Developing a National Framework for Recognition of Engineering and Engineering Technology Faculty Instructional Excellence

This project aims to serve the national interest by recognizing and highlighting undergraduate teaching excellence in the fields of engineering and engineering technology (EET). There have been calls for more than 100-years for faculty members in these fields to receive ongoing training in how best to teach their students. However, for a variety of reasons, there have been relatively few attempts to answer this call within the US.

There are isolated opportunities for training through a variety of organizations or through campus-level efforts, but none is close to rising to a national-level response. When students are not taught and do not learn in an effective and efficient manner, some choose to leave EET altogether during college, while others may be less well-prepared for their initial employment.

What is needed, therefore, is a national effort to create a framework that helps EET faculty in the US identify and receive recognition for training that helps them continually improve their teaching. Through this project, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) will undertake the development of a framework for national recognition of faculty professional development within EET in the US.

This effort to establish a cadre of effective EET faculty across the nation seeks a long-term outcome to increase the retention rate of students within EET and to provide better-prepared technical workers for industry.

This work focuses on the development of a framework for national peer-recognition of training and continuing professional development of EET instructors. The goal is to increase the value of these efforts by extending the definition of professionalism to include EET education faculty activities. The current effort will be informed by the literature and utilize a theory of action proposed by Kotter and co-workers.

The main efforts within this proposal will be to develop a national framework for EET faculty recognition of teaching that will focus on levels of attainment and proposed activities to meet these levels. Input from a variety of constituencies (administrators, faculty and content developers) within ASEE will be sought via focus groups and surveys to inform the proposed framework and associated activities.

The results of this proposal will help to formulate the next steps to engage with constituencies outside of ASEE. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.