Engineering Faculty Teaching Styles And Attitudes Toward Student Centered And Technology Enabled Teaching Strategies

Abstract

This paper presents results of a survey assessing learning preferences and teaching strategies of engineering faculty. Of particular interest were questions pertaining to technology implementations and to professional development. The survey pointed to lack of interest in educational activities and low use of innovative instructional methods and instructional technologies, particularly among junior engineering faculty. Results of a recent national faculty survey are reviewed to provide the context for discussion. Professional development of engineering faculty, long an area of concern, becomes more urgent as accumulated applied engineering and teaching experience is being lost through impending retirements. Ironically, with faculty renewal, there is a risk of the dominant culture in engineering departments becoming even less responsive to students' needs. Such concerns have been highlighted before and this study confirms them. I.

Work In Progress: Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Learning Object For Teaching Control Systems

“…However, it is also important to realize that the promise of the radical change in the instructional design paradigm associated with the learning objects is still largely unrealized. Faculty surveys 6,7,13 still indicate that they overwhelmingly use online technology to provide a one-way information flow of mostly course management information and content. Web technology is still seen mainly as the broadcast medium, rather than an enabler of student engagement, collaboration and critical thinking.…”