Building Connections within the Engineering Education Research Community

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This research project would hold an NSF-Engineering Education grantees meeting for invited PIs from engineering Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), Research Experiences for Teachers (RET), Department-Level Reform (DLR), Engineering Education Programs (EEP), Faculty Early Career (CAREER); pre-college outreach coordinators from Engineering Research Centers (ERC). In addition selected students from REU sites, selected teachers from RET sites, and guest presenters would be invited. Meeting activities will include a keynote speaker, poster sessions, networking opportunities and hour-long workshops for awardees. With an engineering education department and facilities in the northern Virginia Region, Virginia Tech is uniquely positioned to host this meeting. The university?s Continuing and Professional Education office provides professional meeting coordination services under the supervision of junior faculty, whose networks and professional reputations will be expanded by hosting this meeting. This meeting will serve as the impetus for forming a professional group of engineering academic deans, who will receive invitations from the NSF as the principal audience for the research to be discussed at this meeting. Like other administrators, engineering academic deans should have a formal group that meets annually to share strategies and learn about cutting-edge research in engineering education. Bringing together leading researchers and practitioners in engineering education is a key activity to advancing engineering education as a research discipline. Representation of diverse projects and initiatives in engineering education ensures that exciting new connections and ideas will be sparked by this meeting. This meeting provides the opportunity for investigators, RET teachers, REU students, distinguished guest speakers, graduate students and NSF program officers to interact across NSF Engineering Education and Centers programs. The networks that will form across these programs will enhance the infrastructure for research and education improvement in engineering. The meeting will advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning through its dual focus on research and education projects. Society will ultimately benefit from this meeting through NSF?s ongoing engineering education projects, which will be enriched by the information and connections made at this meeting.