Creating Effective Future Faculty in Engineering

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

Interdisciplinary(99) This project is developing a new innovative program to develop future faculty in engineering with practical training to be more effective educators. The core of the proposed program is based on efforts in a newly developed and popular program called the Minor in Engineering Studies (MES). The project creates teams of effective faculty to train, mentor, and evaluate a select group of graduate students to teach classes in the MES program. The combination of intensive mentoring by well trained faculty and instruction in current effective teaching techniques ensures that graduate students are poised to become top educators in engineering. The MES program is designed and implemented to provide technological literacy to non-engineering students. The main objective of the MES program is providing the concepts and ideas of engineering and technology to students with non-technical backgrounds. The MES uses a contextual approach (e.g., learning electrical engineering by investigating how a cell phone works)that makes engineering relevant to the daily lives of non-engineering students. The classes are non-mathematical and are focused on applications, conceptual understanding, and big-picture items. The classes have no prerequisite and build on high school algebra. Effective and successful faculty participate in the program as representatives of the best resources in providing guidance, mentorship, and special lectures to help strengthen graduate educators' teaching skills and help them become more effective educators. The project models the effective use of expertise and training to ensure that future generations of well trained engineers and non-engineers have an understanding of engineering technology.