Faculty-led ASEE Team Plans to Pilot Faculty Recognition Framework for Professional Development in Teaching

The University of Akron News

12/04/2024

Engineering faculty across the United States play a critical role in shaping the future of the profession by educating the next generation of engineers. However, many faculty members enter academia with little to no formal training in teaching. This gap is set to narrow thanks to a groundbreaking initiative funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), led by Dr. Donald Visco, professor in the Department of Chemical, Biomolecular and Corrosion Engineering at The University of Akron.

The project, “A National Framework for Recognition of Engineering and Engineering Technology Faculty Instructional Excellence: Piloting a Registered Engineering Educator Designation,” aims to create a national system for recognizing and celebrating excellence in teaching. This initiative, managed by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), is a collaborative effort involving eight diverse colleges across the U.S.

Addressing a Century-Old Challenge

“For more than 100 years, people have recognized this unfortunate situation where those tasked to teach in engineering and engineering technology aren’t well trained in this task,” says Visco, chair of the ASEE Faculty Teaching Excellence Task Force (FTE TF). “There are many reasons for this, but a crucial one is that such professional development in teaching is not nationally recognized. Our work looks to address this shortcoming.”

To fill this gap, the ASEE FTE TF is developing a three-level framework to support and certify engineering faculty’s professional development in teaching.

Level 1: Covers key educational concepts related to teaching and learning in college-level engineering and engineering technology courses.
Level 2: Application of these concepts in real classroom settings.
Level 3: Recognition of faculty who, after becoming accomplished teachers, make impacts outside their classrooms and lead initiatives benefiting broader education communities.

Pilot Programs at Eight Institutions

The NSF-supported pilot program for Level 1 is being implemented at eight institutions: The College of New Jersey, Lafayette College, Northern Arizona University, University of Bridgeport, University of Georgia, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, The University of the Pacific and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Dr. Lauren Anderson, Jeffers Dean of Engineering at Lafayette College, emphasizes the importance of this work: “If we want to recruit and retain diverse undergraduate students, we must provide opportunities for faculty to continuously improve their teaching practices and then recognize, celebrate and elevate their efforts and accomplishments in this area.”

Building a National Network of Training Providers

Content for Level 1 training is being developed by the pilot institutions and nearly two dozen partner schools nationwide, with the National Effective Teaching Institute (NETI) also serving as a content provider. After the pilot, the certification program will expand, inviting content providers nationwide to contribute.

“NETI is excited to be part of this project,” says Dr. Matthew Ohland, one of three co-directors of NETI, along with Dr. Susan Lord and Dr. Michael Prince. “The second fundamental canon of the Code of Ethics of the National Society of Professional Engineers states that engineers shall ‘perform services only in areas of their competence’ – second only to the importance of the safety, health and welfare of the public. Nevertheless, the engineering education system is designed with the assumption that teaching requires no special competence. This project will help address this shortcoming and help NETI achieve its mission of improving teaching in ways that fit an instructor’s institution, their students and their own personal style.”

A Team Effort

The ASEE FTE TF management team, led by Visco, includes prominent leaders in engineering education, such as ASEE CEO Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed, Dr. Douglas Bohl (Clarkson University), Dr. Jenna Carpenter (Campbell University), Dr. Alan Cheville (Bucknell University), Dr. Charles Henderson (Western Michigan University) and Dr. Elizabeth Litzler (University of Washington). The broader task force comprises over two dozen educators and administrators from nearly 30 institutions, with an additional 24 engineering colleges contributing through an Evaluation Board.

Shaping the Future of Engineering Education

This initiative has the potential to reshape how engineering faculty are trained and recognized for their contributions to teaching. As El-Sayed highlights, “ASEE is a unique organization with membership that spans horizontally across all engineering and engineering technology disciplines and affinity groups, and vertically across primary, secondary, higher education and industry constituencies. This work is critically important as engineering education moves rapidly forward to embrace new technologies and broaden participation globally.”

Learn more about this initiative and the NSF grant here.