Connecting and expanding the emerging engineering education research & innovation (EER&I) communities

Abstract

Currently there is a lot of emphasis on engineering education research (EER) and engineering education innovation (EEI). In the EER domain, several universities have established or are considering establishing engineering education research centers and PhD programs. In the EEI domain, the National Academy of Engineering launched the Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) symposium and NSF recast CCLI as TUES, and more recently IUSE (Improving Undergraduate STEM Education). In 2014 NSF funded a pilot implementation of the NSF Innovation Corps for Learning (I-Corps™ L) and additional cohorts have been conducted and are planned. The growth of interest in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) has great potential to contribute to EER and EEI as indicated by the response to the ASEE Virtual Communities of Practice (VCP) project. Faculty and graduate students interested in engineering education research and innovation (EER&I) are widely distributed and often isolated in their department and institution. Many are eager to meet and interact with colleagues who have similar interests. This session provides the opportunity to for people who have been involved in engineering education research and innovation to reconnect, and to welcome new folks into this emerging community.