Catalyzing a Research Agenda for Enhancing Engineering Education through Institutional Collaborations

Franklin W. Olin College Of Engineering, Needham MA

Investigators

Abstract

Research on effective engineering pedagogy has shown that active learning approaches can be more effective than traditional lecture based approaches for a broad diversity of students not only in the classroom but also throughout an engineering graduate's career. A greater understanding of approaches to engineering pedagogy across the spectrum of engineering programs is thus necessary in order impact retention and graduation of all engineering students. How to take best advantage of evidence based research and approaches to engineering education is institution, faculty, and course dependent. Addressing these issues is particularly timely as large institutions look to restructure their curricula to respond to increasingly tight economic constraints and demands for greater student accessibility, and small institutions consider the long-term viability of higher-cost, residential learning and changing models of credentialing with industrial and societal expectations. This knowledge would be beneficial not only for institutions of higher education, but federal and state entities that support higher education as well as employers of engineers. The proposed workshop will bring together a group of thought leaders from various institutions to develop a research agenda for creating productive collaborations between small, predominantly undergraduate institutions and large institutions with broad educational and research missions. The goal of this workshop is to develop a viable research plan that can frame how these diverse institutions can effectively impact engineering education. Questions being considered are: How to scale, adapt and transfer best practices? What are the roles of differing types of institutions in engineering education research and innovation? How can engineering education research at all institutions be enhanced? The workshop will build a functional "network of networks" through institutions that participate in the workshop. Each of the institutions invited to the workshop have their own stakeholder communities that support their efforts in engineering education, and this workshop should facilitate productive communication and collaboration among them, including with industry. Ultimately, the workshop has the potential to be a catalyst in identifying and shaping a new global agenda for engineering curricula. Change and innovation efforts, at both small and large institutions, have merit within individual educational missions. What is lacking are opportunities for leaders from various institutions to share directly what works best (as well as what does not work so well) and to consider the bi-directional scalability and adaptability between institutions in the face of differing constraints. The workshop will provide the framework for the development of a more impactful engineering education research agenda that acknowledges the diversity of types and sizes of institutions of higher education. This research agenda should inform NSF and the broader stakeholder communities about how they can catalyze more rapid change in engineering education. Through it the NSF will be able to identify an actionable research agenda for creating productive collaborations to support strategies that have higher potential for sustainable change and engage a broader spectrum of institutions. Participants and participating institutions will be empowered to develop data-driven models of change for engineering curricular innovation.