Workshops

The Journal of Engineering Education (JEE) is committed to developing and sustaining a vibrant global community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to improving engineering learning worldwide through scholarly engineering education research. As part of that commitment, JEE is now offering workshops on engineering education research. The workshops are offered in collaboration with the initiative, "Collaborative Research—Expanding and sustaining research capacity in engineering and technology education: Building on successful programs for faculty and graduate students," funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (DUE 0920058) and led by Drs. Karl Smith and Ruth Streveler of Purdue University (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rastreve/). The workshops have two major goals: (1) Introduce interested engineering faculty to ways to approach and move their scholarship to higher levels of educational research; and (2) share strategies to build and sustain a community of engineering education researchers and to help participants network with other global communities.

The intended outcomes from the workshop are to help participants to: (1) identify the principal features of engineering educational research and how they compare with technical engineering research; (2) frame research questions, situate them within appropriate theoretical frameworks, and consider alternative research methodologies; (3) gain familiarity with relevant Web-based and print resources; and (4) become more aware of emerging global engineering education research communities and their networks and learn how to connect with them.

The interactive workshops typically involve 50 scholars who are considering or are currently engaged in scholarly work focused on engineering teaching and student learning. They are especially designed for faculty who wish to make engineering education research an important part of their scholarly portfolio, including collaborating with social science colleagues to address engineering education questions and opportunities, seeking funding for engineering educational research, and publishing the results of their work in peer-reviewed education and education research journals and similar forums. The workshops are led by pairs of knowledgeable engineering education researchers drawn from a pool of international scholars.

Organizations interested hosting a workshop should contact Dr. Barbara Olds, Colorado School of Mines, and JEE Senior Associate Editor and liaison for the workshops. She may be reached at barbara.Olds@is.mines.edu.