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，改善学生在工程学方面的学习成果，从而服务于国家利益。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普遍形式的假设。混合方法参与性行动研究(PAR)研究将考察以学生为中心的教学在中高级课程中的吸收情况。此外，研究人员试图通过对研究和实践相结合的努力进行有指导的反思，来理解工程学中的制度变化。PAR方法需要对知识和学习进行学术思考，并与一小群模范教员一起完成复杂的变革议程。这些教师因在其课程中采用以学生为中心的教学实践而受到认可，并将从几个工程系中挑选出来。此外，教师将从事旨在促进实践共同体(COP)的发展和持续支持的研究。这个项目的目标是：(1)增进对中、高级工科班级有效教学实践类型的理解，以促进学生学习学科知识；(2)支持工程教育的可持续转型。这项研究受到以下问题的指导：(1)模范工程教师在其课程中使用了哪些以学生为中心的教学方法来促进知识建设？(2)这些方法与教师对教学的信念有什么关系？(3)可持续的实践社区如何将这些做法广泛地转化到整个系中，以改善学生的学习？项目小组将研究采用和实施有效的教学实践，以了解在中高级工程课程中发现的此类实践的类型，并着眼于实现本科生STEM教育的可持续转变。调查基于这样一个理论假设，即教师关于知识和学习的哲学信念是：在实践中产生的；导致对学生学习和成就的期望；以及基于学科背景的。该项目旨在促进在机构内外更广泛地采用这些实践，并最终将启动弗吉尼亚理工大学工程教学与学习中心。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.