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Session 1630

The Impact of Faculty Development Activities on Engineering Faculty Teaching Practices

Catherine E. Brawner, Richard M. Felder, Rodney H. Allen, and Rebecca Brent Research Triangle Educational Consultants/ COMP-AID/North Carolina State University

Abstract

The SUCCEED (Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering EDucation) faculty development team has spent several years helping engineering faculty members learn and implement instructional techniques that have been proven effective by research and experience. As part of the assessment effort, SUCCEED fielded e-mail surveys in 1997 and 1999 to which respondents reported their use of such instructional practices as writing formal instructional objectives for undergraduate classes, conducting in-class learning activities, and assigning team- based homework in traditional lecture courses (in contrast with laboratory and design courses, where teams have traditionally been used). About a third of surveyed faculty members returned the survey in each administration (32% in 1997 and 36% in 1999).

This paper compares the results of the two surveys with respect to the use of certain teaching practices among faculty and shows the relationship between attending faculty development activities focused on teaching and the use of non-traditional teaching methods. The results indicate that attending more teaching workshops is associated with greater use of active and cooperative learning in traditional lecture classes.

1. Introduction

SUCCEED (Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering EDucation) is a National Science Foundation-sponsored engineering education coalition. SUCCEED was first funded in 1992 and has spent the past four years scaling up and institutionalizing many of the educational reforms developed and pilot-tested in its first five years of funding. A major component of this effort is the design and implementation of a faculty development program. The program objectives are (1) to promote faculty adoption of non-traditional instructional methods and materials that have been proven effective by classroom research studies and (2) to improve institutional support for teaching at each of the eight SUCCEED campuses.1

To assess the impact of faculty development activities on the SUCCEED member campuses, all engineering faculty members were sent a baseline campus climate survey in the 1997-1998 academic year and a second survey in 1999-2000. (A third survey is planned for 2001-2002). The surveys asked respondents to answer questions about their teaching experiences and practices. Among other things, they were asked about their prior involvement with faculty Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2001, American Society of Engineering Education

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Allen, R., & Felder, R. M., & Brawner, C. E. (2001, June), The Impact Of Faculty Development Activities On Engineering Faculty Teaching Practices Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9344