Realistic Open-Ended Engineering Problem Solving as Sites for Postdoctoral Researcher Training in Course Instruction and Development

Amani Salim; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

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Conference: 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Vancouver, BC
Publication Date: June 26, 2011
Start Date: June 26, 2011
End Date: June 29, 2011
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Lessons for New Engineering Educators
Tagged Division: New Engineering Educators
Page Count: 14
Page Numbers: 22.1218.1 - 22.1218.14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--18910
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/18910
Download Count: 287

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Paper Authors

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Amani Salim Purdue University, West Lafayette

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Amani Salim is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) at Purdue University, and was previously a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. She receives her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and her Ph.D. in BioMEMS and Microelectronics from Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. Her engineering education research focuses on problem formulation within Model-Eliciting-Activities (MEAs) and engineering education, and professional development of teaching assistants.

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Heidi A. Diefes-Dux Purdue University, West Lafayette orcid.org/0000-0003-3635-1825

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Heidi Diefes-Dux is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Food Science from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in Food Process Engineering from the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University. Since 1999, she has been a faculty member in Purdue’s First-Year Engineering Program, the gateway for all first-year students entering the College of Engineering. She is currently the Director of Teacher Professional Development for the Institute for P-12 Engineering Research and Learning (INSPIRE). Her research interests center on implementation and assessment of mathematical modeling problems.

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Abstract

Model-Eliciting-Activities (MEAs) as Sites for Postdoctoral Researcher Training in Course Instruction and Development Traditional roles of postdoctoral researchers (PRs) often involved scholarly activities thatare focused on research and grant writing. Seldom do PRs receive training on activitiespertaining to curriculum and instruction, which are important if these PRs intend to pursue acareer in academia. Therefore, as they become new faculty, they enter their faculty roles with noteaching experience or knowledge and skills of course development. It is imperative for PRs toacquire these knowledge and skills during their training, in order to ease their transition intobecoming a productive faculty member. This paper explores the experience and challenges of a postdoctoral researcher (PR) whohad the chance to engage in instructional activities as part of her training. She is a member of ateam responsible for teaching assistants (TAs) professional development (PD) with ModelEliciting Activities (MEAs) – client-driven, realistic problems set in engineering contexts.Successful MEA implementation in a large first-year engineering course relies heavily on thequality of the PD of TAs. TA’s PD includes building the TAs knowledge of MEAs, and trainingthem to provide high quality feedback and assessment, and to consistently apply the MEARubric to students’ work. This PR was responsible for providing training for both experienced – those who haveassessed and provided feedback to students on their MEA work in previous semesters, andinexperienced TAs. The challenge was to sift through large amounts of available PD materials tofit these different groups. The material sifting strategy will be discussed. Since TAs consist ofboth graduate TAs (GTAs) and undergraduate students serving as peer teacher (PT), the PRfaced challenges in providing teaching strategies to fit the level of knowledge and backgroundexperience of both TA groups. Ways to confront these challenges will be discussed. Theseinclude the availability of peer support system, guidance obtained from experienced facultyinvolved in MEA curriculum reformation, and availability of high quality PD training materials.Other challenges such as time management, balancing research and instructional activities,gaining respect of students, and public speaking skills, will also be discussed.

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Salim, A., & Diefes-Dux, H. A. (2011, June), Realistic Open-Ended Engineering Problem Solving as Sites for Postdoctoral Researcher Training in Course Instruction and Development Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--18910

TY - CPAPER
AB - Model-Eliciting-Activities (MEAs) as Sites for Postdoctoral Researcher Training in Course Instruction and Development Traditional roles of postdoctoral researchers (PRs) often involved scholarly activities thatare focused on research and grant writing. Seldom do PRs receive training on activitiespertaining to curriculum and instruction, which are important if these PRs intend to pursue acareer in academia. Therefore, as they become new faculty, they enter their faculty roles with noteaching experience or knowledge and skills of course development. It is imperative for PRs toacquire these knowledge and skills during their training, in order to ease their transition intobecoming a productive faculty member. This paper explores the experience and challenges of a postdoctoral researcher (PR) whohad the chance to engage in instructional activities as part of her training. She is a member of ateam responsible for teaching assistants (TAs) professional development (PD) with ModelEliciting Activities (MEAs) – client-driven, realistic problems set in engineering contexts.Successful MEA implementation in a large first-year engineering course relies heavily on thequality of the PD of TAs. TA’s PD includes building the TAs knowledge of MEAs, and trainingthem to provide high quality feedback and assessment, and to consistently apply the MEARubric to students’ work. This PR was responsible for providing training for both experienced – those who haveassessed and provided feedback to students on their MEA work in previous semesters, andinexperienced TAs. The challenge was to sift through large amounts of available PD materials tofit these different groups. The material sifting strategy will be discussed. Since TAs consist ofboth graduate TAs (GTAs) and undergraduate students serving as peer teacher (PT), the PRfaced challenges in providing teaching strategies to fit the level of knowledge and backgroundexperience of both TA groups. Ways to confront these challenges will be discussed. Theseinclude the availability of peer support system, guidance obtained from experienced facultyinvolved in MEA curriculum reformation, and availability of high quality PD training materials.Other challenges such as time management, balancing research and instructional activities,gaining respect of students, and public speaking skills, will also be discussed.
AU - Amani Salim
AU - Heidi A. Diefes-Dux
CY - Vancouver, BC
DA - 2011/06/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Realistic Open-Ended Engineering Problem Solving as Sites for Postdoctoral Researcher Training in Course Instruction and Development
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/18910
DO - 10.18260/1-2--18910
ER -