Advancing Student-Centered Teaching for Disciplinary Knowledge Building in Engineering

该项目旨在通过以学生为中心的教学实践，提高学生在工程方面的学习成果，为国家利益服务。这项研究和发展调查直接解决了本科STEM教育中两个尚未解决的挑战：有效教学实践的缓慢采用和有效教学是一种广义形式的假设。混合方法参与式行动研究（PAR）研究将探讨以学生为中心的教学在中高级课程中的采用情况。此外，研究人员试图通过对整合研究和实践的努力的引导反思来理解工程中的制度变化。PAR方法需要对知识和学习进行学术反思，并与一个由模范教师组成的小团队一起完成复杂的变革议程。这些教师因在他们的课程中利用以学生为中心的教学实践而得到认可，他们将来自几个工程部门。此外，教师将参与旨在促进实践社区（CoP）发展和持续支持的研究。本次CoP旨在建立并促进对学科知识如何改变本科STEM教育的理解。该项目的目标是：(1)促进对中高级工程课程中使用的有效教学实践类型的理解，以促进学生对学科知识的学习；(2)支持工程教育的可持续转型。本研究以下列问题为指导：(1)示范工程学院采用何种以学生为中心的教学方法来促进课程中的知识建构？(2)这些与教师对教学的信念有什么关系？(3)一个可持续的实践社区如何将这些实践广泛地转化为整个部门，以改善学生的学习？项目团队将研究有效教学实践的采用和实施，以了解在中高级工程课程中发现的此类实践的类型，并着眼于实例化本科STEM教育的可持续转型。本研究基于以下理论假设：教师关于知识和学习的哲学信念是：在实践中制定的；导致对学生学习和成就的期望；并以学科背景为基础。该项目旨在促进这些实践在该机构内外的广泛采用，并最终将启动弗吉尼亚理工大学的工程教学中心。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving student learning outcomes in engineering using student-centered teaching practices. This research and development investigation directly addresses two unresolved challenges in undergraduate STEM education: the slow adoption of effective instructional practices and the assumption that effective teaching is of a generalized form. The mixed methods participatory action research (PAR) study will examine the uptake of student-centered teaching in middle and upper level courses. Furthermore, the investigators seek to understand institutional change in engineering through guided reflection of an effort to integrate research and practice. The PAR approach entails scholarly reflection on knowledge and learning with a small team of exemplary faculty to accomplish a complex change agenda. These faculty are acknowledged for utilizing student-centered teaching practices within their courses and will be drawn from several engineering departments. In addition, faculty will engage in research that seeks to foster the development and continued support of a community of practice (CoP). This CoP intends to build on and contribute to an understanding of how disciplinary knowledge can transform undergraduate STEM education.The goals of this project are to (1) advance the understanding of the types of effective instructional practices used in middle and upper-level engineering classes to promote student learning of disciplinary knowledge and (2) support sustainable transformation of engineering education. The research is guided by the following questions: (1) What student-centered teaching approaches are used by exemplary engineering faculty to promote knowledge building in their courses? (2) How do these relate relate to faculty beliefs about teaching? (3) How can a sustainable community of practice translate these practices broadly across entire departments for improved student learning? The project team will examine the adoption and implementation of effective instructional practices to understand the types of such practices found in middle and upper level engineering classes, with an eye towards instantiating sustainable transformation of undergraduate STEM education. The investigation is based on the theoretical assumption that faculty’s philosophical beliefs concerning knowledge and learning are: enacted in practice; lead to expectations about student learning and achievement; and are grounded in disciplinary context. This project aims to foster broader uptake of these practices within and beyond the institution and will ultimately launch Virginia Tech’s Center for Teaching & Learning in Engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.