Why Enroll in Our Programs?
Evidence-Based
Faculty will be immersed in evidence based, educational theory with a lens towards human-centered engineering education methods. Cohorts of participants will collaboratively build their understanding of education theory and build a toolkit of strategies to deploy in the classroom.
Tailored to Your Needs
Two opportunities to participate are available. Engage in the learning and research in the program format that best suits your learning style and summer schedule.
Expand your Toolbox and Network
Faculty that participate will walk away with a deeper knowledge of educational theory and engineering best practices, grounded in a human-centered approach. Participants in the Community of Practice and Self-Paced Learning Groups will strengthen their network of engineering faculty from across the region.
About BETTER
BETTER is an NSF-funded research endeavor to explore the use of Communities of Practice and Self-Paced Learning to train engineering faculty in education theory. The research team includes leaders in faculty development, engineering, and instructional design to create a tailored, hands-on learning environment.
This project aims to serve the national interest by providing professional development for faculty in order to significantly enhance engineering education by placing greater emphasis on the affective domain of teaching. Overall, engineering faculty adoption of learner-centered pedagogical practices tends to be slow and short-term. It is thought that this is because even when evidence-based pedagogical practices are implemented, faculty still approach their teaching based on their own beliefs and conceptions about teaching and teacher-student interactions. As in many educational systems, there is an emphasis on control, conformity, and objectivity rather than freedom, creativity, engagement, and empowerment. This non- human-centered approach compromises the preparation of students for the challenges of professional engineering practice. The proposed faculty development project seeks to address this challenge by calling for a significantly more human-centered way of teaching. Such a humanistic-educative caring framework, grounded in “Caring Science” from the discipline of nursing, is proposed for engineering education. The process involves dialogue, reflection, and co-creation of knowledge by both the teacher and the learner. Expected benefits include enhanced student learning and better faculty appreciation of the lived experiences of students.