Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 279 de 957
Teaching practices of engineering faculty: Perceptions and actual behavior
Cynthia J. Finelli
cfinelli@umich.edu
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
United States of America
Shanna R. Daly
srdaly@umich.edu
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
United States of America
Abstract: In this paper, we present our study of engineering faculty teaching
practices, focussing especially on faculty perceptions and their actual behavior.
This is part of a larger, institutional-change-based effort to motivate changes in
classroom practices at our College of Engineering to better support a diverse
student body.
Introduction and Context
Ample research demonstrates that faculty teaching practices can improve student
learning, engagement, and interest in engineering (e.g., Prince, 2004; Seymour & Hewitt,
1997; Smith, Sheppard, Johnson, & Johnson, 2005; Tobias, 1990), and many of these
practices have been shown to be especially effective for educating a diverse student body
(Prince, 2000; Seymour & Hewitt, 1997). In spite of this evidence, though, translation of
research to actual teaching behavior has been slow at many institutions (Friedrich, Sellers,
& Burstyn, 2009), including our own College of Engineering.
We assert that institutional change initiatives are necessary to accelerate this transition
from research to practice. We further believe that these initiatives will be more effective if
they are (1) grounded in research about successful faculty teaching practices, (2)
integrated with local evidence regarding institutional context, student perspectives, and
faculty perceptions and behavior, and (3) informed by theories of learning, faculty
development, and institutional change. At University of Michigan (U-M), we have initiated
research – based on these premises – to motivate faculty to change their teaching practice.
Here, we report the outcomes of one phase of our research focused on understanding the
current teaching practices of our faculty. Specifically, we investigated engineering faculty
perceptions of their own teaching, we characterized their teaching practices through both
faculty self reports and through objective classroom observations, and we explored the
connections between them.
Research Questions
Our study was guided by the following research questions:
• What are engineering faculty’s perceptions of their teaching practices?
• What are engineering faculty’s actual classroom practices?
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011