Institute for Scholarship on Engineering Education (ISEE) |
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Three cycles of the year-long Institute for Scholarship on Engineering Education involved a diverse group of 49 Institute Scholars in engineering education-related research while developing models to support similar efforts in the future. |
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Research Objectives
Three Institutes for Scholarship on Engineering EducationEach Institute was designed with a different theme. The individual projects for the 2004–2005 Institute (hosted by the University of Washington) focused primarily on classroom changes under the broad theme of “classroom as lab.” For the 2005–2006 Institute (hosted by Stanford University) Scholars worked on projects that targeted impact on engineering education at their campus (i.e., a theme of “campus as lab”). The focus of the 2006–2007 Institute (hosted by Howard University) was “nation as lab” with the theme “Advancing Engineering Education Research to Meet the Needs of the 21st Century.”The ISEE cycle consisted of five main phases:
The Summer Summit engaged the Scholars in the process of engineering education research and introduced many to new techniques and ideas in educational research. Activities and discussions during the Summit helped Scholars refine their research questions, decide on appropriate methodology, and form a community with their fellow Scholars and the ISEE team that could provide support during the ensuing year. A sample schedule for the week-long Summit meeting is available here. Scholars for the first two Institutes were recruited primarily from the core CAEE campuses. The 2006-2007 Scholars were recruited through a competitive, national application process and were asked explicitly to consider issues of diversity in their projects. Posters summarizing Scholars' work were presented at Leadership Summits held as part of Special Sessions at recent FIE Conferences. Posters are available from the 2005 and 2007 Conferences.
Developing Models for Research Community BuildingAs part of staging the three year-long Institutes, the ISEE team also formulated principles and developed models for expanding and supporting the community of engineering education scholars. The three Institutes served as models for others interested in organizing similar community-building activities. A Research Brief and ASEE paper describing the design of the Institutes are available here.
Investigating Pathways into Engineering Education ResearchThe ISEE team also investigated the pathways that researchers followed into the field of engineering education research. Results from a study of thirteen engineering education researchers described two significant aspects of their pathways into the field of engineering education research: the importance of a community of practice perspective and the development of a composite identity. This study of pathways further extended the team's understanding of capacity building for engineering education research that was developed during the implementation of the three Institutes. |