God is truly good! I am grateful to be his instrument to promote STEM studies. Our department mission is to graduate students as responsible users, designer, and promoters of modern technology in a manner that is Christ-centered. My ultimate goal is to inspire students to continue to seek and love knowledge and understanding; to wake every day and say, "I can't wait to learn something new today!" I strive to motivate them to search for answers and solutions not only through technical but also spiritual lens and to challenge aspects that are not aligned with the Word of God.

"Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why." - Baruch, Bernard M.