Learning from the Best: How Award Winning Courseware has Impacted Engineering Education

该项目正在探索国家STEM数字图书馆（NSDL）改善学生学习的证据指标的存在。特别是，它正在研究是否专注于一个特定的图书馆馆藏和使用多种方法来衡量影响将提供洞察力，以改善图书馆的设计。很难找到学生影响的证据。这是2009年1月《科学》杂志上一篇题为《NSF重新考虑其数字图书馆》的文章的结论。这篇文章指出，迄今为止没有证据表明NSDL改善了学生的学习。尽管得出了这样的结论，该项目的研究小组成员在与NSDL项目“我们从哪里来，我们要去哪里？”合作时，积累了对学生学习产生积极影响的轶事证据。从NSDL的项目中吸取教训并传播示范实践。”本研究考察了NSDL的一个连贯部分，即由NSDL工程途径赞助的“工程教育课件卓越奖”。采用案例研究的研究方法。这种方法的基本原理是将重点放在一个极有可能提供有关学生影响的数据的集合上，而且，这可能会为学生学习的影响提供一些有用的见解。在过去的12年里，Premier Award竞赛及其前身（NEEDS）审查了100个提交的课件，并选出了21个获奖的课件创作和8个决赛候选人。获奖课件得到广泛传播。总理奖获奖材料是需求/工程途径网站上下载次数最多的材料。已派发超过20,000张“卓越奖”光碟，并为工程教育工作者举办工作坊和研讨会。因此，Premier Award的案例研究具有发现大量用户群的潜力。一般来说，确定教师用户一直是NSDL研究的重大挑战。Premier Award提供了一个接触大量用户并向他们学习的机会。该研究正在解决以下问题：1。获得卓越奖对得奖者的职业道路有何影响？为什么？2. 随着时间的推移，提交的课件质量有何变化？3. 获奖课件如何影响或影响学生的学习？该项目正在研究使用NSDL（通过需求/工程途径）提供的课件的教师人数。这项研究的结果将为未来深入、纵向地研究科学、技术、工程和数学对教与学的影响奠定基础。

This project is exploring the existence of indicators that are evidence of improved student learning resulting from the National STEM Digital Library (NSDL). In particular it is studying whether focusing on a particular Library collection and using multiple methods to measure impact will provide insight into improving the design of the Library. Evidence of student impact is difficult to develop. This was the conclusion of a January 2009 "Science" article, "NSF Rethinks Its Digital Library." This article stated that there is no evidence to date that the NSDL has improved student learning. Despite this conclusion, members of this project's study team accumulated anecdotal evidence of positive impact on student learning while working with the NSDL project, "Where Have We Come From and Where Are We Going? Learning the Lessons and Disseminating Exemplary Practices from the Projects of the NSDL." This study is examining a coherent section of the NSDL, the "Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware," sponsored by the NSDL Engineering Pathway. It is employing the case study research method. The rationale for this approach is to focus on a collection that has a high possibility of providing data on student impact and, further, that may provide some useful insight into effects on student learning. Over the last 12 years, the Premier Award competition, and its precursor (NEEDS), reviewed 100 courseware submissions and selected 21 award winning courseware creations and eight finalist candidates. The award winning courseware has been disseminated widely. Premier Award winning materials have been the most frequently downloaded materials on the NEEDS/Engineering Pathway website. Over 20,000 Premier Award CDs have been distributed and workshops and seminars for engineering educators have been held. Hence the case study of the Premier Award has the potential of discovering a large user population. In general, identifying faculty users has been a significant challenge for NSDL research. The Premier Award provides an opportunity to reach a population of users and learn from them. The research is addressing the following questions: 1. How has receipt of the Premier Award impacted the awardees' career paths and why? 2. How has the quality of the courseware submitted changed over time? 3. How has the award winning courseware affected or impacted student learning? The project is studying the population of faculty that is using courseware available through NSDL (via the NEEDS/Engineering Pathway). The findings from this research will lay the groundwork for future in-depth, longitudinal studies of impact on teaching and learning that reach across the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics.