Background Transformative change in higher education requires a continuous interplay between educational research and educational practice. In considering how to engage researchers and practitioners in "cycles of educational practice and research" (Jamieson & Lohmann, 2009), we focus on individuals and what motivates them to create and sustain innovations within the engineering education system.Purpose Through this study, we seek to better understand why faculty do or do not engage in the research-practice cycle. Specifically, we employ expectancy value theory and examine the success and value beliefs motivating individuals' choices. Design/MethodWe used mixed methods assessment data from two engineering education conferences that focused on promoting transformational change. Data included observational notes, open-ended written responses submitted after conference sessions, open-ended survey questions, and quantitative survey questions. For data analysis. we used descriptive statistics and open coding techniques.Results We identified expectancy of success and cost value and utility value as important to participants. Notably, the same motivation constructs generally matter for research, practice, and research-informed practice, although practice-informed research was nearly absent from the data. Participants cited strategies that are currently working to improve only some of the success and value categories.Conclusions Expectancy value theory provides a useful framework for understanding faculty choices in the research-practice cycles required for change and innovation in engineering education. Our findings indicate that in addition to improving individuals' competence with critical research and teaching practices, our field should also support collective efficacy and value beliefs.
William D. Schindel is president of ICTT System Sciences, a systems engineering company, and developer of the Systematica Methodology for model and pattern-based systems engineering. His 40-year engineering career began in mil/aero systems with IBM Federal Systems, Owego, NY, included service as a faculty member of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and founding of three commercial systems-based enterprises. He has consulted on improvement of engineering processes within automotive, medical/health care, manufacturing, telecommunications, aerospace, and consumer products businesses. Schindel earned the BS and MS in Mathematics.
Cory is currently a NSF Graduate Research Fellow pursuing a Masters in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He has worked to develop multiple entrepreneurial education efforts including an upper-level, interdisciplinary course on starting companies and a freshman engineering course on innovation and entrepreneurship. He has participated in trainings for and implemented both the Ice House Entrepreneurship and the Lean LaunchPad pedagogies. Cory has experience in professional engineering, higher education, and high school education. It is this combination of experience that led him to Virginia Tech to pursue a doctoral degree in Engineering Education. His professional and research interests include understanding engineering faculty members' decisions and behaviors, the institutional structures that influence both engineering education and entrepreneurship, and the interactions between educational pedagogy and entrepreneurship.
Despite the importance of professional development, for most graduate students as up-andcoming faculty members professional development is informal at best. Graduate programs often emphasize gaining technical knowledge, skills, and abilities through courses and research projects, but provide less opportunity for future faculty members to gain experience with teaching, service, communication, assessment, proposal writing, etc. To provide this experience, we developed the Rising Engineering Education Faculty Experience (REEFE). Founded on theoretical and practical models of graduate student development, REEFE is an innovative faculty apprenticeship program for engineering education graduate students that places students in visiting faculty member positions at host schools. This paper describes the foundations of REEFE and the program itself. We also offer lessons learned from the host school, sending school, and participants based on prior REEFE implementations. We hope our learnings prompt discussions regarding how to effectively prepare future engineering education faculty.
is a sophomore Chemical Engineering major with a concentration in Honors Students and Material Science at Rowan University. She is also involved with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers, and involved in research at the Sustainable Materials
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.