PECASE: Interdisciplinary Graduate Education in Engineering

这份工程教育职业计划的目的是在工程研究生教育的背景下发展和检验跨学科工作能力发展的理论。这项研究的动机是日益增长的全球化和国际竞争，这促使人们重新努力培养能够在跨学科环境中工作的适应性强的工程师。以下研究问题将被解决：1.工科研究生如何培养对多学科认识论的深刻认识？2.成功的工程学教师和项目如何鼓励研究生的这种智力发展？将使用混合方法，其中第一个问题将通过严格的访谈和观察方法来解决，而第二个问题将使用调查来检验初始理论的有效性和概括性。在这两个阶段都嵌入了评估工具跨学科学习的开发，这既是一种增长准则，也是一种调查方式的工具。研究跨学科研究生教育的总体环境将是由NSF的IGERT(综合研究生教育研究和培训)倡议资助的地点。代表6个工程/计算学科和20个其他学科的四个IGERT将提供学习广泛互动的环境：工程师-工程师、工程师-科学家、工程师-社会科学家、工程师-艺术家、工程师-商人等。拟议的工作包括通过定性技术发展理论，通过调查研究检验理论，以及通过在伙伴机构举办讲习班分享结果。

The purpose of this engineering education CAREER proposal is to develop and test a theory of the development of interdisciplinary work ability in the context of graduate education in engineering. The motivation for this research is the increasing globalization and international competition, which drive renewed efforts to prepare adaptable engineers who can work in interdisciplinary environments. The following research questions will be addressed: 1. How do engineering graduate students develop deep awareness of multiple (disciplinary) epistemologies? and 2. What do successful engineering faculty and programs do to encourage this type of intellectual development in graduate students? A mixed methods approach will be used, in which the first question will be addressed through rigorous interview and observation methods, while the second employs surveys to test the validity and generalizability of the initial theory. Embedded in both phases is development of assessment tools interdisciplinary learning, both a growth rubric and a survey-style instrument. The overall setting for studying interdisciplinary graduate education will be sites funded through NSF's IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education Research and Training) initiative. Four IGERTs representing 6 engineering/computing disciplines and 20 other disciplines will provide the setting to study a wide range of interactions: engineer-engineer, engineer-scientist, engineer-social scientist, engineer-artist, engineer-businessperson, and others. The proposed work comprises development of the theory via qualitative techniques, testing of the theory via survey research, and sharing of the results through workshops at the partner institutions.