Planning Grant to Establish the Center for Engineering Learning

University Of Akron, Akron OH

Investigators

Abstract

PROPOSAL NO.: 0230659 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Evans, Edward INSTITUTION NAME: University of Akron TITLE: Planning Grant to Establish the Center for Engineering Learning Abstract This planning grant presents a novel strategy for engaging teams comprised of faculty and students from engineering, education, and the sciences in structured collaborative learning of engineering and engineering pedagogy. Through collaboration between faculties of engineering and education, team design projects that involve pre-service elementary education students and engineers at the freshman through senior levels will be developed. Using planning grant funds, a working group will be formed to develop and pilot-test the multi-disciplinary team design project.. In the long run, the CEL will participate in developing 1) high quality teachers prepared to include engineering in the K-12 curriculum, 2) engineering faculty applying pedagogy, assessment and learning theory to engineering curriculum, and 3) a body of scholarship on how students learn engineering at every developmental level. Our approach is that multi-disciplinary team design projects, when effectively mentored by engineering and education faculty and practicing engineers, will increase students' engineering competency and improve pedagogy in undergraduate engineering. The development of the multidisciplinary team design project will be driven by the input of in-service teachers and faculty from the College of Education. The engineering content of the design project will come from the expertise and resources of academic and industrial engineers. The administrators and industrial advisor on the working group will address issues regarding institutional policy and industrial involvement, respectively. The starting point of our development will be the Vertically Integrated Team Design Project conducted in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Engineering design will be learned by solving an authentic engineering problem with a team of education students and engineers at all levels (students (freshman-senior), faculty, and industrial). Each team will be mentored by faculty members from education and engineering, a practicing engineer, and a teacher. In this planning grant activity, four teams will include pre-service elementary education teachers as active engineering members. Formative assessment of the project will be discussed and disseminated by all stakeholders within the working group. t our efforts will proceed at a rapid pace.