Implementing a Robust, Yet Straightforward, Direct Assessment Process That Engages 100% of the Faculty

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Prince

Dr. Michael Prince is a professor of chemical engineering at Bucknell University and co-director of the National Effective Teaching Institute. His research examines a range of engineering education topics, including how to assess and repair student misconceptions and how to increase the adoption of researchbased instructional strategies by college instructors and corporate trainers. He is actively engaged in presenting workshops on instructional design to both academic and corporate instructors. AbstractThe Summer Faculty Immersion Program (SFIP) concludes its fourth year in strong form. The hypothesis of the study is summarized as follows: Systemic and sustainable change toward creating a classroom environment that engages students with authentic engineering real-world problems may be ignited by an intense one-month summer faculty immersion program in which faculty innovate two courses with inductive and active learning methodologies. The innovative methodologies addressed in SFIP are gaining more acceptance from the faculty as the program matures and the faculty gain more experience in their use. This is demonstrated by the fact that an average of 60% of the class sessions led by SFIP-trained faculty are now being conducted with the inductive methodology. Furthermore, faculty are transforming an average of 44% of the class sessions of courses other than those transformed during the summer. This is a measure of lasting change due to SFIP. The students are also expressing satisfaction with the innovation. Previous to SFIP, 16% -20% of the senior students regularly complained of courses with "too much theory without real-world context". After four years of implementation, the comments have been eliminated. SFIP is a five-year, externally-funded faculty development program that aims to train the entire engineering faculty as well as the science faculty that teach Physics I and II. Both new and experienced faculty are invited to participate in SFIP which trains a maximum of seven faculty members per summer session. The program also provides training to generate learning outcomes that are clear, relevant and observable. Diffusion of innovations in engineering education is a challenge that has defied a satisfactory solution for decades. SFIP is proving to be a potential solution for promoting diffusion and for creating lasting change in the faculty in this institution.

Section: Overview Of the Summer Faculty Immersion Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Status of a Summer Faculty Immersion Program After Four Years in Development

2016 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

Prince

“…The origin of the faculty development program discussed in this paper, the Summer Faculty Immersion Program (SFIP), can be traced to the outcomes assessment process that was Page 26.1584.2 started in 1999 at the School of Engineering to meet the requirements of ABET accreditation (refer to [1] for a full description of this assessment process). The first assessment instrument that uncovered teaching issues was the exit survey of graduating students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Third-Year Status of a Summer Faculty Immersion Program

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

Prince²

This paper discusses the status of a Summer Faculty Immersion Program (SFIP) after three years of implementation in the School of Engineering at Universidad del Turabo in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. The SFIP is a five-year, externally funded, faculty development program that began in the summer of 2012 and runs until the summer of 2016. The intention of the program is to diffuse the use of innovative and effective teaching practices in a manner that will promote lasting change in the entire engineering and physics faculty of Universidad del Turabo. The program targets new as well as experienced faculty members. The SFIP takes place during the month of June and provides a stipend to participants. It is divided into an intensive one-week training workshop that is followed by a three-week immersion where each faculty member transforms two courses. An expected transformation is the selection and adaptation of real-world examples that are presented at the beginning of class to establish the need for learning the course material (inductive approach). The problems are subsequently solved using the principles and theory taught in class. The results of a faculty survey show that the inductive methodology is being used in approximately 60% of the lectures; that the faculty enjoy this teaching methodology; and that the faculty think that SFIP was effective in preparing them for teaching in this new style. The results also show that the faculty is beginning to transform other courses on their own time (44% of lectures). Diffusion of innovations in engineering education is a challenge that has defied a satisfactory solution for decades so this result is a positive sign that SFIP is promoting diffusion and creating lasting change in the faculty. On the other hand, there is concern with the time required to cover all the expected material in the syllabus. A satisfactory solution to the issue of time could be the key to achieving very high diffusion rates. It has also been recognized that while this methodology creates an engaging classroom environment and leads to better understanding of underlying concepts, there is no clear and consistent evidence of improvement in the math skills required to solve exam problems that are similar to typical textbook problems.

“…The origin of this effort can be traced to the outcomes assessment process that was started in 1999 to meet the requirements of ABET accreditation (refer to [3] for a full description of the evolution of the assessment process at this School of Engineering). Students regularly commented in the Exit Survey of Graduating Students that there was "too much theory without context" presented in classes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Plan to Diffuse Mobile Hands-On Teaching and Learning in Puerto Rico

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

Astatke²,

Connor³

et al.

Kenneth Connor is a professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering (ECSE) where he teaches courses on electromagnetics, electronics and instrumentation, plasma physics, electric power, and general engineering. His research involves plasma physics, electromagnetics, photonics, biomedical sensors, engineering education, diversity in the engineering workforce, and technology enhanced learning. He learned problem solving from his father (ran a gray iron foundry), his mother (a nurse) and grandparents (dairy farmers). He has had the great good fortune to always work with amazing people, most recently professors teaching circuits and electronics from 13 HBCU ECE programs and the faculty, staff and students of the SMART LIGHTING ERC, where he is Education Director. AbstractDecades of engineering education research have resulted in excellent progress, innovation and understanding of the teaching and learning process; however, diffusion of these developments into the engineering classroom is a challenge that has yet to be resolved at a systemic level. As a result, the majority of the engineering faculty in Puerto Rico and the USA still use the traditional model of teaching and learning that is based on the simple transfer of knowledge from teacher to student. Many of the educational innovations that have been researched are founded on constructivist methodologies. These are based on the widely accepted principle that students construct their own versions of reality rather than simply absorbing versions presented by their teachers. Constructivist methodologies provide students with the opportunity to explore new concepts. It recognizes that conflicts will emerge between the new material and the prior experience that each student brings into the classroom.