TY - JOUR
T1 - Catalyzing Change in Engineering Pedagogy
T2 - The Role of Workshops, Modules, and Reflective Implementation
AU - Rillero, Peter
AU - Rillero, Hy Grant
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors of this article.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - This paper presents the implementation of a professional development program that aims at enhancing instructional practices to foster student-centered teaching approaches among engineering faculty at two universities in Pakistan. The program was guided by the theoretical perspective of enactivism and involved an initial three-day workshop, online modules, and reflective implementation assignments. The paper provides a detailed account of the program’s framework, design, and evaluation. The research questions addressed are: What are the perceptions of faculty members regarding (a) the benefits of the program topics and (b) changes in their actions as a result of the program? Likert-item survey instruments with retrospective items were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. As the program moved from being required to voluntary, participation was declined. Faculty who participated in this engineering pedagogy project reported positive attitudes and significant growth in utilizing student-centered strategies. The three-day workshop was perceived as the most beneficial of the components. The module was perceived to be of the highest benefit when focused on writing effective questions for high-level thinking. All the pre-to-post retrospective items showed statistically significant increases, with the two largest being the use of student response systems (SRS) and the focus on big ideas in teaching. The combined approaches show promise for faculty who persist in long-term professional development projects, catalyzing changes in perceived value and the implementation of active learning techniques.
AB - This paper presents the implementation of a professional development program that aims at enhancing instructional practices to foster student-centered teaching approaches among engineering faculty at two universities in Pakistan. The program was guided by the theoretical perspective of enactivism and involved an initial three-day workshop, online modules, and reflective implementation assignments. The paper provides a detailed account of the program’s framework, design, and evaluation. The research questions addressed are: What are the perceptions of faculty members regarding (a) the benefits of the program topics and (b) changes in their actions as a result of the program? Likert-item survey instruments with retrospective items were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. As the program moved from being required to voluntary, participation was declined. Faculty who participated in this engineering pedagogy project reported positive attitudes and significant growth in utilizing student-centered strategies. The three-day workshop was perceived as the most beneficial of the components. The module was perceived to be of the highest benefit when focused on writing effective questions for high-level thinking. All the pre-to-post retrospective items showed statistically significant increases, with the two largest being the use of student response systems (SRS) and the focus on big ideas in teaching. The combined approaches show promise for faculty who persist in long-term professional development projects, catalyzing changes in perceived value and the implementation of active learning techniques.
KW - big ideas
KW - discrepant events
KW - engineering education
KW - higher-level thinking
KW - pedagogy
KW - professional development
KW - question-asking
KW - student response systems
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U2 - 10.3991/ijep.v14i2.42449
DO - 10.3991/ijep.v14i2.42449
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85188440415
SN - 2192-4880
VL - 14
SP - 4
EP - 19
JO - International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy
JF - International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy
IS - 2
ER -