Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
Universities To Research the Education of Engineering Students
9/16/2008
A team of researchers from four universities has just received three grants totaling $1.1 million from the National Science Foundation to study how engineers are educated. Faculty from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, California Polytechnic State University, and the University of San Diego in California will be collaborating on issues related to recruiting, retaining, and educating engineers."Engineering has always been geared toward problem-solving," said Michael Prince, who has taught chemical engineering at Bucknell University for 19 years. "What's changed is the skills and background engineers need to have."
A $500,000 grant will explore self-directed learning environments in engineering undergraduate classrooms. Prince and a team of colleagues are already examining student misconceptions in engineering. The latest grant expands that research to examine other questions that focus on how to teach engineering more effectively. Newer accreditation guidelines for engineering programs require that students be capable of life-long learning, but there's been little classroom research on how to achieve that goal.
Another $500,000 grant will investigate the development of chemical engineering materials that incorporate the life sciences to better prepare chemical engineers for a wider range of careers. While chemical engineering students used to find jobs almost exclusively at large oil companies after graduation, there now is more demand in the pharmaceutical industry and other fields that require a working knowledge of biology, Prince said. For students to become familiar with biological concepts, these concepts must be widely integrated into the engineering curriculum.
"Students will graduate knowing the life science that is relevant to their practice," Prince said.
The third grant, for $120,000, will research the development of engineering faculty as educational researchers. According to Prince, research suggests that while engineering faculty draw heavily on their own experiences in the classroom to make decisions about their teaching, professors seldom look to the educational literature to inform their decisions about teaching. This grant examines the issue, with an eye towards understanding how to encourage engineering faculty to use the existing research on teaching and learning more effectively.
Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business. Send your higher education technology news to her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Moodle Gets SCORM Improvements, Security Fixes
New versions of Moodle have been released, bringing the most recent stable build to 1.9.3. The latest round of updates includes a number of bug fixes and security enhancements, as well as improvements to the SCORM module.
- Free 'Morro' Antivirus To Replace Microsoft OneCare
Microsoft is rolling out a free antivirus software program for consumers that will compete with products made by Symantec and McAfee. Code-named "Morro," the AV app is expected to be available by the end of 2009.
- Microsoft Demos New SQL Server Features at PASS
Microsoft Wednesday previewed the ability to centrally manage applications and resources in the planned upgrade of SQL Server, code-named "Kilimanjaro."
- Microsoft Unveils Exchange and SharePoint as Services
Microsoft exec Stephen Elop on Monday announced two hosted solutions from Microsoft--Exchange Online and SharePoint Online--which are now available to organizations of all sizes in the United States. The software, paid for by annual subscriptions, is hosted on Microsoft's servers and supported by Microsoft's channel partners.
- 6 Ways Not To Become Rote Using Instructional Technology
There are, in my experience, six strategies to consider with any use of technology that will guard against rote use of technology and facilitate critical analysis of teaching and learning effectiveness. In this article, I'll share with you the checklist I work with and encourage others to work with in learning about and using new technology.
- Bringing Student Web "Stuff" to Campus Enterprise Systems
How can an institution incorporate Web 2.0 learning opportunities for students, and evidence of learning from those opportunities, into existing campus technologies and processes? PlugJam is providing part of the answer.
