Overview of the NAE Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education

1. Overview of the NAE Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education • Norman L. Fortenberry, Sc.D. • Director, CASEE • http://www.nae.edu/CASEE • nfortenb@nae.edu • (202) 334-1926 University of Idaho May 1, 2003

2. NAE/NAS History • NAS chartered in 1863 by act of Congress signed by President Lincoln • Honorific, self-perpetuating membership society • Advisors to the Nation Every working day we produce a report • 200-300 pages, with 50-pages of citations to the literature • Fact-based (no opinion) • Peer-reviewed • NAE gained independent identity in 1964 to “promote the technological welfare of the nation . . . .”

3. NAE Program Office Overview • Engineering Education, Practice, and Workforce • Engineering and the Environment • Engineering, the Economy and Society • National Security and Crime Control • Information Technology and Society • Public Policy

4. NAE Education Programs • Next Generation of Researchers – FOE • Undergraduate Education – CEE • Engineer of 2020 • IT-based Educational Materials Workshop • Bernard Gordon Prize • Diversity - CDEW • K-12 and Informal – TL and PUE • Research on Education – CASEE

5. Why Research on Engineering Education? (1/2) • What if we could • Dramatically raise student retention and graduation rates, and • Increase participation by underrepresented populations, while also • Increasing the depth and breadth of learning? • What if we could • Increase the time new faculty devote to establishing their research programs because of greater confidence in the quality of their teaching?

6. Why Research on Engineering Education? (2/2) • What would it mean, in terms of • Reduced Costs of Education? • Enhanced Workforce Productivity? • Realized Human Potential?

7. Why NAE –Wm. A. Wulf’s 4-legged stool • 1999, established the Committee on Engineering Education • Stream of reports, workshops, etc. of intrinsic value • Implicit, repeated message that NAE values engineering education • 2000, reinterpreted NAE membership criteria to better recognize contributions to engineering • 2001, initiated the Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education • $500,000 on par with Draper (engineering and society) and Russ (bioengineering) Prizes • 2002, inaugurated CASEE as a center for scholarship on engineering education

8. CASEE Provenance • Builds upon precursor work in education research by various National Academies committees and boards. • Implements the mission enunciated at the January 2002 NAE education retreat.

9. CASEE Vision • An engineering education system that, through continuous improvement and dedication to the highest quality, contributes to the sustained maintenance of an engineering workforce of unquestioned excellence.

10. CASEE Mission • Enable engineering education to meet, in a significantly better way, the needs of employers, graduate schools, and society at large.

11. CASEE Goal(s) • Improve the quality of engineering education by: • Increasing its efficiency and effectiveness, • Strengthening its appeal to diverse domestic communities, and • Improving its ability to contribute to the professional success and personal satisfaction of students and faculty.

12. Efficiency Increase retention Reduced time-to-degree Less faculty prep time Effectiveness More flexible graduates Tighter alignment with workplace and further education needs Goals include increasing

13. CASEE Objectives • Working collaboratively with key stakeholders, CASEE seeks to • Build the body of knowledge that will support and sustain continuous improvement in engineering education by encouraging rigorous research on all elements of the engineering education system, • Cultivate a respected community of scholars to replenish this body of knowledge, and • Encourage broad dissemination, adoption, and use of this knowledge.

14. CASEE Strategies • CASEE works with other stakeholders in order to • Enhance the capacity for the conduct of high quality research on engineering education. • Integrate engineering education research and practice, and • Leverage and promote the efforts and interests of relevant stakeholders.

15. The Engineering Education System Goals/Objectives: Depts., Univs., Prof. Societies, Employers, etc. Constraints and Ext. Influences Tools (Curriculum Labs, Tech, etc.) Teachers & Learners Teaching and Learning Processes Input Output Inspired by Hubka and Eder (1988)

16. Research Areas • 1. Teaching, learning, and assessment • 2. Teachers and learners • 3. Instructional/learning tools and technologies • 4. Educational management and goal system • 5. Political, economic, and social influences on engineering education • 6. Diffusion of Educational Innovations

17. CASEE Advisory Committee • Representative of Key Constituencies • Engineering Researchers • STEM Education Scholars • Industry • Diverse Set of Engineering Institutions, • Engineering Deans • ABET • Professional Societies • Funders

18. CASEE Affiliated Organizations • CASEE Research Community • CASEE Implementation Network • CASEE Dissemination Channels • Organizational affiliates include existing academic centers, corporations, and receptive Federal agencies

19. CASEE Affiliated Individuals • CASEE Affiliated Scholars • CASEE Senior Fellows • CASEE Post-doctoral Fellows • Individual affiliates include independent scholars and supported fellows on, typically, 1 semester to 2-year appointments to extend and apply research on teaching and learning in engineering.

20. Scope of Activities (1/2) • STRENGTHEN THE RESEARCH BASE • Facilitation of the community’s development, dissemination, and implementation of standards for the conduct, review, and communication of education research; • Enhance the environment for pursuit of research through development of tools and attention to reward structures; • Targeted research by CASEE Senior and Post-doctoral Fellows in support of CASEE’s overall goals and objectives; • Linkage and information sharing activities among CASEE’s coalition of organizational and individual affiliates advancing the frontiers of knowledge as well as demonstrating practical implementation strategies;

21. Scope of Activities (2/2) • TRANSLATE RESEARCH RESULTS INTO PRACTICE • Increase faculty access to high quality research results via broad dissemination and pilots; • Provide guidance to classroom faculty on what works, under specific circumstances and with specific populations, to promote optimal learning; • Outreach activities to broaden appreciation for the value and benefits of education research within engineering; and • CORE OPERATIONS OF A LEAN CENTRAL STAFF

22. Initial Activities • Priorities survey <http://fs3.formsite.com/witan/form400193157/index.html> • Journal of Science and Engineering Education Research (J-SEER) • Workshops on Education Research for Department Chairs • What Works (under what circumstances and why) Clearinghouse • Making the public case for the value of education research

23. Sector and Discipline Focus (1/2) • CASEE operates within well-defined sectors: • Industrial sectors (e.g. ,aerospace, semi-conductors, telecommunications, etc.), and • Disciplinary sectors (e.g., systems, aerospace, materials); • Choice of sector will imply a unique set of priorities within CASEE’s broad research areas; • Senior and Post-doctoral Fellows will be chosen for their sector focus and Implementation Sites will be the key schools and departments that operate within the sectors. • CASEE leverages core knowledge between sectors but provides unique value to individual sectors.

24. Near-term Outcomes • Within the next 12 months: • Greater awareness of and attention to industrial satisfaction gap w.r.t. the (human, intellectual, and technological) capital of production. • Within 5-10 years: • Reduced expenditures on worker training and re-training. • Faster, more efficient introduction of new technologies into curricula and, thence, into practice by future and current workers. • Quicker technology development and transfer by faculty and students able to devote more time to their “traditional” research.

25. Assessment • Consistent with COSEPUP recommendations for GPRA implementation by R&D agencies, assessment of CASEE will occur via • Annual review of the quality, relevance, and leadership of its activities by the CASEE Advisory Committee , • Triennial review to assess the balance of research areas and activities as well as progress toward its goals by external reviewers (comparable to visiting committees on a campus). • Intermediate metrics will serve to assess progress toward ultimate goal of achieving improvements in engineering education. • Time-to-degree, retention and graduation rates, etc. • National Survey of Faculty Engagement • Monitor campus-generated ABET outcomes data • Participation in CASEE events and projects

26. CASEE Sustainability • Seeking endowment and operating funds • Funds needed for core support and specific projects – support may be targeted to specific sectors and actors. • Have received a mix of operating and project grants from • corporations (e.g., Applied Materials), • individuals (e.g., NAE member Walter Robb), • private foundations (e.g., NAE Fund), and • government agencies (e.g., NSF). • Modest user fees or in-kind contributions from affiliates • Seeking to make CASEE of tangible value.

27. Value to Stakeholders • “As a collective effort to improve substantially the quality of engineering education, CASEE represents a foundational investment in national prosperity, safety, and health.” • “As a systemic construct, CASEE represents a leveraged opportunity to advance specific industrial and academic sectors while providing an opportunity for competitive advantage to early entrants.”